A Valentine for the Arts

I rose before the sun on Valentine’s Day to be picked up by my friend Lauren Getek, from Rome Art and Community Center. The two of us (ambitious souls indeed) had planned for weeks to attend Arts Advocacy Day in Albany, a day that the arts field designates to appear en masse and talk to our elected representatives about issues related to the arts.

This was my third Advocacy Day. Much less scary than the first one, I had come to realize that, contrary to popular belief, our representatives seem to consider listening to their constituents an important part of the work they do. We made arrangments to meet with Senators Joseph Griffo and David Valesky, Assembly members Claudia Tenney and Anthony Brindisi, and Senator Betty Little and Assemblywoman Margaret Markey, chairs of committees encompassing arts and culture.

Lauren and I gotten together beforehand to plan what we would talk about during our 20-minute appointments. Having worked together for the arts in Rome for several years, she and I had become adept at crafting a multi-faceted message that reflects the unique character of our individual organizations, while bringing that testimony together to highlight the Rome arts community, and highlights its contribution to our area and the state.

The tourism dollars realized, and the over 330,000 jobs created by Arts organizations throughout the state, cannot be overstated. ArtsNYS, our statewide arts advocacy coalition, had taken a stance that, though agencies across the state had taken a uniform 10% cut, the New York State Council on the Arts (NYSCA) had taken a larger hit than most in past years. NYSCA has also put forth a strategic plan to increase their budget to $50 million over the next four years (this year’s proposed budget is $31.4 million). New York State has a strong history of artistic support; NYSCA was the first statewide arts agency in the nation, and served as a model for the creation of the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA).

Lauren and I, knowing that many constituents use advocacy days to complain about cuts and make demands, decided to take an alternate tactic, and arrived bearing the good news that our organizations were thriving during the economic downturn. We used this success as a springboard to encourage our representatives, as well as the chairs of the Senate and Assembly committees encompassing arts and cultural issues, to support NYSCA’s strategic plans in any way that they could.

The Rome community is indeed fortunate to have two separate but strong artistic entities serving the city and surrounding areas. In addition to the Capitol and RACC, there are many other arts groups and organizations with arts and cultural programs contributing to quality of life right here in Rome. If you ever get the chance to advocate on their behalf, I encourage you to do so. As one of our elected reps stated, arts and culture are a major part of what makes our society civilized. I couldn’t agree more.