Barack Obama’s Inauguration A Letter from Americans for the Arts On January 28, 2009, the U.S. House of Representatives passed their version of the Economic Recovery Package by a vote of 244 to 188 which successfully included $50 million in supplemental grants funding for the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA)! This provision was threatened throughout the House process by opponents of the NEA who questioned its effectiveness in providing economic stimulus. Today, the [...]
Photo: Annie Liebovitz A Letter from Americans for the Arts’ President & CEO Robert L. Lynch: Last month I wrote to you regarding the current state of the economy and its impact on the arts. That e-mail included information on the Arts Funding Response and Readiness Kit. Many of you have found that information to be useful to you in working on funding issues with your local and state governments. As promised, I am again [...]
Urge members of Senate to co-sponsor bipartisan legislation, S. 548, which would allow artists to take a fair-market value deduction for works given to and retained by nonprofit institutions. The U.S. tax system accords unequal treatment to creators and collectors who donate tangible works (e.g., paintings or manuscripts) to museums, libraries, educational or other collecting institutions. A collector may take a tax deduction for the fair-market value of the work, but creators may deduct [...]