Americans For The Arts Debuts Improved Arts + Social Impact Explorer

Friday, May 20, 2022

Screenshot of the Social Impact Explorer wheel, with 30 wedges in a rainbow of colors.

Americans for the Arts has introduced a new 2.0 version of the Arts + Social Impact Explorer, the most comprehensive clearinghouse of example projects and research about the role of arts in community life available today. The Explorer provides examples, datapoints, links to research papers, and lists of active organizations to illustrate the impact of arts and culture in 30 aspects of community life from public health to transportation, safety, community cohesion, and innovation. 


Mr. John W. Haworth

Four Ways The Arts Are Serving Veterans and the Military

Posted by Mr. John W. Haworth, May 16, 2022


Mr. John W. Haworth

As the nation observes Military Appreciation Month in May, it feels an appropriate moment to give attention to arts programs that support our military-connected communities, especially Veterans. The cultural sector plays an active and meaningful role serving Veterans and their families, and it is important to put this work within a broader context of both key challenges and issues. Of the more than two million American troops deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan since 2001, about a third have symptoms of post-traumatic stress, depression, and brain injuries. Many cultural organizations and individual artists have the capacity and interest to serve Veterans by providing them with opportunities to gain experience, new skills, and stronger ties in their home communities. For the cultural sector, the challenges of collaborating effectively with Veterans are demanding, and the work requires us to build relationships with Veteran organizations and develop specialized skills in how we serve Veterans. Given the special hardships and challenges members of the military face—including dealing with extreme stress and trauma issues and finding the wherewithal to reconnect with their daily routines, family and personal relationships, and their communities—the arts certainly play an integral role in advancing health and wellbeing. 

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Linda Lombardi

Spotlight on Nolen V. Bivens, Interim President and CEO

Posted by Linda Lombardi, Jan 29, 2021


Linda Lombardi

A Director Emeritus and former Board member of Americans for the Arts, Brigadier General Nolen V. Bivens, U.S. Army Ret., is currently serving as our Interim President and CEO. He serves as Chair, National Leadership Advisory Council for the National Initiative for Arts & Health Across the Military, and Military community advisor for the National Endowment for the Arts Military Healing Arts Network Creative Forces program, among other roles. “As a senior military leader, I had to find answers to problems that traditional military training didn’t prepare me to deal with. Getting service members to address personal trauma was one of those problems. Following tours in Iraq and training to return, it became apparent to me that service men and women weren’t always taking care of themselves. Individuals who encountered some great trauma were not taking advantage of medical resources and it was showing up in all sorts of ways—from ever increasing suicides to family violence. They weren’t taking advantage of the traditional therapies available for various reasons such as fear of losing their clearances or being stigmatized as a weak leader. I found that many of them simply wanted to engage in activities which would free their minds of the stress they were experiencing. The arts were a way to do this without telegraphing the need for help.” 

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Request a Scholarship to the 2021 National Arts Action Summit

Friday, January 22, 2021

Join Americans for the Arts, organizational partners, and hundreds of advocates April 5-9, 2021 for the National Arts Action Summit. For the first time, Americans for the Arts is pleased to offer a number of scholarship opportunities to those interested in attending the virtual summit. Registration and scholarship requests are available beginning Jan. 25, 2021.

Join the Launch of the Creative Forces National Resource Center

Thursday, July 9, 2020

Creative Forces®, an initiative of the National Endowment for the Arts, presents “Advances in Creative Forces Clinical Research,” a virtual panel discussion and demonstration of the new online National Resource Center (NRC) on July 15, 2020, at 3:00 p.m. ET. This online resource will feature public materials for researchers and practitioners in the arts, health, and military and veteran care settings.


Randy Cohen

10 Reasons to Support the Arts in 2020

Posted by Randy Cohen, Mar 23, 2020


Randy Cohen

The effective arts advocate needs to articulate the value of the arts in as many ways as possible—deploying the right case-making tool in the right situation. Consider these “10 Reasons to Support the Arts” as your Swiss army knife for arts advocacy. Like so many sequestered at home during COVID-19, I write this while mindful of our challenging times, and yet inspired by how the arts still have found a way to permeate our lives. I have watched Yo-Yo Ma concerts online, visited the Smithsonian Museum with a click, and joined my neighbors for daily 6 p.m. outdoor singalongs. Even in this difficult environment, the arts are providing personal experiences and promote social cohesion (see tools #2 and #8 on your army knife!). While I am uncertain what we will look like on the other side of this crisis, tool #1 makes me optimistic that when it is time to stop practicing social distancing, it is the arts that will unify us. 

