News Wed Apr 09 2008

The Artistic is Political

As noted last month on A/C, the proposed state budget for 2009 maintains drastic cuts made to arts funding for fiscal year 2008. Apparently Governor Blagojevich has not seen the recent survey reporting that 57% of voters say they are less likely to vote for politicians who cut arts funding.

The “imagination constituency,” as the survey dubs them, is not just talking the talk, but also walking the walk: a recent piece in the Los Angeles Times noted that arts advocates have been successfully pressuring the Presidential candidates to make the arts a part of their policy platforms. Both Senator Clinton and Senator Obama offer their plans for the arts on their websites; Senator McCain has not yet followed suit, according to the Arts Action Fund’s Candidate Policy site.

If you’d like to do some pressuring of your own, the Americans for the Arts Action Center is an excellent place to start. It provides updates on important local and federal legislation and a simple interface for identifying and contacting your representatives and the media.

- Jamie Smith