Visiting the City Council
On arts advocacy day, teams of 3-4 people, visit each DC Council Member’s office. One of the Commissioners from the DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities is usually a member of each group. We try to create teams with residents from the Ward of the council member.
The meetings last 15-30 minutes and create an opportunity to focus the attention of the council member and/or staff on the arts in Washington, DC. In advance of each arts advocacy day, the advocates meet to research and discuss the advocacy agenda, ie. to figure out what we should inform them of, and ask for. We then create a pamphlet which is a guide for team members, and also something that can be left with the council members.
If you are part of a team visiting a council-member, you can count on having 2-3 minutes to discuss your personal organization or experience. As a group we reflect many individual voices, so while we hope that team members will stick to the agenda, we also expect that team members will offer their personal insights.
The DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities is the group that disperses money allocated for arts in the DC budget. If you have benefited from a grant from the DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities, the meeting is an excellent time to talk about the impact of this funding.
If you would like to be on a team, please email us with your information (see the 'Contact' page.)