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Attending Arts Advocacy Day 2017

  • 1.  Attending Arts Advocacy Day 2017

    Posted 03-24-2017 19:31

    I was not at all familiar with the Arts Advocacy Day or what to expect, but this year’s possible cuts to the NEA and NEH made it more imperative to take action.  I only learned about the day when I received an email about applying for the Hawkins Award.  Since I was on sabbatical this semester, it was easy for me to fit in a trip to Washington, D.C.  I was extremely thankful to be one of the recipients of the Hawkins Award, and I want to thank Julie Cohen Theobald, Jim Palmarini, Diane Carr and May Hetzer along with the Educational Theatre Association for this wonderful opportunity.

    The first night, the EdTA provided a dinner for the adults and students who came as representatives for EdTA.  This was a wonderful opportunity to network with people from different states and to hear each other’s stories.  It was also reassuring to connect with others who are fighting the arts fight in their own areas, being reminded that we are all going through similar struggles.

    The next day, we had a full agenda of informational sessions.  One of the most significant for me was the role play session with Massachusetts Senate Majority Leader Stanley C. Rosenberg.  Within that session, Senator Rosenberg said that he is always struck by how often constituents express surprise that they may contact their representatives.  He reminded us that they work for us, and it is our right to make our voices heard.  D.C. has always seemed to me this elite, insular society that is not for the “common man” but only for the politicos. It felt good to be given permission to take my place within this democratic process.

    That night, we went to the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts to hear an inspiring address from Darren Walker, President of the Ford Foundation.  He was the keynote speaker for the 30th Annual Nancy Hanks Lecture on Arts and Public Policy; however, for me the highlight was seeing a couple of selections from Anna Deveare Smith’s Notes from the Field.  The first piece was representing a woman who was convicted of murder because her boyfriend killed the man who had raped her; since she was there, she was also charged.  The other was Representative John Lewis’ story of a young southern deputy who asked Rep. Lewis’ forgiveness in front of a church full of people.  Anna Deveare Smith’s ethnographic performances are a thing to behold; she expertly embodies each person with specificity in both her physicality and speech patterns.  And the content is so moving.  I know she does hours of interviews, so she should be commended for what she chooses to share and how she crafts these stories.  Her work, from Twilight: Los Angeles 1992 and Fires in the Mirror to this century’s work on Notes from the Field, Professor Smith uses the arts to lay bare some very deep but troublesome truths about humanity.  And we learn from her.  It was so inspiring to see her work in person and to be reminded of the power of the arts.

    On Tuesday, we all met with our state delegations on Capitol Hill to meet our state representatives.  I was struck by how easily one may enter and walk around the office buildings for our national political representatives.  There is a security check, but no one asks people to sign in and to affirm whom they are visiting.  Many of the buildings are connected by tunnels, and we walked around freely. There are cafeterias, salons, spas and banks.  A train carries legislators underground to the capitol building when they need to vote. When we looked lost, legislators or aides stopped to point us in the right direction.  By the time I made it to the Kennedy Caucus room, I had arrived about thirty minutes into the presentation.  Ben Vareen, Brian Stokes Mitchell and Gabrielle Ruiz were the star power, and each of their talks was quite inspiring.  For me, however, seeing both democratic and republican senators and representatives come together to address arts advocates, I was struck by the weight of what we were doing; I was also struck by the feeling that we are not alone in this.  People from both sides of the political divide have a stake in saving the arts, and that was so uplifting.  I was impressed that Leader Pelosi took the time to encourage us and to show her support for the arts.  For me, however, the highlight was hearing Representative John Lewis; not only because it gave us a gauge by which we could immediately assess Professor Smith’s rendering, but also because this Civil Rights icon, a man who is approaching his 8th decade, a man who has suffered unimaginable horrors in his pursuit of equality, was a man who stood there telling us to “get up and get into some trouble; some good trouble”.  It was inspiring to see that after all he has been through, his integrity and sense of social justice still emanates from his entire being.  If John Lewis could survive all that he has in his life and remain a stalwart defender of what is right, I can go visit my four state legislators and talk about the arts!

    The New Hampshire delegation had it easy this year in that we have all democratic senators and representatives, all of whom are easy sells on the arts.  But it was empowering to talk with these representatives’ aides, to hear them solicit information from us about projects their bosses might want to attend in their home state. And I was also glad to have the opportunity to hear the stories of my fellow delegates. For me the most significant realization, though, was that there does not have to be a divide between myself and my work and my elected officials.  Indeed, there SHOULDN’T be that divide.  I have a voice, and my representatives want to hear what I think.  They want to hear how my work in the arts impacts their constituents.  This was an incredibly inspiring few days for me, and I’m so thankful for the opportunity.  This is definitely a special experience which I hope to repeat in the coming years. 



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    Raina Ames
    Asst. Professor/Director of Theatre Ed.
    Durham NH
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