Arts Funding Petition to City Council with Signatures
July 30, 2009
July 30, 2009
Councilmember
Council of the District of Columbia
John A. Wilson Building
1350 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W.
Washington, DC 20004
Dear Councilmember,
As has been documented by local and national media, the arts community is in crisis. Now is not the time to cut arts funding. To do so would undermine all of the investments that have been made building the local arts economy over the last thirty years.
The draft FY 2010 budget cuts arts funding for the DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities by 37%, at the same time that private donations and foundation giving are down. Restoring funding to FY 2009 levels would give the arts community the time and confidence to leverage the city's support, and to continue serving the citizens of DC and the millions of visitors who come to the nation's capital each year. The additional money will have minimal impact on the overall budget, but it would provide great benefit to Washington's children and families, and our city's economy.
In FY 2009, the 14 million dollars allocated to the DC Commission supported arts education programming for thousands of DC school children, in every ward. That same investment contributed to city tax revenue by supporting the businesses of artists and arts organizations in every ward. The council would be wise to sustain its support of the arts reflective of the value that we provide on expenditure.
The city has invested heavily in the arts over the last thirty years, supporting programming and institutions. Now is not the time to undermine that progress. The creative economy can be part of the solution to the current economic and community crisis, and we ask you to: return funding to FY 2009 levels and to engage now with the DC Advocates for the Arts in a discussion to define priorities for arts spending for FY 2011. Now is not the time to slash investment that creates revenue, and supports jobs.
Sincerely,
Robert Bettmann
Chair, DC Advocates for the Arts
Over the course of the last few days, the following artists and arts organizations have signed onto the above letter in support of funding for the arts in DC:
John Abodeely, Independent Artist
Abdulai Aziz Ahmadu, Director, Academy of Traditional and Contemporary African Arts, History and Science
Kimani Anku, Event Planner
Geoff Ault, Photographer, Chairman, Capitol Hill Art League, Steering Committee
Joy Ford Austin, Executive Director, Humanities Council of Washington, DC
Michele Banks, Independent Artist
Weusi Baraka, Executive Director, SOL y SOUL
Robert Bettmann, Day Eight (Founder), DC Advocates for the Arts (Chair)
Kristina Bilonick, Artists, Program Director for Washington Project for the Arts
Tom Birch, Commissioner, ANC 2-E06, Ward 2
Laurelle Blair, Young Women's Drumming Empowerment Program/DC Guerrilla Poetry Insurgencey
Graham Boyle, Hillyer Art Space
Julianne Brienza, Executive Director, Capital Fringe Festival
Melinda J. Brooks, Musician, Capital City Symphony
Clare Brown, Exhibit Designer, Graphic Designer, DC Art museums, also in tri-state area and NY
Mary Brown, Executive Director, Life Pieces to Masterpieces, Inc.
Sarah Browning, Split This Rock Poetry Festival
Fiona McDonald Brubaker, Musician, Capital City Symphony
Jessica Burgess, Artistic Director and Founder, The Inkwell
Judy Byron, Independent Artist
Carmen Calatayud, Poet, Writer, Addiction Counselor
Jonathon Carrington, General Manager, Dissonance Dance Theatre
Amy Cavanaugh, Vice President, ARCH Development Corporation and Director of Honfleur Gallery
Ruth P. Cogen, Levine School of Music (Board Member), Cultural Alliance of Greater Washington (Member)
Joey Coleman, Chief Experience Composer, Design Symphony
Alison Combes, Executive Director, Cathedral Choral Society
Anne Corbett, Executive Director, Cultural Development Corporation Flashpoint
Kate Cushman, Membership Services Coordinator, Americans for the Arts
Karen Dalley-Jesson, Fellow, American University
Allison Denny, Independent Artist
Jason DeYoung, Writer, Independent Artist
Peter DiMuro, Director, Dance/MetroDC
Linda M. Dugger, Director of Outreach, Copyright Alliance
Deborah Edge, M.D., Capital City Symphony
Marc Eisenberg, Executive Director, Washington Bach Consort
Paul Gordon Emerson, Artistic Director, City Dance Ensemble, Inc.
