Two Dozen Mayors From Across the US Are Urging Congress to Send Urgently Needed Funding for the Arts in Its Next Relief Package

Mayors from 22 cities across the
country, including those from New York, San Francisco, and Los
Angeles, sent a letter to congress this week to formally ask for
funding for the arts and culture sector in the next relief
package. 

The letter, which was
spearheaded by the San Francisco Arts Alliance and promoted by San
Francisco Mayor London Breed, calls for additional funding for the
National Endowment for the Arts, National Endowment for the
Humanities, and Institute of Museum and Library
Services. It also urges
congress to extend the duration of unemployment insurance for
artists and self-employed workers, provide more forgivable loans to
nonprofit organizations, and ensure the rapid processing of artist
visas, among other requests.

“This is about far more than the
cancellation of performances and exhibitions,” the letter reads.
“This is about individuals—artists and cultural workers alike—whose
livelihoods are being threatened if not already irrevocably
impacted. This is also about the soul of our communities: It is the
arts that make each of our communities unique. And it is the arts
that will help our communities survive and thrive
economically.”

Addressed to house speaker Nancy
Pelosi, house minority leader Kevin McCarthy, senate majority
leader Mitch McConnell, and senate minority leader Chuck Schumer,
the document goes on to cite data about the scope of arts and
culture jobs nationwide, noting that the sector employs “more than
5 million workers” and “contributed $877.8 billion, or 4.5 percent,
to the nation’s gross domestic product in 2017,” per a March 2020
survey conducted by the Bureau of Economic Analysis. The letter
estimates that losses in the sector have amounted to $4.8 billion
over the past two months. 

“The arts and culture sector
exists to serve the creativity of the community and is an essential
vehicle for healing and the equitable and sustainable redevelopment
of cities across the nation,” says Deborah Cullinan, co-chair of
the San Francisco Arts Alliance and CEO of the Yerba Buena Center
for the Arts, in a statement. 

“As we evolve the ways we
produce and bring audiences together,” Cullinan continues, “it is
only by working hand-in-hand with the support of our government on
the federal, state, and local level that we will be able to provide
creative homes for artists and centers for community
engagement.”

See the full list of mayors who signed the document below:

Steve Adler (Austin, TX); Jim Brainard (Carmel, IN); London N.
Breed (San Francisco, CA); LaToya Cantrell (New Orleans, LA); John
Cooper (Nashville, TN); Bill de Blasio (New York, NY); Mike Duggan
(Detroit, MI); Jenny A. Durkan (Seattle, WA); Kate Gallego
(Phoenix, AZ); Eric Garcetti (Los Angeles, CA); Michael B. Hancock
(Denver, CO); Jim Kenney (Philadelphia, PA); Sam Liccardo (San
Jose, CA); Lori Lightfoot (Chicago, IL); Erin Mendenhall (Salt Lake
City, UT); Satya Rhodes-Conway (Madison, WI); Regina Romero
(Tucson, AZ); Libby Schaaf (Oakland, CA); Darrell Steinberg
(Sacramento, CA); Sylvester Turner (Houston, TX); Martin J. Walsh
(Boston, MA); Ted Wheeler (Portland, OR); and Victoria Woodards
(Tacoma, WA).

The post Two Dozen Mayors From Across the US Are Urging
Congress to Send Urgently Needed Funding for the Arts in Its Next
Relief Package appeared first on artnet News.