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It is a strange and trying time for all of us in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic. We certainly understand times are tough for you, as they are for us. We have been proud to bring Stage Directions for free all these many years and we will continue to provide you with complimentary subscriptions during the pandemic. However, we would like to ask in these difficult times that you consider a small donation to help support our efforts here at Stage Directions as we work to keep our industry up to date by providing you with a continuous stream of current and vital information when it is needed, today more than ever, to keep us all in the theater community connected.
Jennifer Grace Makholm
Have you sent an email to your Senators through the Be An Arts Hero Action Network letter yet? What are you waiting for?! It’s so quick and easy, everything is laid out for you. Here is some information to help you create your own unique and personal email to your Senators.
CONTEXT: WHY YOU SHOULD CARE: The Arts & Culture Sector is in crisis
The Arts & Culture sector employs 5.1 million people and provides $877 billion value added to the U.S. economy. It adds more value to the economy than transportation, agriculture, or tourism. The sector is a cornerstone of the larger U.S. economy, making up 4.5% of GDP. Despite their out-sized cultural and economic contribution, The Arts & Culture sector of the U.S. economy is in grave danger.
The National Endowment for the Arts chairman Mary Anne Carter said recently, “Times are drastic. Our Arts organizations are suffering. They don’t know if they’re going to survive, let alone reopen.” COVID19 is spiking nationally, meaning Arts & Culture institutions will remain shuttered for the foreseeable future. Furthermore, the common “survival jobs” for Arts workers are in the hospitality and service sectors, which have been almost equally devastated by this crisis. With over 20 million unemployed, the competition for survival jobs is fierce; millions will remain unemployed for the foreseeable future.
It’s not just Artists and Arts organizations who are in trouble: administrators, management, hospitality staff, custodians, and countless others depend on Arts & Culture institutions for income are currently relying on the Federal Pandemic Unemployment Compensation (FPUC) program to pay their bills. When FPUC ended on August 1st, millions of Arts workers are now facing instant financial catastrophe, including eviction, which as this Washington Post story reminds us, disproportionately impacts the Black community. (https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2020/07/06/eviction-moratoriums-starwood/)
This cannot be understated. Without an extension of FPUC, up to 28 million Americans could find themselves homeless by October 1. Without immediate relief, institutions themselves will permanently close; causing systemic economic collapse in a vibrant ecosystem of mutually beneficial businesses that all rely on Arts & Culture institutions for their success. Compounding the tragedy is that millions of arts workers are losing (or have lost) their health insurance during a deadly pandemic; a pandemic that also disproportionately impacts People of Color. (https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/07/05/us/coronavirus-latinos-african-americans-cdc-data.html)
Not only would relief and investment in the Arts & Culture sector stabilize the economy, it would be the best way to assure the overall U.S. economy recovers from our current crisis. From 2014 to 2016, the average annual growth rate in the contribution of Arts & Culture was 4.16%, nearly double the total U.S. economy’s 2.22% growth rate. The average annual growth rate for Arts & Culture outperforms that of the total U.S. economy.
Latest Data Shows Increase to U.S. Economy from Arts and Cultural Sector
For every $1 of NEA funding, it leverages $9 in private and public dollars that fuels a dynamic cultural economy that generates millions of American jobs. The data suggests that the fastest way to stabilize the U.S. economy and assure a fast and robust recovery is relief and investment in the Arts & Culture sector. The Arts enliven us as Americans. The Arts inspire, comfort, challenge, excite, and uplift us. But more than that, the Arts are big business. The Arts are too big to fail. And Arts relief and investment is the surest path back to economic prosperity and a robust recovery.
Statement on Arts, Jobs, and the Economy
Use the automated tool on this page: https://actionnetwork.org/letters/artshero to urge your Senator to be an #ArtsHero by passing legislative relief that includes the following:
CONTINUE YOUR ACTIVISM by using the #ArtsHero ACTION PACKET and following the #ArtsHero campaign on social media.
*ACTION PACKET
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1tJFHBXZYZfHG86l4jr2dFFS-KBtUkdcfewHDl9iVUyI/edit
Social Media: Amplify and use the #ArtsHero hashtag to ask the Senate to take action.
Site: www.BeAnArtsHero.com
Instagram: @BeAnArtsHero
Twitter: @BeAnArtsHero1
Here is a spreadsheet of all the social media profiles of all 100 Senators! Let them know how it important it is.
*Pro-Tip, keep your messages, tags, @’s, and #’s kind, encouraging, and framed in such a way to encourage all 100 U.S. Senators to take necessary and positive action.