Welcome to the Advocacy Update
February 13, 2018
The Advocacy Update is where you can find current national and state news concerning arts advocacy and arts education.
NATIONAL NEWS
Statement from National Endowment for the Arts Chairman Jane Chu
Today we learned that the President’s FY 2019 budget proposes of the National Endowment for the Arts. We are disappointed because we see our funding actively making a difference with individuals in thousands of communities and in every Congressional District in the nation. (National Endowment for the Arts)
$25 Million in Grants Support Art Projects Nationwide
Each year, more than 4,500 communities large and small throughout the United States benefit from National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) grants to nonprofits. For the NEA’s first of two major grant announcements of year 2018, more than $25 million in grants across all artistic disciplines will be awarded to nonprofit organizations in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico. (National Endowment for the Arts)
STATE NEWS
Got state theatre and other arts education news you want to share? Send it to Shea: shaney@schooltheatre.org
Arkansas: Lawmaker’s Tweet Over Dance Major Sparks Higher Education Debate (NWA Homepage)
Arizona: Governor Doug Ducey’s Proposed Budget Includes Zero Dollars for the Arts (Phoenix New Times)
California: La Jolla Playhouse Sponsoring JumpStart Theatre Program Opportunity for SDUSD Middle Schools (Times of San Diego)
Newhall District Describes its ‘Full-Rounded’ Arts Education (The Signal of Santa Clarita Valley)
19 San Diego Area Organizations Share in Latest National Endowment for the Arts Grant (San Diego )
Connecticut: Long Wharf Hosts August Wilson Monologue Contest (The Day)
State Arts Office Awards Grants to 17 Greater Middletown Groups (The Middletown Press)
Florida: TheatreWorks Florida gets $10,000 Grant (The Ledger)
Theatre Community Rallies to Benefit Ailing Dancer/Teacher (BOCA Newspaper)
Out and About: Sarasota Ballet’s On Pointe Luncheon (Herald-Tribune)
Georgia: Which Georgia Arts Groups Won NEA Grants? (AJC)
Group in Macon Brings Art of Mime to Bellevue Community (WMGT)
Kentucky: State Investment in the Arts Pays Big Returns. Why Doesn’t Gov. Matt Bevin Get It? (Lexington )
Michigan: A Strategy to bring Arts to Schools Throughout Detroit (Detroit Free Press)
North Carolina: March 1st Deadline for NC Arts Council Grants (Public Radio East)
EHS Needs More Drama (Elkin Tribune)
New Hampshire: Circle of Life (Monadnock Ledger-Transcript)
New Jersey: Pushcart Players Get Whitehill Foundation Grant (NorthJersey.com)
Count Basie Theatre Announces Registrations for Annual Arts Impact Scholarships (New Jersey Stage)
Oklahoma: Needs & Deeds: 6 Oklahoma Nonprofits will be Among Recipients of National Endowment for the Arts Grants (News OK)
Texas: HGO Takes Opera to the Schools, and the Kids Like It (Houston Chronicle)
Virginia: Arts Council of the Valley Releases Spring Cycle Advancing the Arts Grant Applications (Augusta Free Press)
Washington: Black History Through the Lens of Critical Art Pedagogy (The Seattle Times)
West Virginia: House Passes Bill to Dissolve Department of Education and the Arts (Charleston Gazette-Mail)
Marshall University’s Educational Touring Theatre Company, Theatre Etc! Receives Anonymous Donation of $20,000 (Broadway World)
INTERNATIONAL NEWS
Liberia: Burning Barriers, Building Bridges Through the Performing Arts (All Africa)
New Zealand: Education Minister Promises to Replace Stage Challenge, Provides Further Funding (Stuff)
Turkey: Children’s Drama Banned for Being Anti War (Ahval News)
WORTH READING
Casting Controversy Derailed a High School Play. Then came the Threats
It started as a local debate over a New York high school production of the musical “The Hunchback of Notre Dame.” A white teenager was cast in the lead role of Esmeralda, a 15th-century Roma woman, spurring young student activists to object. (The New York Times)