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Advocacy
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Policy Updates
OPERA America represents the interests of the opera community before Congress, the White House and federal agencies. As a founding member of the Performing Arts Alliance, OPERA America works with the performing arts field to advocate for the development of national policies that recognize and strengthen the contributions that the arts make to America.
For more information on OPERA America’s advocacy activities, please contact OPERA America’s Government Affairs Office at 202-375-7523.
Latest Headlines
Sunday, January 29, 2012
Pulling Out All the Stops on Arts Funding
Performing arts organizations face a general funding crisis. Opera Boston closed its doors this January after a number of successful seasons because one donor (who singlehandedly gave more than 15 percent of its budget by himself) pulled out. That's a sign of the times. Ballet San Jose, which SFCV has recently reported on, also has relied too heavily on one donor to balance its budget.
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Wednesday, January 25, 2012
What Does Audience Engagement Really Mean?
I think arts organizations and the arts sector at large throw around the term “audience engagement” quite irresponsibly, using it as the new buzz word that makes us feel like we are doing something. It is no longer apropos to just focus on putting “butts in seats” or the more delicate euphemism “derrieres in chairs” or having educational programs that focus on the K-12 space with the hope it will pay off in developing audiences twenty years into the future. In this day of fast moving innovation, major cultural shifts, and more competition and information available than ever before, no one has the faith or time to see if the transactional or educational gambit will pay off. #
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Tuesday, January 24, 2012
Digital Culture Wars SOPA and the Fight for Control of Online Content
The recent congressional battle over the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) has provoked unprecedented digital political activism in the United States. Libertarians, progressives, and technologists have formed a creative alliance to fight the bill. SOPA would grant sweeping, unprecedented powers to copyright and trademark owners, deny due process to alleged infringers, and menace free expression. Having researched “fusion centers,” a shadowy new law enforcement apparatus joining corporations and police forces, I fear that SOPA will accelerate surveillance by an unaccountable industry-government partnership.
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Thursday, January 19, 2012
Behind the music: What if the culture industry shut down for a day?
Most people who don't work in film, music or digital technology companies probably hadn't heard of Sopa, the Stop Online Piracy Act, before this week – that is until Wikipedia's founder decided to black out all its English-language pages for a day in protest against proposed US legislation to combat the trafficking of copyrighted material online. It made me wonder what would happen if all the content-creation industries blocked access to all their products for a day to demonstrate what would happen if they couldn't make any money from their work owing to rogue sites. There'd be no music, no television, no film, no books, no radio. What would you miss the most – culture or Wikipedia?
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Tuesday, January 17, 2012
Toronto budget: Arts funding won’t be cut
After four months of fear and anxiety, on Thursday Toronto’s arts community got some news from City Hall that calls for a victory celebration.
The executive committee of city council voted in favour of sustaining arts funding levels at the same level that prevailed in 2011.
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Monday, January 09, 2012
Time to start pulling off the duct tape …
In his article, Occupy the Arts, a seat at a time, NY Times critic Anthony Tomasini (like others) pounced on recent allegations of ‘elitism’ in the arts (growing out of the Occupy movement), decrying that there are loads of free and affordable arts events and that even those organizations that charge $400 per ticket also have cheap seats (and the experience is just as great from the nosebleeds, thank you very much!). Not only do Tomasini and others seem a tad defensive when they fly their Free Tickets Flag in the face of those seeking to raise a conversation about social inequalities in the arts, it seems they rather miss the point.
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Tuesday, January 03, 2012
American Music Abroad Application Deadline (January 16)
American Music Abroad, a program administered by the Association of American Voices on behalf of the U.S. Department of State's Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs (ECA), has an application deadline of January 16. The program is "designed to communicate America's rich musical contributions to the global music scene as it fosters cross-cultural communication and people-to-people connections to a global audience." Music ensembles of 3-5 individuals may apply. Selected groups will tour between April 2012 and April 2013 and the tours will focus on younger and underserved audiences in over 40 countries with little or no access to live American musical performances. Ensembles performing American operas are eligible and encouraged to apply. For those attending APAP, ECA staff will be at booth 327 on Rhinelander I and able to answer any questions.
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Tuesday, January 03, 2012
President Signs FY12 Funding Bill
On Friday, December 23, President Obama signed a consolidated bill to fund the federal government for the remainder of the fiscal year. The National Endowment for the Arts was funded at $145.979 million for FY12, a decrease of $8.745 million from FY11. The Arts in Education program at the U.S. Department of Education was also funded at $24.593 million in FY12, representing only a small decrease from FY11 funding levels. Both funding amounts can be seen as moderate victories as the House had proposed funding the NEA at $135 million and there were numerous proposals to eliminate or consolidate the Arts in Education program.