Lanae Erickson, Capital City Symphony
Danielle Evennou, Board President, Mothertongue
Brandon Felton, Event Planner
Tyra Fennell, The Humanities Council of Washington
Andy Finch, Vice President, Washington Studio School
Megan Fisher Cheek, Arts Consultant
Joshua Ford, Chief Program Officer, Washington DC Jewish Community Center
Papi Kymone Freeman, Poet, Playwright, Filmmaker, National Black L.U.V. Festival (Director)
Ersky Freeman, Pin Points Theatre
Elizabeth Fujii, Apprentice, El Teatro de Danza Contemporanea de El Salvador
David Furchgott, President, International Arts and Artists; Steering Committee, DC Advocates for the Arts
Kelley Gallagher, Board Member, Capital City Symphony
Jon Gann, DC Film Salon and DC Shorts Film Festival
Deidre Gantt, Phenom Community Media
Sheila Garner-Allen, Educator and Parent, DC Arts and Humanities Education Collaborative
Christine Girod, Administrative Coordinator, The Art Connection in the Captial Region
Barbara Glick
Ruth Gramlich
Eleanor Graves, Writer, Artist, Volunteer Poetry Teacher, Independent Artist
Laurel Victoria Gray, Artistic Director, Silk Road Dance Co. (Artistic Director) and Joy of Motion (teacher)
Tom Green, Artist and Professor Emeritus, Corcoran College of Art + Design
Eric Hall, Musician, Capital City Symphony
Barbara Halpern, Independent Artist
Nora Halpern, Street Scenes: Projects for DC (Co-Founder) and Americans for the Arts (VP for Leadership Alliances)
Jeffrey Herrmann, Managing Director, Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company
Glen S. Howard, The Helen Hayes Awards, Choral Arts Society of Washington, Americans for the Arts
Katie Howell, Communications and Development Assistant, Split This Rock Poetry Festival
Jackie Hoysted, O Street Studios
Carla Hubner, Artistic Director and Executive Producer, The In Series
Philippa P. B. Hughes, The Pink Line Project
Claire Huschle, Executive Director, Arlington Arts Center (also a District Resident)
Peter Jablow, President and CEO, Levine School of Music
Simone Jacobson, Cipher Director, Words Beats & Life
Jaime L. Jarvis, Split This Rock Poetry Festival
Jane Jerardi, Independent Artist
Colleen Jolly, President, Capitol Hill Arts Workshop
Brandon Neal Jones, Independent Artist
Bettina Judd, Living Artist and Student
George Koch, Artomatic (Founder), DC Advocates for the Arts (Steering Committee)
James Kofski, Musican and Board Member, Capital City Symphony
Matthew Mann, Independent Artist
Anne Marchand, Independent Artist
Rogelio Maxwell, Multi-media Artist, Studio, Ready Made Pictures Productions, Commissioner, DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities
Jessica McCoy, Writer and Independent Artist
Jayme McLellan, Civilian Art Projects
Varissa McMickens, DC Arts and Humanities Education Collaborative (Executive Director)
Bruce Mcneil, Ward 7 Arts Collaborative
Dorothy Pierce McSweeny, DCCAH (Chair Emeritus), Mid Atlantic Arts (Chair)
Rebecca Medrano, Executive Director, GALA Hispanic Theatre
Amy Melrose, Free in DC (Arts and Culture Blog and Poet)
Mazi Mutafa, Words Beats & Life
Jana Nelhybel, Development Manager, WVSA ARTs Connection and School for the ARTs in Learning (SAIL) PCS
Jo-Ann Neuhaus
Shanti Norris, Executive Director, Smith Farm Center for Healing and the Arts
Rick Offner, President and CEO, WVSA ARTs Connection and School for the ARTs in Learning (SAIL) PCS
Jennifer Cover Payne, President, Cultural Alliance of Greater Washington
Carla Perlo, Founding Director, Dance Place
Gerald Perman, Artistic Director, Vocal Arts Society
Annette Polan
Rosemary Reed, President, Double R Productions (also supporter of the arts, business volunteer for CAGW, long-time DC resident)
Hermione Rhones, Director, Youth Programs, Dance Place
Susan Rosenbaum, Dana Tai Soon Burgess & Co.
Lisa Rosenstein, Independent Artist
Joseph Ross, Former Department of English Chair, Archbishop Carroll HS
Jillian Rubino, Artist, Independent Artist
Amy Saidman, Director, SpeakeasyDC
Gertrude J. Saleh, Executive Director, Serenity Players, Inc.
Mike Searway, Non-profit coordinator
Scott Sedar, Actor, Teaching Artists, DC Creative Writing Workshop
Sam Shelton, KINETIK (Principal), Corcoran College of Art + Design (Faculty)
Guillermo Silveira, Art Music Composer, Independent Artist
Daniel Silver, President, Vocal Arts Society
Alexandra Silverthorne, Independent Artist
Daniel Phoenix Singh, Artistic Director, Dakshina/Daniel Phoenix Singh Dance Company
Lachelle Slade, International Arts and Artists
William Smith, City Dance Ensemble
Jessica Solomon, The Saartjie Project
Ava Spece, DC Youth Orchestra Program (Executive Director), DC Advocates for the Arts (Steering Committee)
Howard R. Spendelow, Georgetown University (Associate Professor), Capital City Symphony (Board Member)
Ed Spitzberg, Executive Director, Sitar Arts Center
Jillian Strachan, Capitol Hill Arts Workshop, Lesbian & Gay Chorus of Washington, DC
Richard Strange, Musician and Board Member, Capital City Symphony
Diallo Sumbry, President and Founder, The Adinkra Group & International Arts Advocate
Sunny Sumter, Managing Director, Duke Ellington Jazz Festival
Erika Surma
Masresha Tadesse, Writer, Photographer
Yanitza Tavarez, Art Teacher, Oyster Adams Bilingual School
Paul R. Tetreault, Producing Director, Ford's Theatre
Polly Thibodeau, Director of Development, Joy of Motion Dance Center
Melissa Tuckey, Co-Director, Split This Rock Poetry Festival
Henry Valoris, General Manager, Opera Lafayette
Jenny Walton, Independent Artist (Steering Committee)
William Wears Executive Director, Vocal Arts Society
Maya Weil, DC Youth Orchestra Program (board), Signature Theatre (board), Capital City Symphony (musician)
Sue Weisenburger, Owner, Capitol Hill Art and Frame
JoAnn M. Williams, Executive Director, African Continuum Theatre Company
Loryn Wilson, WeLead Class of 2009
Cynthia Word, Director, Word Dance Theatre
Douglas Yeuell, Executive Director and Artistic Director, Joy of Motion Dance Center
