Reminders
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The
State
Finals of the Poetry Out Loud
Recitation Competition will be held at 7 p.m. on Thursday, February 28,
2008 at the Schwartz Center for the Arts in Dover. This event is free
and open to the public. Join us for an inspiring evening!
Governor
Ruth Ann Minner with the 2007 Poetry Out Loud finalists.
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A
reception to meet Delaware's 2008 Individual Artist Fellowship
recipients will be held on Wednesday, March 19 from 4:30 – 6:30 p.m. at
the Biggs Museum in Dover. The event is free and open to the public,
but advanced registration is required. Please call 302-577-8290 or
email delarts@state.de.us
with your name and the number attending by March 14 to RSVP.
Funding
for the Arts in Lean Times
At its
recent appearance
before the General Assembly's Joint Finance Committee, the Division of
the Arts heard that the committee may need to cut the Governor's
proposed FY2009 budget. The Division of the Arts, along with all state
agencies, is under review by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB)
for current year spending, and possible budget cuts in FY2009.
Projected state revenues have declined in recent months and,
consequently, OMB is exploring all options for keeping state spending
in line with revenue.
As for
federal funds,
Congress approved a significant increase for the National Endowment for
the Arts in FY2008 (July 1, 2008 through June 30, 2009) for a total
budget of $144.7 million. Delaware should see some of that increase
that is designated for state partnership grants. For details on this
year's federal increase, visit: http://www.nasaa-arts.org/nasaanews/2008-arts-increase.shtml.
However,
President Bush's
proposed budget for FY2009 (July 1, 2009 through June 30, 2010) takes
away that increase and would reduce federal funding to $128.4 million,
a level comparable to what he proposed for FY2008. For details on the
proposed cuts, visit: http://www.nasaa-arts.org/nasaanews/leg-alert020508.htm.
National Arts Advocacy Day is March 31st
Arts
advocacy is about building relationships and communicating the
importance of the arts in our lives. Taken from The NASAA Advocate:
Strategies for Building Arts Support, here are just five of forty
possible action steps for arts advocacy. Notice that none of them are
directly about asking for money, but they are essential building blocks
for increasing public and private understanding and support for the
arts.
1: Promote
alliances between arts advocates and non-arts advocacy groups such
as teachers' organizations, travel and tourism groups, organizations
serving youth, chambers of commerce, and business groups.
2: Develop
advocates in other organizations by encouraging a board on which
you serve or an organization to which you belong—including those
outside the arts—to adopt a policy statement in support of public arts
funding.
3: Link
public funding for the arts to issues in education, social
concerns, and economic and commercial development. Give a larger
dimension to your advocacy for the arts by broadening the discussion to
embrace other topics.
4: Meet
your elected officials whenever you can, even at events that
aren't about the arts. Introduce yourself to your legislator or other
public official in attendance, and identify your connection with the
arts in your community.
5: Stand
up at election time and begin educating politicians before they
take office. Participate in candidate forums, town meetings, and "meet
and greet" parties in your communities.
Download The
NASAA Advocate: Strategies for Building Arts Support for all
forty steps.
Delaware
State Arts Council Nominations
The Delaware
State Arts Council is the advisory body to the Delaware Division of the
Arts. The Council advises the Division of the Arts on matters of arts
policy, funding for the arts, and other issues relevant to support for
the arts in Delaware. The Council, according to its enabling
legislation, shall be composed of not more than 15 members appointed
by the Governor, who represent the state geographically and politically
and are appointed on the basis of their interest and experience in the
arts.
In 2008,
several State Arts Council members will be retiring their terms of
service. In preparation for that, members of the Council's nominating
committee will be working with the Governor's office to identify
potential replacements through the Governor's Commission nomination
process.
If you are
interested in being considered for the State Arts Council, the
application forms required to request an appointment are available online.
These forms can be downloaded and printed for completion, or filled-out
online and then printed. Instructions for completing and submitting the
forms are included with the application. The code for the Delaware
State Arts Council is #0014.
Delaware
Performing Arts Presenters Initiative
Mid Atlantic
Arts Foundation and the Delaware Division of the Arts are partnering on
the Delaware Performing Arts Presenters Initiative which defrays costs
related to the presentation of regional touring performing artists in
Delaware venues. Guidelines for the Fiscal Year 2009 round of grants
will be posted on the Division website by the end of the February.
Applications are due April 8.
A
MAAF presenters grant made it possible for Coastal Concerts to expand
the programming for the Meridian Arts Ensemble in January.
They are shown performing for 6th and 7th graders
at Mariner Middle School in Milton.
We
want to hear from you
The Division
of the Arts is looking for interview ideas and topics of interest for
its weekly radio show, "State of the Arts." The program is broadcast on
1450 WILM News Radio on the weekend. The interviews are then available
on our website as podcasts. Please send your ideas to
delarts@state.de.us.
Applause
is a feature on the Division's homepage to acknowledge the artistic
accomplishments of Delaware's artists and organizations. Please send
noteworthy items to Roxanne.Stanulis@state.de.us
for consideration.
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