Be an arts advocate 

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

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

 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.

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.