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CW2 Jonathan L. Crane

Music Engagement for Health and Wellness Across the Military Continuum

Posted by CW2 Jonathan L. Crane, Nov 26, 2019


CW2 Jonathan L. Crane

Humans’ entire recorded history revolves around wars as different cultures and ideologies collided. As sound is an intrinsic part of culture it was only natural for us to use music to rally our tribes and intimidate the “others.” Just as sound (music) continues to be used as motivation before battle, it also is used as recovery after conflict. There is a wealth of organizations, both within government and the non-profit sector, dedicated to providing music-based health services across the spectrum of need. Over the past two years I have been fortunate enough to be a part of the national initiative to advocate for these services and increase collaboration between organizations. It has been a journey of amazing discovery that I wish all people could take. So much advancement has been made in improving our health. The combination of modern medicine and age-old understanding of wellness are creating better lives across the globe. The need for creative arts therapies across the military continuum will increase. I envision a world where a member of our Armed Forces has a partner in music from the day they join and throughout the rest of their lives.

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CW2 Jonathan L. Crane

Music Bonds Veterans Across Generations: The Essential Role of Music in the Military

Posted by CW2 Jonathan L. Crane, Nov 08, 2019


CW2 Jonathan L. Crane

Since the beginning of military conflict, music has played an essential role. Humans have been using their voices and creating instruments to produce sound for at least 10,000 years. It was inevitable that our need to create organized sound would extend to war. Before the advent of electronic communication, drums, fifes, and bugles were used to give commands in training and in battle. Along with this functional use of music, traditional songs were carried into the military for comfort and camaraderie. Shared song was a distractor on long marches, a way to bind Soldiers from different backgrounds, and a source of motivation to fight the enemy. Those shared musical experiences provide context and meaning that is vital to psychological and emotional recovery after war, and helps Veterans stay connected to each other and their service. This bonding force helps them tell their story to the public at large so the public truly understands the sacrifices they made, which can help to bring us all together as a nation.

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Dr. Circe Olson Woessner

The Museum of the American Military Family & Learning Center: Storytelling, Art, Music, and History in Tijeras, NM

Posted by Dr. Circe Olson Woessner, Nov 01, 2019


Dr. Circe Olson Woessner

It generally happens like this: The door to our museum opens—and in comes … a former military brat … or spouse … or a veteran with his or her family. Most of the time, they’re from out of town and have been following us on Facebook, planning a trip to our museum when they visit Albuquerque—or they were just driving along Route 66 and happened to see our sign. No matter how they got to the Museum of the American Military Family & Learning Center, their reactions are almost always the same: “I had no idea what to expect…” and then “Oh—this is amazing!” Because people process things differently, we capture military family history in as many formats as possible. The museum is educational, experiential, and interactive. It’s a mixture of practicality and whimsey—take our living room, for example—with its props of starched uniforms on an ironing board complete with iron, starch bottle and laundry basket, its cozy sitting area where we have discussion groups or watch DVDs on TV, or its exhibits, with panels of facts and figures. Visitors become a part of the museum, by simply being there.

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NLGA State Military & Veterans Arts Initiative Resolution Moves Ahead

Series of summits kicked off with the Louisiana Military & Veterans Arts & Humanities Summit

Tuesday, October 8, 2019

Americans for the Arts and the National Lieutenant Governors Association (NLGA) has launched a series of three pilot Military & Veterans State Arts & Humanities Summits in 2019-2020. The Louisiana Military & Veterans Arts & Humanities Summit, first in the series, brought key stakeholders together to learn about programs and services offered by military/veteran agencies, as well as programs offered through arts and humanities organizations in Louisiana.


