We serve as one of the leading voices of arts and culture in our region. We’re always at the table communicating with local and state elected officials about the importance and impact of the arts and culture sector, community, and economy.
Our goal is to build bipartisan support for the arts on the national, state, and local level, working with important entities such as Citizens for the Arts in PA and the Arts and Culture Caucus in the Pennsylvania state legislature to ensure support and resources for the arts community.
Arts Advocacy Issues
Regional and Local Issues
- Tax Credits
Such as the Educational Improvement Tax Credit (EITC) and other tax incentives like the Film Tax Credit and the Entertainment Production Tax Credit to promote concert rehearsals, tour production, and video game production. - Arts in Education
Issues include the lack of enforcement of existing laws and programs along with decreased funding for arts education staff and programs. - Cultural Equity
Results from our 2018 Racial Equity and Arts Funding in Allegheny Report showed that artists in our area continue to experience funding opportunities as inequitable. Funding to arts organizations does not yet reflect the area's population demographics. - Accessibility in the Arts
Advocacy efforts support an increase in funds for artists with disabilities, training for arts access, and creating standard arts accessibility provisions. - Creative Placemaking
Placemaking builds on existing, place-based assets, including anchor arts venues by advocating to preserve the cultural traditions of current residents, counter the potential for displacement, and strengthen an area’s cultural identity.
Federal Issues
- Tax Deductions: Tax reform is vital to the arts as an incentive for charitable giving. Arts advocates seek to restore and expand the full value and scope of charitable giving incentives for all taxpayers through enacting a universal charitable deduction that will strengthen the nonprofit community.
- Arts in Education: We support the role of the arts in achieving Title IV objectives, its impact on the Department of Education’s Assistance for Arts Education program, and the full funding of student support and academic enrichment grants. We also endorse the continued funding of 21st Century Community Learning Centers.
- Arts in Health: Creative arts are valuable in the healthcare industry for therapeutic, educational, and expressive purposes. Support for professional disciplines such as art therapy, music therapy, dance therapy, drama therapy, and poetry therapy and funding for related research serve the nation with improved healthcare quality.