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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
Tuesday, April 03, 2012
New U.S. Dept of Ed Arts Education Research
On April 2, the U.S Department of Education released the Fast Response Survey System report on Arts Education. The majority of the data highlights instruction in music and visual arts (as many states do not yet have databases that support dance and theater data collection). Some highlights include:
- 94% of elementary schools reported instruction designated specifically for music and 83% specifically for visual arts in 2009-10 school year;
- Only 3% and 4% of elementary schools reported instruction specifically designated for dance and drama/theater – a decrease from 20% for both compared to data from 1999/2000 school year;
- In 2008-09 school year, 91% of secondary schools offered music, 89% offered visual arts, 12% offered dance, and 45% offered drama/theatre – these numbers changed very little when compared to the 1999/2000 school year;
- However, there are clear equity gaps as the research shows that schools with increased percentage of student eligibility for free or reduced-priced meals also have the lowest percentage of music programs.
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Tuesday, April 03, 2012
New NEA Research on Arts Ed for At-Risk Youth
On March 30, the NEA released an updated study, led by James Catterall, called The Arts and Achievement in At-Risk Youth. The study uses four separate longitudinal studies to track children, teenagers, and young adults who had high or low levels or arts engagement in or out of school. In addition to supporting the cases for academic success and career goals, the report also finds that young adults with intensive arts experiences in high school are more likely to be civically engaged, including high levels of volunteering, voting, and engagement in local and school politics.
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Tuesday, April 03, 2012
NEA Webinar: Our Town Community Indicators
The National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) will host a public webinar, Thursday, April 12, 3:00 to 4:00 pm EST, to describe the goals and research methods of the Our Town Community Indicators Study. This study leverages the NEA’s involvement in Our Town projects to advance public understanding of how creative placemaking strategies can strengthen communities. The NEA’s Office of Research & Analysis, which is directing the project, will report on the study’s progress to date, and will solicit ideas about next steps. The webinar is thus an opportunity to make suggestions on how best to achieve the study’s intended outcome – a national indicators system that can become a valuable tool for defining, measuring, and conveying the dimensions of livability most relevant to creative placemaking.
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Tuesday, April 03, 2012
House Passes FY13 Budget Resolution
Last week, the House of Representatives adopted the FY13 Budget Resolution Blueprint. The proposal cuts spending more than the President’s budget proposal and replaces the current 6 rate individual income tax rate structure with a two tax rate structure at 10% and 25%. It also proposes eliminating many deductions and credits, though does not specify which ones.
Included along with many of the budget cuts, the budget resolution calls for eliminating funding for the National Endowment for the Arts and the National Endowment for the Humanities, suggesting that they would be better supported with private funds; the proposal also suggests that funding from the NEA goes to support arts programs enjoyed primarily by wealthy individuals.
The Performing Arts Alliance (OPERA America is a founding member) sent out an update last week on this issue. Please note that this budget resolution is nonbinding. Spending is still ultimately determined by the Appropriations Committee and this resolution is likely going to be killed in the Senate.
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Monday, March 26, 2012
Public Financing for the Arts in Europe Takes a Hit
Tell me if you have heard this one before.
In the midst of an economic downturn, a country desperately searches for cuts in spending anywhere it can, as calls for budget austerity grow louder. In the end, it’s the more vulnerable programs that are hit the hardest, which often includes education programs, safety net measures, and the arts community.
While that above paragraph would describe the arts community in the United States in recent years, the trend is now playing out across Europe as debt-ridden countries turn to austerity measures in the face of the European debt crisis. While European countries spend significantly more on the arts than we do in the United States, the dangers of budget austerity in the coming years for the arts community in several European countries are very, very real.
I have been thinking a lot about this issue of arts funding in Europe vs. the United States over the past week, and two events in particular heightened my interest. First, this past Friday, we sponsored a Carnegie Mellon Master of Arts Management Speaker Series event with the Consulate of the Netherlands, who were in town for the annual Dutch Festival in Pittsburgh. We started talking about the difference in the way the arts are funded in a country like the Netherlands versus the way it is funded here at home. More on that in a minute.
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Monday, March 19, 2012
The Role of the Arts in Economic Development
As it pertains to funding for local arts projects, the past few years have not been too kind to the arts community. Budget cuts, austerity measures and changing priorities have meant less funding, and with it less jobs for artists and fewer arts opportunities and events for communities all across the country.
