Work by Cildo Meireles

From The Art Newspaper, June 6, 2009:

Exhibitions axed as recession bites:
US worst hit as sponsorship withdrawn and endowment wealth shrinks
By Jason Edward Kaufman and Martin Bailey

“An Art News paper survey suggests that a growing number of exhibitions are being cancelled because of the recession. We have identified over 20 important shows that have been axed (or, in a few cases, postponed) later this year or in 2010.

Our list almost certainly represents the tip of the iceberg. Many venues have not yet published their 2010 programme, and some unannounced shows that had been provisionally scheduled are being quietly dropped. Decisions may have been influenced by a number of factors, but according to our research financial concerns were key.

The situation seems considerably worse in North America than in Europe. This is probably because North American museums are much more dependent on private sponsorship and endowments—particularly hit by the recession—while Euro pean institutions receive more government funding.

Among the worst-hit institutions is the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (Lacma), with at least three major shows being lost. In August it was to have presented “Heavy Light: Recent Photography and Video from Japan”, coming from New York’s International Center of Photography, where it was shown last year. This has now been cancelled.

In November, an exhibition on Brazilian artist Cildo Meireles was due to come to Lacma after first showing at Tate Modern in October 2008 and the Museu d’Art Contemporani de Barcelona (where it closed in April). The entire North American tour has been cancelled, including presentations at Houston’s Museum of Fine Arts (originally scheduled for June) and Toronto’s Art Gallery of Ontario (in March 2010).

Meanwhile, a retrospective on the Armenian-born Ameri can artist Arshile Gorky who died in 1948 had been scheduled for Lacma in June 2010, but has been dropped. Organ ised by the Philadelphia Museum of Art (opening October 2009), Tate Modern is now the only other venue for the exhibition (spring 2010).

In some cases, late moves have been made to rescue shows. Tate Britain had long planned a major exhibition on Zoffany for autumn 2010. Earlier this year it was dropped, partly because of its financial viability in the present economic circumstances.

The Royal Academy has now stepped in and has taken the show for spring 2012. It is notable that the Academy felt it could make the project viable, despite Tate’s concerns.
Tate Britain, therefore, has a gap in its programme, and plans are being considered to extend its yet-to-be-announced Henry Moore exhibition. This large show will look at the sculptor’s place in modern art, supported with loans from the Henry Moore Foundation.  The proposal is to extend it from a normal three-month run to six months.

Even if it is mainly American museums that are cancelling shows, this can directly impact on European institutions, in the case of touring exhibitions. Presenting an exhibition at several venues spreads costs or brings in a fee to the originating museum. The Victoria and Albert Museum is touring “Surreal Things: Surrealism and Design”, which was due to have been presented at the Minneapolis Institute of Arts in February 2010. This has now been cancelled. V&A director Mark Jones told us that “we have seen some cancellations of our travelling exhibitions, and it would be foolish to pretend there are no problems”.

Another example is the French 19th-century artist Jean-Léon Gérôme, which opens at the Getty in late 2010 and will then be presented at the Musée d’Orsay in early 2011. The showing at Baltimore’s Walters Art Museum in spring 2010 has been cancelled. Walters’ director Gary Vikan said that the show would have resulted in a net loss of $300,000. “In normal times, we could have lived with that,” he said.

