Arts Advocacy Day in Washington, DC

On April 3, Carole and Heath represented CMW in Washington, DC for Arts Advocacy Day. This is an annual event sponsored by Americans for the Arts where people from all over the nation join each other in DC to advocate for the importance of Arts and Culture and the need to develop strong public policies and appropriate public funding for the arts. 

Also on the team representing Rhode Island were friends from RI Citizens for the Arts, Alliance of Artists Communities, VSA Arts of RI, and the Providence Department of Arts, Culture + Tourism. We arrived on Monday in order to hear the Nancy Hanks Lecture on Arts and Public Policy. The keynote speaker this year was Kevin Spacey, and he delivered a lively speech addressing the question, "Why Do the Arts Matter?"  Over and over again, he answered this question with quotes from important historical figures and personal anecdotes. He may have plugged a new documentary that he directed, but we won’t judge. He was a great speaker and delivered a well thought out and concise speech.

After the lecture, we were invited by Ken Cole, Associate Director of the National Guild for Community Arts Education, to attend a dinner party for arts educators and administrators. It was great to meet with so many passionate people! The night was filled with good conversations and equally as good food. 

The next day, we attended a press conference in the Hart Senate Building. Many, many people gave speeches about the importance of this event. Out of all the speeches, the one that stood out the most for me was delivered by Congressman John Lewis of Georgia. He spoke about how drama is a part of our every day lives, and how important it is to recognize how the arts affect all areas of learning and life. He delivered an amazing speech that was worthy of the standing ovation it received. 

After the press conference, the Rhode Island team assembled to review the strategy in order to efficiently lobby for the arts. We had meetings scheduled with both our Senators and our Congressmen. Most importantly, we wanted to say "Thank You!" Our Senators and Congressmen have always been very supportive of the arts. We also had chosen a few pertinent issues to discuss, mainly Arts Education funding and continued support for the National Endowment for the Arts. 

We participated in four meetings–with Senators Jack Reed and Sheldon Whitehouse, and with staff members from the offices of Congressmen James Langevin and David Cicilline. All were very supportive and listened to what we had to say. We had prepared some concise information–true success stories from small businesses and nonprofits in Rhode Island about how arts-related business is growing and thriving in our state despite the economic difficulties. 

We left Washington feeling successful. Advocacy is becoming more and more important to the staff and students of CMW. Just this past October, as many may remember, we loaded up a bus of staff, students and friends and headed to DC to accept the National Arts and Humanities Youth Program Award. On that trip, we were able to meet with Senator Reed. It is great to see CMW students learning how to advocate on a local and national level.

All in all, the trip was very informative. We arrived back in Providence on Tuesday evening after a very, very full two days. It was really great to be part of a mass of 500+ people, all who were there for the same reason: to stand up and speak out about the importance of arts funding. There are so many success stories, so many reasons why organizations like CMW should exist and thrive. It was a really great experience to be part of Arts Advocacy Day and to see people from all over the country fired up about the important issues effecting our field.

-Carole Bestvater, Fellow