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Apr 25, 2022
Bird's eye view of a city street with a colorfully painted striped mural on the median where people stand and walk bikes.

Can art improve roadway safety? A new report examines the impact of art in the streetscape by comparing historical crash rates and real-time behavior of motorists and pedestrians at 22 “asphalt art” sites before and after the projects were installed, with illuminating results.

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Apr 25, 2022
Five smiling people side by side in a six-square grid, with the sixth square being a blue star with "Americans for the Arts" in gray underneath.

Americans for the Arts is pleased to announce the addition of five new members to its board of directors: Torrie Allen, president and CEO of Arts Midwest; Christopher Cutler, CFA, founder and president of Manager Analysis Services, LLC; Marc D. Folk, president and CEO of The Arts Commission of Greater Toledo; Kristina Newman-Scott, executive director of The Jerome L. Greene Performance Space at New York Public Radio; and Ravi S. Rajan, president of the California Institute of the Arts. These new members will start June 1 and join at a critical time to help further the transformative and mission-focused work of the board and organization in support of the arts and culture sector and field. 

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Apr 20, 2022
Text graphic that reads: Creative Counties Placemaking Challenge, Building Arts-Driven Community and Economic Development Solutions

The National Association of Counties (NACo) and Americans for the Arts today announced six winners of the 2022 Creative Counties Placemaking Challenge, supported in part by the National Endowment for the Arts. In the coming months, Americans for the Arts will provide virtual training and expertise as the teams explore arts-based strategies to meet policy objectives.

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Apr 14, 2022
National Endowment for the Arts logo

Today, the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) joined more than 90 federal agencies in releasing an Equity Action Plan in accordance with President Biden’s Executive Order 13985 on Advancing Racial Equity and Support for Underserved Communities Through the Federal Government. The order outlines a whole-of-government mandate to advance equity for all Americans through a comprehensive approach to all government practices.

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Apr 14, 2022
Person with short dark hair wearing an orange blazer and jewelry sitting in front of a U.S. flag.

Rep. Nydia Velázquez introduced a bill that would increase the Educator Expense Deduction to $2,000 and allow early childhood educators to take advantage of the tax benefit.

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Apr 12, 2022
People look and point at a large colorful mural painted to resemble a neighborhood street map.

The American Planning Association recently announced the formation of a new Division focusing on the intersection of the arts and planning to provide a unique opportunity for artists and culture bearers to achieve more effective engagement between the two disciplines, as well as a stronger platform to influence the planning profession within the American Planning Association and beyond.

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Mar 31, 2022
Blue star with "Americans for the Arts" below it in gray letters, all against a white background

Nolen Bivens, President and CEO of Americans for the Arts, and Nina Ozlu Tunceli, Executive Director of the Americans for the Arts Action Fund, released a statement in response to the Biden administration’s proposed fiscal year (FY) 2023 budget. 

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Mar 29, 2022
Tall ionic marble columns in the foreground of a photo of a multi-story interior courtyard space with a spouting fountain. Visible in the background are arches lining the walls and a matching set of marble columns.

The public comment period aims to better understand how the Art in Architecture program can promote the goals articulated in a January 2021 Executive Order signed by President Biden, “Advancing Racial Equity and Support for Underserved Communities Through the Federal Government,” as well as promoting civic engagement and participation and democratic values, and advancing social ties and economic development at the community level. 

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Mar 24, 2022
Graffiti style mural painted on a brick wall showing a nurse in traditional white uniform and a white mask with a heartbeat graph behind them and COVID-19 above them.

For the first time since the post-Great Recession period, the year-over-year value add of arts and culture production declined in 2020, from $930 billion in 2019 to an estimated $877 billion in 2020. Even with that decline, however, the economic impact of the creative sector is significant: the sector represented 4.2% of the nation’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in 2020 and supported 4.6 million wage and salary workers.

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Mar 18, 2022
Photo of the White House, a large white neoclassical building, with leafy green trees framing the view

On March 15, 2022, President Biden signed the $1.5 trillion spending omnibus package passed by Congress on March 12. Considerations for the arts and culture sector in this spending package has been many months in the making and is the result of the dedication and leadership of arts advocates across the country. 

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