Shows cancelled or postponed
• Baltimore, Walters Art Museum, “Jean-Léon Gérôme”, February-May 2010, cancelled
• Boston, Museum of Fine Arts, “Subversion of the Images: Surrealism and Photography”, spring 2010, cancelled
• Chicago, Field Museum, “Lucy’s Legacy: the Hidden Treasures of Ethiopia”, planned for 2009-10, dropped
• Denver, Denver Art Museum, “Imperial Mughal Albums from the Chester Beatty Library”, July-September 2009, cancelled
• Honolulu, Contemporary Art Museum, “Japan Fantastic” (11 contemporary artists), December 2009-March 2010, cancelled
• Houston, Museum of Fine Arts, “Cildo Meireles”, June-September 2009, cancelled
• Kansas City, Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art, “Rafael Lozano-Hemmer”, February-May 2009, cancelled
• London, Tate Britain, “Johann Zoffany”, autumn 2010, cancelled and moved to Royal Academy
• Los Angeles, Getty Museum, “Franz Messerschmidt”, September 2009-January 2010, postponed
• Los Angeles, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, “Heavy Light: Recent Photography and Video from Japan”, August-November 2009, cancelled
• Los Angeles, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, “Cildo Meireles”, November 2009-February 2010, cancelled
• Los Angeles, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, “Arshile Gorky: a Retrospective”, June-September 2010, cancelled
• Minneapolis, Minneapolis Institute of Arts, “Surreal Things: Surrealism and Design”, February-May 2010, cancelled
• New York, Brooklyn Museum of Art, “Donald Saff and the Art of Collaboration”, September 2009-January 2010, cancelled
• New York, Metropolitan Museum, “Duncan Phyfe: America’s Legendary Cabinetmaker”, January-April 2010, postponed
• Paris, Centre Pompidou, Indian contemporary art, 2010, postponed to 2011
• Philadelphia, Philadelphia Museum of Art, “The Kingdom of Aragon” (15th-century Spanish painting), spring 2010, postponed to 2011
• Reykjavík, National Gallery of Iceland, “Off the Beaten Track: Violence, Women and Art”, September-December 2009, cancelled
• Toronto, Art Gallery of Ontario, “Cildo Meireles”, March-June 2010, cancelled
• Vienna, Albertina, “Jörg Immendorff”, October 2009-January 2010, cancelled “

Los Angeles Museum of Contemporary Art

From ArtForum.com, June 3, 2009:

“The Los Angeles Museum of Contemporary Art had recently announced another sweep of layoffs, seventeen in all. Now, one of the most high-profile pink slips has gone to Brooke Hodge, the museum’s longtime curator of architecture and design. Hodge was responsible, among many other things during her tenure, for the exhibition, “Frank O. Gehry: Work in Progress.” According to the Architect’s Newspaper, via Mediabistro, LA MoCA has also canceled its upcoming Morphosis exhibition.

Notes the Architect’s Newspaper: “The move has spurred anxiety in the Los Angeles design community, where questions have been raised about LA MoCA’s commitment to architecture. ‘It’s a real disappointment,’ said Chris Alexander, curator of architecture and design at the Getty.”

In other news, Christopher West, curator of the Indianapolis Museum of Contemporary Art for the past five years, has been let go by the organization, while the museum’s cofounder, Jeremy Efroymson, has returned to the helm of the museum, according to the Indianapolis Star.

West, who was recently honored with a ten-thousand-dollar Creative Renewal Fellowship from the Arts Council of Indianapolis, said he was let go last Wednesday. “Obviously, economic times are pretty tough right now,” West said, “so I was not completely surprised.”

West’s departure comes less than a month after executive director Kathy Nagler said she’d be leaving the museum for a fund-raising job with the Indianapolis Museum of Art. Efroymson said he will fill Nagler’s role, while West’s duties will be filled by “guest curators,” as well as West himself from time to time.

“We’re not totally shutting him out. Christopher is going to be brought back to do shows on a contract basis,” Efroymson said.”

Ilya Bolotowsky, WPA Mural Williamsburg Housing Project, 1936
Liquitex on canvas, 82 x 204 inches

Washington, D.C. — Unemployment rates are up among working artists and the artist workforce has contracted, according to new research from the National Endowment for the Arts. Artists in a Year of Recession: Impact on Jobs in 2008 examines how the economic slowdown has affected the nation’s working artists. The study looks at artist employment patterns during two spikes in the current recession – the fourth quarters of 2007 and 2008. This downturn reflects larger economic declines: a Commerce Department report last week noted a 6.2 percent decrease in the gross domestic product in the last quarter of 2008.

Among the findings:

* Artists are unemployed at twice the rate of professional workers.
* Unemployment rates for artists have risen more rapidly than for U.S. workers as a whole.
* Artist unemployment rates would be even higher if not for the large number of artists leaving the workforce.
* Unemployment rose for most types of artist occupations.
* The job market for artists is unlikely to improve until long after the U.S. economy starts to recover.