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Tuesday, January 03, 2012
National Arts and Humanities Youth Program Awards
The deadline to apply for the NAHYPA is January 31, 2012. These awards, coordinated by the President’s Committee on the Arts and Humanities, in partnership with the National Endowment for the Arts, the National Endowment for the Humanities, and the Institute for Museum and Library Services, will recognize twelve programs with $10,000 and an invitation to accept the award from First Lady Michelle Obama at the White House. After-school and out-of-school time arts programs are eligible to apply.
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Tuesday, January 03, 2012
Martin Luther King, Jr. Day of Service
MLK Day, January 16, is a National Day of Service, part of the President’s United We Serve initiative, and a program of the Corporation for National and Community Service. It aims to engage volunteers to tackle critical challenges for the common good. Many arts organizations are already using the arts to create healthier communities through education and engagement. Are you offering arts programs in service of your community? You can register your project online and find numerous resources (logos, widgets, banners, and other PR materials) to help promote the event. The government affairs office is also talking with CNCS about increasing the profile of arts organizations tackling critical needs, such as education. If you are participating, please contact the OPERA America government affairs office with your stories of service.
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Monday, December 12, 2011
IRA Charitable Rollover to Expire Soon
On December 31, 2011, the IRA Charitable Rollover will expire. This tax incentive allows those who are 70 ½ or older to transfer up to $100,000 of tax-free gifts directly from their IRAs. This is a great reminder to include in end-of-year campaigns to your donors. While both the House and Senate have introduced legislation to make the IRA rollover permanent, Congressional work on this incentive has been pushed aside to focus on appropriations and deficit reduction. OPERA America will continue to monitor this issue and encourages members to contact their legislators and urge them to reinstate the rollover. Find your legislators at the Performing Arts Alliance.
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Monday, December 12, 2011
Applications Open for New Cultural Exchange Program
The Association of American Voices, in partnership with the State Department’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs, has opened up the applications for the American Music Abroad program. The program will facilitate cultural exchange via musical performance and educational outreach. The ensembles selected will conduct regional cultural exchange tours in Africa, Asia, Eastern Europe, Central and South America, and the Middle East for approximately one month. The application deadline is January 16, 2012.
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Monday, December 12, 2011
NEA Heads New Task Force on Human Development
The National Endowment for the Arts is leading a new task force of 13 federal agencies and departments to encourage more and better research on how the arts help people reach their full potential at all stages of life. "Human Development" is a framework that researchers, policymakers, and practitioners use to devise research and programs that help people lead full lives from early childhood through old age. The taskforce published a white paper, “The Arts and Human Development: Framing a National Research Agenda for the Arts, Lifelong Learning, and Individual Well-Being (PDF).”
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Monday, December 12, 2011
NEA Prepares for Cuts
The National Endowment for the Arts is responding to recent cuts to the agency as well as anticipated future cuts by preparing to offer smaller and fewer grants. For the recently announced first round of FY12 grants, the NEA's overall funding to the opera field were significantly reduced compared to last year's round one grants. It continues to be crucial for the arts community to contact our congressional leaders through phone calls, letters, and through the Performing Arts Alliance action alerts. The NEA website recently published a list of the Round One Art Works grants and just this week announced the Challenge America Fast-Track grantees.
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Tuesday, November 08, 2011
NEA Ceases Consortium Grants in FY13
Due to budgetary constraints, the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) will not be awarding consortium grants beginning with the FY13 application process. This means that applicants planning grant submissions to the NEA for FY13 should prepare with the understanding that they can make one and only one application from the NEA: either in the Art Works or Challenge America categories. Previously, organizations could apply up to two times — once on their own, and a second time in partnership with other organizations. The FY13 grant guidelines will be available in January 2013. Another change that will appear in the guidelines will be the incorporation of the Arts in Media into the Art Works category for Media Arts. The types of projects supported in the past in both categories will continue to be offered under Art Works. Media applications will also be subject to the one-application-per-year rule that applies to all applicants.
The sole exception to the one-application limit will be for parent organizations that have separately identifiable and independent components and are submitting a second application in connection with that component organization. Guidance on FY13 grants should be available in January, but to learn more about the current FY12 independent component policy for parent (and related) organizations, please visit the NEA’s website.
As soon as the FY13 grant guidelines become available, Dance/USA will keep you apprised.