As the economy starts to grow (slowly) and optimism about future growth increases, state and local budgets are facing smaller budget deficits and the increasing likelihood of budget surpluses in future years. With these new resources comes the decision over how to spend resources in the best possible way to stimulate growth.
In recent years, the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) and other groups have given out millions of dollars in grants to local arts groups to help foster economic growth and assist arts communities in struggling areas of the country. As the money available to these groups continues to grow, and cities and states pondering the decision to invest again in the arts, the question is: what role do the arts play in economic development, and how vital is it to future growth?
I have written before about the tough budget constraints that governments are dealing with at the local level and the pressure this is putting on existing arts programs. Unlike the federal government, cities, counties and states are often required to balance their budgets on an annual basis; if sales tax receipts or other forms of revenue are down from the year before, as has often been the case during this economic downturn, governments have to turn to existing programs for cuts or outright abolition. With tax increases politically unfeasible, it’s often the most vulnerable programs that face the chopping block, and this includes the arts community.
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Friday, February 17, 2012
President's FY13 Budget Proposal
On Monday, President Obama released his FY13 Federal Budget Proposal to Congress. The President's budget proposal includes funding the National Endowment for the Arts at $154.255 million, an increase of almost $8 million dollars over the current funding level and almost level with the FY11 budget. However the President continues to propose eliminating the Arts in Education program at the U.S. Department of Education and including the arts in the broader fund Effective Teaching and Learning for a Well-Rounded Education. Once again, the President has also proposed capping the charitable deduction at 28%. For additional information on the budget:
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Friday, February 17, 2012
NEA Webinar on Arts and Human Development
On Wednesday, February 29 (2:00-3:00 pm, EST), the National Endowment for the Arts will host a live webinar with the new Federal Interagency Task Force on the Arts and Human Development. Featuring the Gamelan Project and collaboration between and ethnomusicologist/composer and neuroscientists that explore cognitive development. The webinar is open to the public and no registration is required. To join the webinar, go to http://artsgov.adobeconnect.com/artsdev1/ and check the "Enter as Guest" radio button. Type in your name and click hit "Enter Room" to join.
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Friday, February 17, 2012
NEA National Medal on the Arts Nominations Open
On Monday, February 13, President Obama awarded the 2011 National Medal of Arts and National Humanities Medal. Already, the National Endowment for the Arts is accepting nominations for the 2012 Medal of Arts recipients. To view recent honorees, see photos of the 2011 ceremony, download the transcript, or learn how to nominate for 2012, visit the NEA’s website.
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Friday, February 17, 2012
IRA Charitable Rollover Action Alert
On Thursday, February 2, the Performing Arts Alliance sent out an action alert about reinstating the IRA Charitable Rollover, which expired on December 31, 2011. This tax incentive, which allows individuals 70 ½ or older to rollover money from their Individual Retirement Accounts to nonprofit organizations, has proved to be a wonderful source of new revenue for many organizations. Already this year, OPERA America has joined others from the nonprofit sector (including Independent Sector, United Way Worldwide, American Red Cross, YMCA of America, and others) in visiting Congressional offices, urging them to reinstate this incentive. On Tuesday, January 31, the Senate Finance Committee held a hearing on all tax extenders to determine what path to take. The witnesses viewpoints ran the range of reinstating all extenders to letting them all remain expired. To voice your opinion, visit the Performing Arts Alliance and urge your legislators to reinstate this important tax incentive.
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Friday, February 17, 2012
Arts Education Standards & Assessment
The NEA released a report, Improving the Assessment of Student Learning in the Arts – State of the Field and Recommendations, in advance of a webcast held on February 14.Topics covered included: How the arts can drive innovation, arts learning standards, and the current state of – and innovative practices in – arts assessment. No registration is necessary. The webcast was recorded and will be available for viewing on February 21.
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Friday, February 17, 2012
9/11 Community Service Grants
The Corporation for National and Community Service (CNCS) recently announced that they would be offering grants for the 2012 September 11th National Day of Service and Remembrance. The grants, ranging from $50,000 to $150,000, are made to eligible organizations engaged in service activities that meet vital community needs and honor the sacrifice of those who lost their lives in on September 11, 2001 or who rose in service as a result of that tragedy. Successful applicants will have the ability to increase participation in service to community. The application deadline is Tuesday, March 13, 2012.
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Friday, February 17, 2012
New IRS Search Tool
The Internal Revenue Service launched a new search tool to find an exempt organization and check information about its federal tax status and filings, called Exempt Organizations Select Check. Previously, potential donors and funders had to search through multiple databases to find this information.
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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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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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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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