Advocating for the Arts
Jan 17, 2012
I had the wonderful opportunity to spend a four-day weekend in New York City attending the Chamber Music America conference attending informational sessions, meeting with artists and their agents, and hearing artist showcases. This year's conference was centrally themed on Arts Advocacy with the keynote address presented by Americans for the Arts vice president for policy and research, Randy Cohen. Over the course of an hour, Mr. Cohen made a compelling case for why the arts are such a vital industry contributing considerably to local economies, being the cornerstone of tourism, and improving the communities in which they exist. Over the next couple of blog posts I'll elaborate on this further with the hopes that you may take a few moments to get involved and tell your state and federal representatives why the arts are important to you. If you wish to get involved right away, you can visit the national organization Americans for the Arts at www.artsusa.org or our local advocacy agency Maryland Citizens for the Arts at www.mdarts.org.
Meanwhile, here is a charming video advertisement that provides food for thought… pun intended….