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Tuesday, November 08, 2011
Senate to Address Net Neutrality Nov 8
It is expected that the Senate will today review the House’s Resolution of Disapproval over the FCC’s Net Neutrality rules which are scheduled to go into effect on November 20. These rules, while not perfect, prevent discrimination against legal online content and promote transparency of broadband service operations. Senator John Kerry (D-MA) sent out a “Dear Colleague” letter (PDF) last week urging Senators to vote “no” against this resolution. “The network neutrality rules govern not the Internet but rather the behavior of firms owning and operating gateways to the Internet,” Kerry wrote. On November 8, the White House also sent out a statement informing the Senate that the White House would veto this resolution.
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Tuesday, November 08, 2011
President Nominates New State Department Position
On November 4, President Obama nominated Tara D. Sonenshine to be the new Under Secretary for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs. Ms. Sonenshine would oversee the State Department’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs, which funds cultural diplomacy initiatives around the world.
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Tuesday, November 08, 2011
Martin Luther King, Jr. Day Webinars
Is your opera company participating in service projects in your community to address issues such as education or economic recovery? Martin Luther King, Jr. Day of Service is a great way to highlight how arts groups are making communities healthier. The Corporation for National and Community Service, the federal agency that coordinates MLK Day, is hosting a series of free webinars, with the first one starting tomorrow, November 9, from 3:00-4:00 p.m. Topics include Recruiting Volunteers, Project Planning, Communications and more. Martin Luther King, Jr. Day is Monday, January 16, 2012.
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Thursday, November 03, 2011
Charitable Deduction Sign-On Letter
The National Council of Nonprofits has drafted a letter to the Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction urging them to preserve the charitable giving incentives so as not to impede nonprofits’ abilities to continue to serve communities. OPERA America has signed on. Please take a minute to add your organization to the list and include a message about how your organization relies on private contributions. There are currently multiple alternatives being discussed in lieu of the current charitable deduction, including lowering the cap to 28% (currently 35%) for higher income earners and replacing the deduction with an credit. Many nonprofits across the U.S. are urging Congress not to do anything to hurt nonprofits at a time when many are already struggling.
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Thursday, November 03, 2011
ESEA Reauthorization
The U.S. Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee marked up their version of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) reauthorization bill in October (also known as No Child Left Behind). The arts retained its status as a core academic subject (meaning that it would continue to be eligible for federal funding from the Department of Education). Additionally, the Senate expanded the usage of core academic subjects to include extended learning programs, parental engagement programs and more. $500 million was included in the Well Rounded Education Amendment, of which the arts are included in a list of subject areas. The bill also directs the Department to support the inclusion of people with disabilities in the arts.
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Thursday, November 03, 2011
State Department Music Opportunities
The State Department’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs released information about a new partnership with the Association of American Voices. This partnership will facilitate American Music Abroad, a people-to-people exchange that will feature a wide variety of American musical genres through international cultural exchange initiatives that will reach more than 40 countries around the world during 2012 and 2013. Additional information on this grant opportunity will be released in the coming months.
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Thursday, November 03, 2011
New NEA Research
The National Endowment for the Arts released a new study last week that offers industry-specific, regional and demographic data on 2.1 million artists working in the U.S. Of the artists surveyed, 185,675 (9.2%) were musicians — the category that includes singers. Already, the media is spinning the story to show that artists are making a decent living without qualifying this with the fact that 54% of those surveyed were in the for-profit world (including graphic designers and architects) and that 34% were self-employed (which means they must cover their own insurance costs).
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Thursday, November 03, 2011
Priorities and Special Projects of the United States Copyright Office
On October 25, the U.S. Copyright Office, located in the Library of Congress, announced the office’s priorities for the next two years. They will continue to spend time examining the current complexities of the copyright system and focus on issues such as rogue websites, illegal streaming, small claims, orphan works and library preservation.
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Tuesday, September 06, 2011
Super Committee for Deficit Reduction Announced
The 12-member “Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction,” created by legislation in the Budget Control Act of 2011, was announced in August. This “Super Committee,” co-chaired by Senator Patty Murray (D-WA) and Congressman Jeb Hensarling (R-TX), is responsible for recommending deficit savings between $1.2 trillion and $1.5 trillion. Congress will be required to vote on a balanced budget between October 1 and the end of the year. It is not yet clear what the Super Committee will cut. OPERA America will closely monitor the budget discussion and provide updates.
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Tuesday, September 06, 2011
NEA and Kansas
The National Endowment for the Arts affirmed recently that, with Kansas Governor Sam Brownback’s recent veto of state aid to the Kansas Arts Commission, Kansas is no longer eligible for federal arts funding. It is estimated that the elimination of NEA funding, and very likely funding from the Mid-America Arts Alliance, will result in a loss of $1.2 million, money that would have gone towards arts programs in communities throughout the state.
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