Randy Cohen

UPDATED! Top 10 Reasons to Support the Arts for National Arts & Humanities Month

Posted by Randy Cohen, Oct 02, 2019


Randy Cohen

October is National Arts & Humanities Month, a time to celebrate and champion the arts locally and nationally. The arts are fundamental to our humanity. They ennoble and inspire us—fostering creativity, goodness, and beauty. The arts bring us joy, help us express our values, and build bridges between cultures. The arts are also a fundamental component of a healthy community—strengthening them socially, educationally, and economically—benefits that persist even in difficult social and economic times. The effective arts advocate needs a full quiver of case-making arrows to articulate the value of the arts in as many ways as possible—from the passionately inherent to the functionally pragmatic. To help fill your quiver, I offer an updated Top 10 Reasons to Support the Arts.

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Diavolo Veterans Project: Medicine for the Soul

The Restorative Power of Performance

Monday, August 12, 2019

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DIAVOLO, a Los Angeles-based dance company, has made it a mission of their Veterans Project to utilize their unique style of movement as a tool to help restore veterans' physical, mental, and emotional strengths through workshops and public performances in communities all around the country. Earlier this year, the Veterans Project expanded to a national program, bringing the initiative to Kansas State University.

A short documentary that shows how the arts can strengthen the well-being of service members, veterans, and their families.

Americans for the Arts Unveils Documentary to Show Benefit of Arts to Service Members, Veterans, Families

Wednesday, July 17, 2019

Americans for the Arts' new documentary, CAMMO: Healing Through Song, profiles participating members of the Center for American Military Music Opportunities (CAMMO); shows how the arts can strengthen the well-being of service members, veterans, and their families; and features members of Voices of Service, one of many community-based music programs that CAMMO offers.

A Win for Music Therapy and more to Serve Florida Veterans

Governor DeSantis Signs Law Approving Alternative Treatment Options

Friday, June 28, 2019

DeSantis signs HB501 for alternative treatments for Florida Veterans
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A series of alternative treatment options could soon be available in Florida to U.S. military veterans with traumatic brain injuries and/or post-traumatic stress disorder, under a law signed on June 28 by Gov. Ron DeSantis. The measure (HB 501) drew unanimous support from both the Florida House and Senate during the legislative session. 


Ms. Jill Tutt

Arts & Military Connections: Missouri American Legion Tom Powell Post #77 Celebrates 100 years

Posted by Ms. Jill Tutt, Jul 02, 2019


Ms. Jill Tutt

In September 1919, American Legion Tom Powell Post #77 in St. Louis was the first of its kind to become chartered as an all African American Post, decades before the military would desegregate. Post #77 takes pride in having members who served with distinction with the Tuskegee Airmen, Buffalo Soldiers, Montford Point Marines, and many other distinguished military units. Post members also have a proud history of assisting disabled and unemployed veterans, and a strong legacy of providing community youth arts programs. Tom Powell Post #77 was instrumental in bringing the concept of competitive marching music to the community through the development of the Spirit of St. Louis senior drum and bugle corps, and mentored the famed American Woodmen Cadets junior drum and bugle corps programs. The Tom Powell Post Junior Drum and Bugle Corps was organized on September 1, 1935, to help curb juvenile delinquency in and around the neighborhood and to provide music to the Post members marching in the American Legion parade held in St. Louis. The Corps as a competitive group won many honors, including perennial Missouri State championships and placing in the top 10 of numerous national conventions. The Corps was the only Black Corps in the country participating in American Legion competition.

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Texas Funds State Arts & Military Initiative through 2021

The budget adds $250,000 for arts healing grants for active duty personnel and veterans

Saturday, June 15, 2019

Texas Commission on the Arts
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After two years of hearings and legislative advocacy, Texas Governor Greg Abbott signed the Texas Commission on the Arts 2020-21 budget into law on June 15. The budget adds $250,000 for Exceptional Item #3—Arts Healing Grants for Active Service Members and Veterans to be administered under the state Arts Respond program.

Creative Forces’ Community Connections Projects Ensure Successful Transitions Back to Civilian Life

Friday, May 17, 2019

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Through Community Connections, Creative Forces is building networks of arts organizations in communities surrounding clinical sites, allowing patients to continue participating in the arts after treatment to ensure a successful transition back to civilian life. The networks also will provide options for service members and veterans who have not received clinical therapy, but would benefit from hands-on experiences with the arts.

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