Advocacy

The North Valley Arts Council (NoVAC) advocates for the economic and cultural value of the arts. We recognize that the arts contribute to the infrastructure that is critical to the economic vitality and cultural well-being of our community. We are dedicated to creating opportunities that help you to participate in, advocate for and enjoy the arts.

Urge Your Representative to support the Artists' Charitable Deduction

Arts are the Tools for Reinvention

Thank Your Congressperson for Supporting the Arts

Be an arts advocate

National Advocacy Resources

Urge Your Senator to Join Arts Caucus

Report on Impact of 2004 Elections on Arts

Voice Your Support of the Arts

Urge Your Representative to Support the Artists' Charitable Deduction

Contact your Representative and urge them to support the artists’ charitable deduction measure. The measure will provide artists with a full fair-market value charitable deduction for the donated gifts of their works to museum and library collections. On November 17, the Senate passed the artists’ deduction bill, which has been pending approval in Congress for several years. The provision must still be accepted by the House when it takes up its tax bill on the House floor or in the final agreement of a conference committee. The House Ways and Means Committee approved its version of the legislation the same day the Senate passed its own tax bill, but without the artists’ deduction provisions included by the Senate. When legislators return to Capitol Hill on December 6, the tax bill will be back on the agenda. Now is the time to contact your representatives. Contact Rep. Earl Pomeroy (D-ND) at www.pomeroy.house.gov and Rep. Jim Ramstad (R-MN) at www.house.gov/ramstad. Visit the National Assembly of State Arts Agencies at www.nasaa-arts.org for more information.

Thank you for taking action!

Arts are the Tools of Reinvention

Communities coping with economic challenges and declining population reinvent themselves as cultural centers. A new report about the arts in rural Minnesota finds that, for many towns, the tools of the reinvention are the arts and artists. The report confirms that the arts act as invaluable communication tools, economic drivers, and vital cultural links with the rest of Minnesota, the nation, and the world. Check out the report, Bright Stars, at www.mcknight.org/brightstars.

Thank Your Congressperson for Supporting the Arts

Following the Congressional Arts Caucus amendment to increase National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) and National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) funding for Fiscal Year 2006, two amendments to cut NEA funding were defeated by overwhelming margins. The first amendment would have cut NEA funding by $15 million; the second would have cut NEA funding by $30 million.

To send a customizable letter of thanks to your Representative if he or she voted against the second funding cut - or a letter of disappointment if he or she voted for the funding cut - please visit Americans for the Arts Arts Action Center. You do not need to know how your Representative voted, as the correct letter will appear, based on his or her vote, when you enter your zip code.

Be an arts advocate

Here are eight simple ways that you can advocate for the arts:

1. Attend an arts event
2. Get your children involved in the arts
3. Make and exhibit/ perform/ publish your own art
4. Volunteer for arts events at area schools or arts organizations
5. Become a financial contributor to an arts organization
6. Contact your school board representative to discuss the value of arts in education
7. Contact your City Council representative to thank them for their support of the arts and to discuss why you think the arts are important to the health of your city
8. Contact your state Representatives and Senators to thank them for their support of the arts and to discuss why you think the arts are important to your regional community

National Advocacy Resources

Americans for the Arts
Americans for the Arts is the nation's leading nonprofit organization for advancing the arts in America. Americans for the Arts is dedicated to representing and serving local communities and creating opportunities for every American to participate in and appreciate all forms of the arts. The organization focuses on three primary goals: increasing public and private sector support for the arts; ensuring that every American child has access to a high-quality arts education; and strengthening communities through the arts. Advocacy resources provided by Americans for the Arts include:
National Arts Information Clearinghouse
Arts & Economic Prosperity: Economic Impact of Arts Organizations and Their Audiences
Information on Arts Research

Investing in Creativity: A Study of Support Structures for U.S. Artists
Urban Institute, 2003
This report contains results from the Investing in Creativity study, a national research initiative about the various factors that enable artists to pursue their careers -- artists' support programs, policy initiatives, and characteristics of place, among other issues -- conducted by the Urban Institute.

Cultural Policy and the Arts National Data Archive
Providing an interactive digital archive of data on the arts and cultural policy in the U.S., available for research and statistical analysis, with data on artists, arts and cultural organizations, audiences, and funding for arts and culture.