Read complete report.

Oklahoma Senator Tom Coburn
needs more blood in his brain so he’ll
start thinking more clearly about the arts

A Letter from Americans for the Arts (February 13, 2009)

Just moments ago, the U.S. House of Representatives approved their final version of the Economic Recovery bill by a vote of 246-183. We can now confirm that the package DOES include $50 million in direct support for arts jobs through National Endowment for the Arts grants. We are also happy to report that the exclusionary Coburn Amendment language banning certain arts groups from receiving any other economic recovery funds has also been successfully removed. Tonight the Senate is scheduled to have their final vote, and President Obama plans to sign the bill on Monday – President’s Day.

A United Voice
This is an important victory for all of you as arts advocates. More than 85,000 letters were sent to Congress, thousands of calls were made, and hundreds of op-eds, letters to the editor, news stories, and blog entries were generated in print and online media about the role of the arts in the economy. Artists, business leaders, mayors, governors, and a full range of national, state, and local arts groups all united together on this advocacy issue. This outcome marks a stunning turnaround of events and exemplifies the power of grassroots arts advocacy.

We would like to also thank some key leaders on Capitol Hill who really carried our voices into the conference negotiation room and throughout the halls of Congress: Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), House Appropriations Chairman Dave Obey (D-WI), House Interior Appropriations Subcommittee Chairman Norm Dicks (D-WA), and Congressional Arts Caucus Co-Chair Louise Slaughter (D-NY). We also want to publicly thank President Obama for taking the early lead in recognizing the role of the arts in economic development. These leaders were able to convincingly make the case that protecting jobs in the creative sector is integral to the U.S. economy.

What’s Next
As we wrap up our work on the Economic Recovery legislation, we wanted to share with you other upcoming legislative action that we are tracking:
Finalization by early March of the FY 2009 appropriations, which has been operating under a continuing resolution for the last five months.

*Release of President Obama’s first federal budget for FY 2010 is expected in late March/early April.
* Hearings in the House Interior Appropriations Subcommittee on the FY 2010 budget.
* Hearings in the House Education & Labor Committee on arts in the workforce and arts education.
* The 22nd Annual National Arts Advocacy Day conference on Capitol Hill on March 30-31, 2009.

Webinar on Federal Funding Announced, NEA Officials to Join
There is further good news for the arts and arts education in the other sections of this $789 billion economic recovery legislation — but we’re still reading through the 1000+ pages. Americans for the Arts will give an update on the economic stimulus package as well as other federal sources of arts funding in a webinar on Wednesday, February 18, 2:00-3:30pm EST. The webinar presentation will include remarks by Acting National Endowment for the Arts Chairman Patrice Walker Powell and newly appointed Director of Government Affairs Anita Decker. The webinar is free to Americans for the Arts professional members.

A Letter from the New York State Alliance of Arts Organizations (February 13, 2009)

The Senate and House of Representatives are set to vote on final passage of the economic stimulus legislation – H.R.1, the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act – which includes $50 million for the National Endowment for the Arts.

The compromise version of the bill with tax breaks and spending totaling $789 billion stipulates that the arts funding goes for grants to activities and projects “which preserve jobs in the nonprofit arts sector threatened by declines in philanthropic and other support during the current economic downturn”, with 40 percent of the amount going to state arts agencies and regional arts organizations (“in a manner similar to the agency’s current practice”) and the remainder going out in competitive grants from the NEA. Matching requirements are waived.

House and Senate negotiators on the bill dropped the language prohibiting stimulus funds from going to museums, theatres, and arts centers which was included in the version of the bill passed by the Senate. However, the legislation still excludes support from going to fund projects at zoos and aquariums along with casinos, golf courses and swimming pools.

Congratulations and appreciation to all of you who contacted your legislators in Washington urging their support for the arts funding in the stimulus package. The House allocated the money for the NEA from the beginning of the process, but the Senate did not include the arts funding in its draft of the stimulus bill. Your advocacy and the insistence of our champions in the House and Senate made the difference.

