Ms. Kate O. McClanahan

ESEA Reauthorization – The Senate Takes Action!

Posted by Ms. Kate O. McClanahan, Jul 06, 2015


Ms. Kate O. McClanahan

Although the timing of congressional votes keep getting kicked around, it remains a crucial time in Washington for arts education.

Anything’s possible*, but what’s most likely is a U.S. Senate floor vote and amendment consideration this weekas well as a long-delayed House floor vote—on the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) reauthorization.

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Mr. Jay H. Dick

Plastered in Paducah

Posted by Mr. Jay H. Dick, Jul 29, 2015


Mr. Jay H. Dick

I first learned about Paducah, KY eleven years ago when I started working at Americans for the Arts. Where is Paducah, you ask? Well, it’s a town of about 25,000 people nestled where the Ohio and Tennessee rivers converge, approximately 140 miles north of Nashville in the western sliver of Kentucky. But don't let this quaint town fool you, as it packs a huge arts punch. 

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Mr. Robert Lynch

Through the Power of their Creativity, Veterans Continue to Serve

Posted by Mr. Robert Lynch, Nov 11, 2015


Mr. Robert Lynch

During a recent trip to Denver to join in presenting a national award for state arts leadership to Governor Hickenlooper, Deborah Jordy, Executive Director of the Colorado Business Committee for the Arts, approached me. "There is someone I'd really like you to meet." Curtis Bean was his name.

A remarkable community activist, an entrepreneur and an artist, Curtis is doing transformational work through the arts. He is also a Veteran. Straight out of high school and over the course of five years and two tours in Iraq, he completed his military service as an Army sniper.

Like many others, Curtis returned home with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). He planned on being a fireman, but anger and nightmares were interfering with his life. His girlfriend, an art student, suggested he try painting when counseling wasn't enough, and that's when something clicked. Healing started to happen -- and a new doorway was opened.

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Julia Mandeville

Albuquerque, The Best Place in the Universe

Posted by Julia Mandeville, Apr 05, 2012


Julia Mandeville

Julia Mandeville

Introductions are always difficult. Slightly awkward in person. Definitely daunting in writing. And yet that’s how we’ve been asked to begin our blogs for this amazing salon. So here we are…Hello!

My short professional bio (click on my name above) is a nice clean paragraph and offers a basic overview, but here's a bit more:

1. Albuquerque pulled me in. Something about it—an indescribable, magical (yes, magical!) quality—inspires me and all of the most wonderful people I know here to be kind of hyperactive. We feel indelibly influenced by the vitality it presents and the promise it offers. Yes, we anthropomorphize (5 syllables! 25 points!) this place. It’s hard not to, when it’s so very alive.

2. I love this community. This means that most everything I do relates to how I can contribute to its enrichment. I really hope you know what I mean.

3. Today, my favorite things are: my husband, Alex; our very fat cats and darling house in Nob Hill, an ABQ neighborhood; the colors fuchsia, burnt orange, and celadon; the taste of green chile on a perfectly cooked medium rare burger at Holy Cow; the feeling of almost accidentally picking up the cue ball; the clarity of being at such high altitude.

4. When we (in the field) talk about leveraging impact, I think we mean reinforcing beauty, inspiring investment, making change.

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Anette Shirinian

P.S. You’re Serving the Minority: How to Keep Up With the New Majority

Posted by Anette Shirinian, Jun 12, 2012


Anette Shirinian

Anette Shirinian

After attending Salvador Acevedo’s session, The New Mainstream: How Changing Demographics Are Shifting Your Community, at our Annual Convention in San Antonio this past weekend I learned that there are already five minority majority states in the U.S., and they’re not little.

California, Texas, New Mexico, District of Columbia, and Hawaii all currently have less than a 50 percent White population. This is a huge shift considering that America’s population was about 90 percent White up to the 1970s. It has since declined to 60 percent and continues to follow this pattern. The Hispanic population on the other hand is growing rapidly with an estimated 167 percent growth by 2050 (142 percent Asian, 56 percent Black, 1 percent White).

How does this affect the arts?

Well it proses a huge problem when less than 50 percent of our nation’s population is White, yet your audience is 70–90 percent White. As Salvador said, “we must diversify our audiences, otherwise we will become irrelevant.”

As “prime vehicles for intercultural understanding” (my favorite quote from the session), arts and culture will not survive if it does not reflect our population as a whole. So how do we prevent ourselves from becoming irrelevant?

You must practice what you preach. The change must start internally within your organization before you can start to diversify your audience. Salvador calls this the “intercultural strategy.”

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Mr. Jay H. Dick

Honoring John Legend, The Roots & Arts Leaders from Maryland, Louisiana, and New Mexico

Posted by Mr. Jay H. Dick, Jan 31, 2013


Mr. Jay H. Dick

John Legend speaks while receiving a Citizen Artist Award from The United States Conference of Mayors and Americans for the Arts. Also picture are Philadelphia Mayor Micheal Nutter (left), New Orleans Mayor Mitch Landrieu, and Maryland Gov. Martin O'Malley. John Legend received a Citizen Artist Award from The United States Conference of Mayors and Americans for the Arts. Also pictured are Philadelphia Mayor Micheal Nutter (left), New Orleans Mayor Mitch Landrieu, and Maryland Gov. Martin O'Malley. (Photo via USCM)

Each year, Americans for the Arts presents a series of Public Leadership in the Arts Awards to elected officials at all levels of government and artists who speak out in favor of the arts and arts education.

We just recently presented the first of the 2013 awards at The United States Conference of Mayors (USCM) Winter Meeting in Washington, DC. The USCM is Americans for the Arts' oldest public partnership going back more than two decades.

Each year, we also sponsor the “Mayor’s Arts Breakfast” were we present awards to two mayors, a governor, and one or more nationally-acclaimed artists. This event is very important as more than 350 of the country’s most powerful mayors gather to hear about how the arts are important to their cities.

I am happy to report that over the years, our nation’s mayors have become vocal advocates for arts funding as we provide them with a front row seat to learn the importance of arts and culture and the economic value the sector provides.

At this year's breakfast, New Orleans Mayor Mitch Landrieu and Santa Fe Mayor David Coss were recognized for their support of the arts and culture in their cities. Both of these mayors, one from a fairly large city and the other of a fairly modest size, understand the importance and value of supporting their local nonprofit arts community and how that support generates substantial economic impact.

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