The ITO take on Washington DC!
I had never been to our nation's capitol until Sunday, March 22nd when we arrived. The gang, minus the ever-lovely Rachel Gatewood (Region III), grabbed metro passes and took the city by storm! We walked all over the place, saw monuments, and a few museums. This picture was taken at the WWII memorial right before we walked back for our delicious EdTA dinner! I had the pleasure to eat dinner with the Democracy Works winner Grace Alt, her mother, and her sponsor. What a treat!
The next morning the ITO woke up early for a full day of advocacy training! Forty eight of the fifty states were represented in a large conference room, and BOY were they excited!! After checking in and acquiring my Arts Advocacy Day materials, I met my Iowa Team, Mr. Leon Kuehner (Director of Iowa Alliance for Arts Education) and Ms. Helen Duranleau-Brennan (Iowa Chapter Director for ITS). We spent the day working as a team in different meetings learning about what we need to advocate for, why we should advocate for it, and just exactly how we would advocate for it to our state's senators and representatives the following day on Capitol Hill.
This evening we had the privilege of going to The Kennedy Center (lobby pictured below) and hear Mr. Norman Lear speak. To accompany his speech was the Atlanta Youth symphony, and, much to Danysha's (ITO Communications Editor) excitement, the artist Common to introduce Mr. Lear. A truly beautiful and moving evening.
Finally Tuesday came. The big day we had been preparing and waiting for. Hooray! We were excited and ready for our four meetings. To get the advocates pumped up and ready for the day, Americans for the Arts prepared a breakfast in the Caucus Room. While we ate we listened to numerous speakers encouraging words and stories about why arts are so vital to life.
My fearless leaders Leon and Helen led the way to Congressman Loebsack's office where we were warmly welcomed and I met a staff member who also attended Northwestern University! Small world! Afterwards we decided to grab a quick lunch, and of course, I got a cheeseburger. But not just a cheeseburger-- a SENATE cheeseburger!! It was excellent.
We then went to Senator Grassley's office and Senator Ernst's office and made our "asks" and shared our stories. This was an incredible experience and opportunity that I will never, ever forget.
The arts change lives, and I will always fight for that. Thank you EdTA and artists everywhere!