Yo Mo’Modernism 2 from ccnoa on Vimeo.

An Important Note from CCNOA, Brussels, Belgium:

Dear All,

We have just received preliminary notification (pre-advies) of the intention of the Vlaamse Gemeenschap to discontinue structural funding for CCNOA as of 31 December 2009. Without this subsidy it will be impossible for us to continue operating. After more than 10 years of commitment and a continuously expanding program CCNOA will be obliged to close its doors. We have ten (10) working days in which to appeal.

Please react, send us a short note of support on http://ccnoa.org/spip.php?page=support or on http://www.facebook.com/people/Ccnoa-Needs-You/1400682303, spread the word and support us in continuing our operations.

Thank you for your support.

With kind regards,
Petra Bungert & Team CCNOA
Executive Director

CCNOA
Center for contemporary non-objective art
Boulevard Barthelemylaan 5
B-1000 Brussels
T & F +32 (0)2 502 6912
info@ccnoa.org
www.ccnoa.org

ABOUT CCNOA
Since its inception in 1998, CCNOA, a multidisciplinary non-for-profit art center located in central Brussels, has specialized in the international presentation of all forms of contemporary non-objective art, notably painting, sculpture, photography, site-specific installation, video, sound art as well as architecture.

Abstract art is one of the most progressive and contemporary concepts of the many artistic visions alive today. It initially aimed to embrace all artistic forms of expression and to integrate them into all aspects of daily life. We expand on this farsighted concept. It revolves around the artists and the public, their questions, needs and aims.

CCNOA is the brainchild of Petra Bungert, former Head of Administration at New York’s P.S.1 Contemporary Art Center and Director of New York-based Petra Bungert Projects (1995-1997) and German artist and curator Tilman. Originating as a concept with humble beginnings, CCNOA has with its partners developed into an influential art center over the past decade.

CCNOA attracts European and international artists and art professionals to Brussels and actively assists them to communicate their art and practices to interested curators, art institutions, galleries and collectors worldwide. In the process CCNOA has become a platform for younger as well as more established artists, an innovating and experimental art center, and a cultural meeting point for visitors of all age groups and nationalities.

To date, over 200 artists from more than 27 countries including Australia, Japan, New Zealand and the United States have been featured in our exhibitions and many have facilitated cultural and educational exchanges with their respective countries. Artists who have exhibited at CCNOA have subsequently presented their work in leading national and international art museums and participated in Biennials in Sydney and Venice as well as the Documenta. They are represented by critically acclaimed private galleries and are present in many private, corporate and public collections.

Over the past 10 years, we have organized and produced over 250 solo and (touring) group exhibitions in Brussels and abroad, promoting international exchange. The emphasis of our programs is laid on information, analysis and sharing in order to participate in the promotion and the understanding of contemporary art and to stimulate dialogue and connections between local and international actors. Our co-operations and co-productions with cultural organizations, and especially our touring group exhibitions, automatically generate an international dimension. In these co-operations, we function as initiator as well as recipient, as host as well as guest. Thanks to our combined efforts, CCNOA and its associates are today not only integrated into the Belgian cultural landscape but continue to increase their visibility and relevance in relation to the European and international cultural circuit.

Our touring exhibitions include in chronological order: minimalpop (19 – 22 artists / Florence Lynch Gallery, New York City, United States / 2004; Galerie Les filles du calvaire, Paris, France & Brussels, Belgium / 2005; Arti et Amicitiae / Amsterdam, The Netherlands / 2007); 2step (55 artists / Kunstnernes Hus / Oslo, Norway / 2006; Margaret Harvey University Galleries, Hertfordshire, England / 2006); Painted Objects (10 – 22 artists / PS, Amsterdam, The Netherlands / 2005; CCNOA, Brussels, Belgium / 2006), Double Exposure : A Dialogue Between Painting and Photography (10 artists / CCNOA, Brussels, Belgium / 2006), A Bit O’ White (21 artists / CCNOA, Brussels, Belgium / 2007), My Eyes Keep Me In Trouble (15 – 22 artists / Nieuwe Vide, Haarlem, The Netherlands / 2007; SCA Galleries, Sydney, Australia / 2008; The Physics Room, Christchurch, New Zealand / 2008); Yo, Mo’ Modernism (26 artists / CCNOA, Brussels, Belgium / 2008).

