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RECEIVED Tue., May 9, 2017
Dear Editor,
Thank you for publishing "ATX – NEA = OOF!" on April 28 [Arts & Culture], in response to the proposed elimination of the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA). The good news is that Congress voted to keep the NEA alive through the end of this fiscal year (Sept. 30, 2017) and added $1.8 M to the budget. That said, I can promise that we will need to maintain our advocacy efforts to keep the NEA alive and funded through the 2018 budget process as its existence is sure to come under fire again.
In response to Letters to the Editor [“Feedback,” May 5], one does a disservice by perpetuating the myth that "most of the [NEA] grants go to California and a few Crony art agencies." In fact, NEA grants are distributed across every congressional district, including over $3.5 M to Texas artists and arts organizations across the state in 2016. And, if you believe that "Funding for the arts should be at a state level and not a federal level," I invite you to join Texans for the Arts every day at the Texas Capitol where we advocate to ensure that Texas invests in the arts! This year, the Senate cut funding for the Texas Commission on the Arts (TCA) by 34% and the House by 28%, and we are working round the clock to restore those funds. ALL of the 31 Texas Senate districts receive some level of support from the TCA and all but 16 of the 150 House districts do. There is a mandate to grant these dollars across the state that we value and support.
Public funding is a vital, but very small portion (typically around 9%*) of a typical arts nonprofit’s income. TCA and NEA grants must be matched 1:1 and importantly, they serve to leverage additional private resources. Every $1 granted by the NEA leverages $9 of new funds. In addition, NEA and TCA grants provide a "Good Housekeeping Seal of Approval" that help organizations grow assets for the arts in their communities, large or small. Private philanthropy is critical, but it follows the personal and geographic interests of a family or business.
In the words of former Texas Congresswoman Barbara Jordan, "The arts are not a frill. The arts are a response to our individuality and our nature, and help to shape our identity. What is there that can transcend deep differences and stubborn divisions? The arts. They have a wonderful universality. Art has the potential to unify. It can speak in many languages without a translator. Art does not discriminate. The arts can lift us all up.”
Posthumously, thank you Congresswoman Jordan. We need the arts more than ever today!
Thank you for publishing "ATX – NEA = OOF!" on April 28 [Arts & Culture], in response to the proposed elimination of the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA). The good news is that Congress voted to keep the NEA alive through the end of this fiscal year (Sept. 30, 2017) and added $1.8 M to the budget. That said, I can promise that we will need to maintain our advocacy efforts to keep the NEA alive and funded through the 2018 budget process as its existence is sure to come under fire again.
In response to Letters to the Editor [“Feedback,” May 5], one does a disservice by perpetuating the myth that "most of the [NEA] grants go to California and a few Crony art agencies." In fact, NEA grants are distributed across every congressional district, including over $3.5 M to Texas artists and arts organizations across the state in 2016. And, if you believe that "Funding for the arts should be at a state level and not a federal level," I invite you to join Texans for the Arts every day at the Texas Capitol where we advocate to ensure that Texas invests in the arts! This year, the Senate cut funding for the Texas Commission on the Arts (TCA) by 34% and the House by 28%, and we are working round the clock to restore those funds. ALL of the 31 Texas Senate districts receive some level of support from the TCA and all but 16 of the 150 House districts do. There is a mandate to grant these dollars across the state that we value and support.
Public funding is a vital, but very small portion (typically around 9%*) of a typical arts nonprofit’s income. TCA and NEA grants must be matched 1:1 and importantly, they serve to leverage additional private resources. Every $1 granted by the NEA leverages $9 of new funds. In addition, NEA and TCA grants provide a "Good Housekeeping Seal of Approval" that help organizations grow assets for the arts in their communities, large or small. Private philanthropy is critical, but it follows the personal and geographic interests of a family or business.
In the words of former Texas Congresswoman Barbara Jordan, "The arts are not a frill. The arts are a response to our individuality and our nature, and help to shape our identity. What is there that can transcend deep differences and stubborn divisions? The arts. They have a wonderful universality. Art has the potential to unify. It can speak in many languages without a translator. Art does not discriminate. The arts can lift us all up.”
Posthumously, thank you Congresswoman Jordan. We need the arts more than ever today!
Ann S. Graham,
Executive Director,
Texans for the Arts
Executive Director,
Texans for the Arts
*www.tinyurl.com/khjypgt
