Go down to your street corner and ask people if they have ever thought about whether their mayor or state legislator belongs to a professional trade association. You would probably get a lot of blank stares and muffled answers. But, to Americans for the Arts, this is serious business.

Starting over 20 years ago, Americans for the Arts made the strategic decision to partner with associations that represent elected officials. Those groups are: the National Governors Association (NGA), the National Lieutenant Governors Association (NLGA), the National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL), the National Association of Counties (NACo), The United States Conference of Mayors (USCM), and the National League of Cities (NLC). 

The idea behind the partnerships is that elected officials are busy, and in order to reach them, you have to cut through the noise and clutter. So, what better way to do this than work with the associations the elected officials pay membership dues to in order to promote our message! The elected officials, and/or their staff, are much more likely to read information that comes from their own association and are also much more likely to believe it. For example, for Americans for the Arts’ Arts and Economic Prosperity studies, our partners endorse this study, put their logos on our materials, and promote it to their members. 

So how else do we partner with these groups? Each year, Americans for the Arts presents our Public Leadership in the Arts Award series at each of the partner’s conference. For most groups, we get 5-10 minutes to talk about our work, the arts and culture, and the awardee. With our oldest partner, the USCM, we host the “Mayor’s Arts Breakfast” which is held at their Winter Meeting in Washington, DC with 300 plus mayors attending along with their staff and other government affairs professionals. We have the opportunity, for over the hour to talk about our work and present awards to two mayors, a governor, and an artist or two who have been instrumental in promoting the arts and culture. For a full list of our awardees, go here.

But, these awards are just the glamour shot for the partnerships. On a weekly basis, Americans for the Arts works with these elected official associations to:

• Provide speakers for their various meetings and conferences
• Write blog posts or other articles for their publications
• Provide content for their web sites
• Arrange artistic/cultural educational field trips

Americans for the Arts has also been working to take the arts out of the “arts box” and incorporate our message into our partners’ other issue and policy areas. For example, we work with NCSL’s Military and Veterans Affairs Task Force and their Education Committee. We also collaborate with NACo’s Healthy Counties Initiative and Veterans and Military Services Committee. Again, we provide speakers, information, and education for each of these groups.

Lastly, we serve as these association’s auxiliary staff. So, for example, whenever NLGA receives a question on the arts and culture, whether it be from a lieutenant governor, their staff or the press, NLGA staff refers them to Americans for the Arts as a resource. 

The other advantage to our partnerships is that we are able to educate the various elected officials from multiple sides. One, on a national perspective, we present the importance of the arts and culture at their conferences and through their publications. Then, these same elected officials go back home where you, our members, reach out to them on a local basis. I have found this one-two punch to be quite effective. The elected official sees national examples of great arts and culture work, becomes energized, and then goes home to your waiting arms to help them implement.