Since our extensive operations abroad have over the past years generated an increased interest from international organizations and art professionals in Belgian’s cultural landscape and in its artistic production, we recently started to develop our new international exchange program INVESTGATE_BE which caters to this demand. The aim of this research residency program is to provide annually two foreign art administrators, curators, or cultural producers with the opportunity to investigate contemporary art production taking place within Belgium and the modus operandi of Belgian art organizations and funding entities, to network professionally within the international arts community, to work with individual artists, art groups and professionals and to convey the critical initiatives underlying their production. In exchange, we will facilitate, in cooperation with our partners, up to two annual research opportunities for Belgian art professionals abroad.

In addition, CCNOA regularly produces and publishes exhibition catalogues, artists’ editions, audio CDs and DVDs and actively aims to inspire the next generation via our education program, showing them different artistic choices in both a European and international context.

Lastly, our CCNOA Friends program enables members and the general public to gain closer access to the aesthetic innovations that we facilitate. And we take pride in providing a welcoming, international meeting point to enable like-minded people to locate others in their international tribe.

New York State Capitol, Albany

A Letter from the Alliance of New York State Arts Organizations

The 2008-09 New York State Council on the Arts (NYSCA) budget news is very disappointing and frustrating.

The Governor’s proposed deficit reduction bill was passed on Tuesday February 3. The $7 million is gone! The word is that the organizations in the October and December funding cycles that did not receive funding as a result of this cut will be first in line in the 2009-10 budget.

There are some strong NEXT STEPS WE CAN TAKE to protect arts funding. Here is what you can do:

Meet with your legislators at home in their district office; send letters and call your legislators; write letters to the editor of your local papers; get your Board members, audiences, artists, business associates to do the same.

* Push for a restoration of the $7 million in the 2009-10 budget
* Push for a piece of the federal economic stimulus money that will come to New York State

We can make some compelling arguments for the $7 million restoration: the $1.6 billion deficit reduction package that was passed on Tuesday included new taxes, fees, one time fund sweeps, new borrowing, and $315 in million in spending cuts. Included in the $315 in spending cuts were cuts to state agencies that totaled $135 million.

As a state agency, NYSCA’s cut was $7 million. That represents MORE THAN 5% of the total cuts to state agencies……a starkly disproportionate hit.

In addition, word has it that the federal economic stimulus funds coming to New York State could be $8 to $12 Billion. So it is not over.

Once the State’s economic stimulus numbers are known, you will hear from NYS ARTS.

NYS ARTS will continue to lead the fight.

Next week when you receive an alert from NYS ARTS to email your legislators, pleases do so asap. We want those emails to be received in Albany while the legislators are in town negotiating the 2010 budget.

Watch for action alerts from NYS ARTS. We will continue to keep you updated and on the move.

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 NEA offered the following statement, “the arts and culture industry is a sector of the economy just like any other with workers who pay taxes, mortgages, rent and contribute in other ways to the economy; and that the National Endowment for the Arts is uniquely positioned to assist in job stimulation for that industry.”

Thanks to the thousands of advocates who contacted their Members of Congress and let them know the importance of maintaining funding for the NEA!

However, our work is not finished yet as the U.S. Senate starts their debate on the bill tomorrow and continues through next week. The Senate Appropriations Committee did not include an arts jobs funding provision in their version of the bill, but advocates still have an opportunity to change the final outcome.

Please take two minutes to take action and ask your Member of Congress and Senators to support the arts in this legislation. Americans for the Arts has supplied you with fresh research and key quotes that support this funding — your help in communicating this information to your Member of Congress is critical.

