Americans for the Arts Advocacy Headlines

Congress is expected to return to Washington, DC next week after a month-long August recess. With many members looking toward the November elections, there is little time to complete a large slate of unfinished legislation, including the FY 2011 appropriations bills which fund all federal programs, including funding bills for the National Endowment for the Arts and National Endowment for the Humanities.

The Senate Appropriations Committee approved a slight increase to the Arts in Education (AIE) program at the U.S. Department of Education, from $40 million in FY 2010 to $42 million in the FY 2011 budget. The committee also instructed the U.S. Department of Education to undertake dissemination of arts in education research findings.  Arts advocates have long sought details from this research to gauge the success and scope of the AIE grant programs.

The U.S. Department of Education announced 49 awardees of Investing in Innovation Fund (“i3”) grants and three are directly related to arts education: Studio in a School, Inc. (New York, NY), The Beaverton School District Arts for Learning Lessons Project (Beaverton, OR) and the Everyday Arts for Special Education (New York City Department of Education, District 75).  The three programs are each receiving grant awards between $4 and $4.6 million. Read more about i3 grants here.

The U.S. Department of Education has announced the recipients of the 2010 Model Development and Dissemination Grants. The department awarded 33 grants in 14 states. These grants seek to strengthen student learning through standards-based arts education and integration of arts instruction into other subject areas. View the list of recipients here.

The U.S. House of Representatives passed a resolution designating the second week of September as "Arts in Education Week." Authored and introduced by Rep. Jackie Speier (D-CA), this resolution is the first congressional expression of support celebrating all the disciplines comprising arts education. Read the resolution here.

Last week, the U.S. House Interior Appropriations Subcommittee, which sets the initial funding level for the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA), approved a $2.5 million increase for the NEA in its FY 2011 spending bill. This proposed increase for the agency is significant in light of a spending freeze on federal discretionary funds and a lower budget request by the administration. Currently funded at $167.5 million, this increase would bring the NEA's budget to $170 million. In his statement, Chairman Moran acknowledged that, "the increase recognizes the value we place, as a nation, on our artistic and cultural heritage."

Last week, the House Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education Appropriations Subcommittee agreed to level-fund the Arts in Education programs at the U.S. Department of Education at $40 million. This marks the first step in the  FY 2011 appropriations process. The House may take further action on this bill; however, it is likely that final appropriations actions will be on hold until after the election this fall. Read more about the Arts in Education programs here. 

On July 7, 2010, the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) and by the U.S. Housing and Urban Development Department (HUD) held a joint webinar and announced two new funding opportunities for the arts community. NEA Chairman Rocco Landesman has been spearheading negotiations with multiple federal agencies to broaden their grant guidelines to include components for arts and culture. Local arts agencies are encouraged to work with their city and county governments to apply for these new funding opportunities to create more livable communities through the arts. The two new opportunities are the Sustainable Communities Regional Planning Grant and a combination of the Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery program and the Sustainable Community Challenge Grant program.
The webinar covered both new funding opportunities, highlighting where nonprofit arts groups can participate. Access the full PowerPoint now, and check back at www.hud.gov/webcasts in the coming days for the full webinar. Additionally, you can read HUD’s press release.

APPLICATION DEADLINE: The pre-application deadline is July 26, 2010 and full applications are due August 23, 2010.

Click here for the full synopsis.

Recently, congressional leaders from both parties met at the White House and agreed to adopt the president’s proposed three-year freeze on all federal discretionary spending not related to defense. President Obama proposed the freeze in his FY 2011 budget to address concerns about the growing federal deficit. His budget proposal was transmitted to Capitol Hill in February but has yet to be debated and voted on in Congress due to disagreements on procedural issues and a crowded legislative agenda. Although it is still too early to know the final impact, this recent bipartisan agreement on the freeze may prove worrisome for some valued federal arts and culture agencies and programs like the National Endowment for the Arts and the Arts in Education program at the U.S. Department of Education.

As we had previously announced, Maryland Sen. Barbara Mikulski (D-MD) has agreed to join Sen. Mike Enzi (R-WY) as a co-chair of the Senate Cultural Caucus. Mikulski, who succeeds Sen. Ted Kennedy in this role on the Senate Cultural Caucus. Mikulski announced her decision to Maryland arts advocates on national Arts Advocacy Day.  The Senate Cultural Caucus has grown from 30 members a year ago to 38 members currently. In addition to Sen. Mikulski, Sen. Gillabrand (D-NY) also recently joined.  You can view the most recent caucus list here.