NEA Summit: Advocating for Art at the Intersection
President’s Blog
As we at Grantmakers in the Arts (GIA) reflect upon the National Endowment for the Arts brilliant convening Healing, Bridging, Thriving: A Summit on Arts and Culture in our Communities, we call upon our nation’s grantmakers to provide long-term funding for art at the intersection of social change, as well as funding advocacy and lobbying for changes to government policy.
This is an epochal moment for the arts in our nation, thanks to the great work of National Endowment for the Arts Chair Maria Rosario Jackson and her elevation of the great work being done by so many in our field. This is an epochal moment for cultural policy and its role in government policy, which GIA is proud to uplift through our emerging Cultural Policy Committee, which emerged from our Cultural Policy Action Lab and Learning Series.
At the NEA summit, Admiral Rachel Levine, Assistant Secretary for Health, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, and NEA Chair Jackson announced that HHS and NEA are launching a new Interagency Working Group on Arts, Health, and Civic Infrastructure, chaired by NEA Chair Jackson and HHS Secretary Becerra. This working group will accelerate the inclusion of cultural strategies for advancing health and strengthening civic infrastructure. Building on this working group and long-standing work on arts and health, NEA Chair Jackson announced $5 million to support the work of artists and arts organizations in contributing to the health and well-being of individuals and communities. This is a great opportunity to advance ongoing work such as SaludArte Arizona and so many others.
Radhika Fox, Assistant Administrator, Office of Water, at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced the launch of its first-ever artist-in-residence program, in partnership with the NEA. EPA will embed six artists within national estuary or urban water locations over 18 months to integrate arts and culture into key EPA program areas, deepen local relationships, and elevating the voices of underrepresented people.
This is a great time to revisit Native Arts and Culture: Resilience, reclamation, and relevance with T. Lulani Arquette (Native Hawaiian), president and CEO, Native Arts and Cultures Foundation; Joy Harjo (Mvskoke Creek Nation), internationally renowned performer and writer; and Shelly C. Lowe (Navajo), who at the time served as executive director of Harvard University’s Native American Program and is now serving as Chair of the National Endowment for the Humanities.
As part of the NEA and National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) partnership on United We Stand: Connecting through Culture, NEA Chair Jackson announced the NEA is committing an additional $2 million to NEH’s $3 million to ensure that arts organizations join their humanities colleagues in this united effort to counter hate. As GIA shares, arts and culture are essential to recognizing the role of race in pitting oppressed groups against each other, distracting us from our actual oppressors.
What NEA Chair Jackson has revealed is that our field’s advocacy need not be limited to lobbying for the introduction or passage of new laws. While lobbying for new legislation is necessary, the NEA has shown us all what can be done by the executive branch without new laws being introduced. Our advocacy can include advocating for executive action. GIA is grateful to the NEA for including in the summit essential voices for our field’s advocacy, such as the National Assembly of State Arts Agencies.
Long-term social change requires long-term investment and long-term advocacy. This is a moment when the arts funding field must commit to long-term support to organizations and artists working at the intersection of culture and social change and commit to long-term support for advocacy for legislative and executive action. Our time is now.