“The Rose Art Museum on the Brandeis campus houses what is widely recognized as the finest collection of modern and contemporary art in New England. With more than 6,000 objects — paintings, sculptures, works on paper and new media — the Rose collection has particular strengths in American Modernism, American Social Realism, post-War American, Abstract Expressionism, Minimalism, Surrealism and Photorealism. Recent acquisitions include works by Nam June Paik, Anri Sala, William Kentridge, Thomas Demand and Matthew Barney. These names comprise a virtual “who’s who” of art since the 1960s. With its mission to “engage its communities in the experience of modern and contemporary art,” the Rose maintains an active exhibition program, presenting new art while embracing its foundation in historical modern art.” (excerpted from the museum’s web site)

In a move to correct its current operating deficit and shore up its lagging endowment, Brandeis University’s board of trustees recently voted unanimously to close the Rose Art Museum and sell off its collection of art.

A few quick thoughts come to mind:

1. Stop treating your museum collection like an ATM machine. Art is not cash.
2. Art is a critical component of a liberal arts education. Your museum is as important as your library.
3. Why not temporarily shutter the university’s athletic programs and facilities instead? Are these critically important to the university’s education mission?
4. Most of the works in your collection were donated. As an alternative, why not return them back to the artists who toiled away –- mainly in poverty – to make them.  They should benefit the most from their work’s appreciation in value.

Recent News Articles

Brandeis to sell school’s art collection, by Geoff Edgers and Peter Schworm
The Boston Globe, January 26, 2009

Brandeis to Sell All of Its Art
Inside Higher Ed, January 27, 2009

Outcry Over a Plan to Sell Museum’s Holdings, by Randy Kennedy and Carol Vogel
New York Times, January 27, 2009

Museum backers seek halt to selloff, Say art should stay at Brandeis, by Geoff Edgers
The Boston Globe, January 28, 2009

Hawk this gem? Unconscionable, by Sebastian Smee
The Boston Globe, January 28, 2009

Brandeis may keep art, says president, Reaffirms need to close museum, by Geoff Edgers
The Boston Globe, January 29, 2009

The Rape of the Rose, by David Bonetti
St. Louis Post-Dispatch, January 29, 2009

Brandeis on the Brink, by Judith H. Dobrzynski
The Daily Beast, January 30, 2009

In the Closing of Brandeis Museum, a Stark Statement of Priorities, by Roberta Smith
The New York Times, February 1, 2009

Museum director assails Brandeis’ plans
The Boston Globe, February 2, 2009

Is the University’s Museum Just a Rose to Be Plucked?, by Daniel Grant
Wall Street Journal, February 3, 2009

Audio Interview with Brandeis University President Jehuda Reinharz, by Tracy Jan
The Boston Globe, February 4, 2009 

Museum Rescue Sought, by Carol Vogel and Randy Kennedy
The New York Times, February 5, 2009

Letter: Brandeis president apologizes for handling of museum issue, by Geoff Edgers
The Boston Globe, February 5, 2009 

A Letter from the College Art Association (published on January 29, 2009)

The College Art Association (CAA) was shocked and dismayed to learn of the decision by BrandeisUniversity to close the Rose Art Museum and sell its entire art collection for operating revenue.

CAA supports the Codes of Ethics of the American Association of Museums and the Association of Art Museum Directors, which clearly state that works of art in museum collections are held as a public trust and that any proceeds of sales must only support the acquisition of new works. However, perceiving an entire art collection as a disposable financial asset and then dismantling that collection wholesale to cover other university expenses is deeply troubling for all college and university collections.

The closing of the museum at Brandeis will be devastating to the academic community, not only affecting our colleagues at the museum and students and faculty in the Department of Fine Arts, which offers programs in both studio art and art history, but also depriving the entire arts-loving public in New England and around the world. The teaching of art and art history in higher education is untenable without the direct study of physical works of art, and it appears the Brandeis Board of Trustees has disregarded the kind of scholarship and creativity that have been the hallmark of CAA members for nearly one hundred years.

