Arts Advocacy at PS122
FEDERAL STATE CITYThe time of budget cuts is upon us and there are threats at the City, State and Federal level to cut funding to the arts. We would really appreciate it if as a patron of New York's contemporary performance you would take the time to send letters to your local, state and federal representatives and tell them that while these cuts are chump change to their budgets, the ripple effect to our economic and cultural stability will be manifold. We've tried to make this as easy as possible. Here on our new advocacy page, you'll find draft letters - feel free to edit them as you see fit. You'll also find addresses of key representatives or links to contact them online. The budget discussions will happen in the next couple of weeks of February and personal mail/post letters this week from could be crucial in keeping arts support at their already anaemic levels.
First, you'll see in the first sentence of each letter a blank, please use it to identify if you are an artist, a donor, a patron or some combination thereof and let the reader know what your relationship is to PS122 and New York's arts sector.
Second, if you want to edit the content of these letters, please feel free to. We wrote them using PS122 as a 'case' study to make them more personal and concrete. But if you want to add other information about how the cuts might impact you directly, by all means do so. Reps will be getting blanket letters from all over the place, and your personal story might stand out and make a stronger impression. Just remember to keep it short, direct and talk about the economic impact of the proposed cuts.
Third, if you do send letters - I would love to hear about it / collect copies - so feel free to send them on to me or just tell me "I sent letters!": morgan@ps122.org. This is the first in a push to become more active advocates for ourselves, our artists, our audiences, our artistic neighbors and our local community.
And finally, THANK YOU for taking the time to write your representatives and lobby on lobby on behalf of New York City's artists, audiences and cultural organizations. It means the world to us and IS very important.
- Morgan von Prelle Pecelli, Director of Development
Also note: The next hearing is scheduled for
Committee on Cultural Affairs, Libraries and International Intergroup Relations
Friday February 26th @ 1:00 PM
250 Broadway - Hearing Room, 14th Fl.
The Agenda has not been announced yet.
If you can only make the time to send out one of these letters, please go ahead and act locally by sending letters to New York City Council Members - it could have the most impact.
Here are the letters and the contact info:
FEDERAL: NEA (National Endowment for the Arts)
NEALetter.doc
Send to: SENATE & CONGRESS
Senator Charles E. Schumer |
Our Congress Person: |
Senator Kirsten Gillibrand |
To find your congress person: |
STATE: NYSCA
(New York State Council on the Arts)
NYSCALetter.doc
Send to: STATE SENATE & STATE ASSEMBLY
Our State Senator: |
Our State Assembly Person: |
The Chair of the Cultural Affairs Committee:
Senator Jose M. Serrano |
Assembly Speaker |
And to find your State Senator: |
Your State Assembly Person:
http://assembly.state.ny.us/mem/
|
And if you feel like it any of the other
Senators on the Cultural Affairs Committee: |
CITY: DCA (Department of Cultural Affairs)
DCALetter.doc
Send to: CITY COUNCIL (esp. the Cultural Affairs Committee)
Our City Council Member: |
City Council Speaker: |
Chair of the Cultural Affairs Committee: |
Former Chair of the Cultural Affairs Committee and now Chair of the Finance Committee: |
And you can find your City Council Person here: |
Other Cultural Affairs Committee Members: |
A useful tool if you want to know who your reps at every level are and the demographics of your area and other such fun facts: http://nymap.elections.state.ny.us/nysboe/
Community Board info coming soon.
There is a campaign underway right now in various community boards (definitely our CB3, and the CB4 and CB5) to support a real estate property tax credit for commercial landlords who rent space to small to mid-sized non-profit performing arts organizations/venues for free or below market rates.