According to news reports, neither Brandeis University nor the Rose Art Museum is on the brink of economic collapse, nor are they unable to maintain the collections. Given that no clear explanation has been offered on the school’s financial exigencies, the closure of the Rose Art Museumand the sale of its collection appear to be in violation of professional museum standards and of academic transparency and due process; the decision also demonstrates a lack of academic responsibility and fiduciary foresight. We appeal to the Trustees of Brandeis to revisit and reverse their decision.

Paul B. Jaskot
Executive Director, College Art Association
Professor of Art History
Department of the History of Art and Architecture
DePaul University

Linda Downs
President, College Art Association

New Facebook Group
Save the Rose Art Museum

MINUS SPACE welcomes your input! Comment below.

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 writing to you regarding the arts and the economy. As a member of Americans for the Arts you are receiving this information first. And I encourage you to forward this e-mail on to your friends and colleagues.

Last week, Americans for the Arts officially submitted its policy recommendations on the arts and economic recovery to the Obama Transition Team, and I meet with them on Thursday to discuss these ideas. The nine recommendations detail how existing federal programs, as well as new proposals, can provide critical support to the country’s arts, as well as economic infrastructure.

This marks an unprecedented opportunity for our nation’s arts community to play a role in revitalizing America’s economy. As you know, it is critical that the needs of the arts and culture sector are supported by the economic recovery plan, so that they can remain a healthy and vital part of the fabric of our nation.

An economic recovery web page has been created on the Americans for the Arts website that includes the nine recommendations, the press release that went out today, and a number of other important documents that support these recommendations.

After reading these recommendations I hope that you will take action by either writing to your elected representatives in Congress or by writing a letter to the editor of one of your local publications to gain support for these recomendations so that the arts are included in a national economic recovery package.

While these are trying times, it is also a time of great hope and renewal for the more than 100,000 arts organizations in our country and the millions of Americans who value the arts in their day-to-day lives.

As we move forward, I will continue to update you.

Sincerely,

Robert L. Lynch
President & CEO
Americans for the Arts
www.americansforthearts.org

New York State Capitol, Albany

A Message from the Alliance of New York State Arts Organizations

New York State Artists : We need to send a powerful message to Albany before January 13, 2009, describing the impact of the Governor’s proposed cut of $7 million to the New York State Council on the Arts’ 2008-09 budget. Your legislators need to know there will be significant economic losses to the state and to our communities….and it may well include major job losses. Remember, we only have 5 days to make our voices heard in Albany, so do it now.  Please forward this message to everyone you know.

> Click here to send an email to your legislator.

Facts You Need to Know:
2008-09 Budget (current fiscal year ending March 31)

The Governor proposes an additional $7 million cut to the current local assistance (grants) budget. This will eliminate almost all NYSCA funds that have not yet been awarded from the October and December cycles.

* As a result 573 organizations may not receive any funding, including those who have general operating support pending.

* This is the SECOND reduction in the current budget; there was almost a 10% reduction a couple of months ago.

* The first cut reduced the NYSCA budget from $48.5 million to $45.9 million. The Governor’s second proposed cut will bring the NYSCA budget down to $38.9 million, a total reduction of 20% from $48.5 million at the start of the current fiscal year.

The artists of A.I.R. Gallery, NYC, early 1970s

Among the key findings:

* Female artists earn less than male artists.
* Women make up just under half of all artists nationwide (46 percent), yet they are underrepresented in many artist professions.
* Women have achieved a greater presence in some artist occupations.
* Women artists are as likely to be married as female workers in general, but they are less likely to have children.
* Female artists cluster in low-population states.

Study provides the first look at 21st century labor trends among working artists. The National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) announces the release of Artists in the Workforce: 1990-2005, the first nationwide look at artists’ demographic and employment patterns in the 21st century. Artists in the Workforce analyzes working artist trends, gathering new statistics from the U.S. Census Bureau to provide a comprehensive overview of this workforce segment, its maturation over the past 30 years, along with detailed information on specific artist occupations.

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 only their “basis” value—essentially the cost of materials such as paint and canvas.

Email your Senators now.  It will take you less than a minute on Americans for the Arts’ web site.