Arts Matter Adocacy Day 2017

MassCreative held it's second Arts Matter Advocacy Day - #AMAD17 - today at the Paramount Center in downtown Boston. According to their website, MassCreative:

"works to build a more vibrant, healthy and equitable Massachusetts. MASSCreative works with artists, leaders, supporters, and partners of the arts, cultural, and creative community to advocate for the resources and support necessary for the sector to thrive." Furthermore, MassCreative is "dedicated to helping citizens like you and leaders of local creative organizations win the attention and resources necessary to make Massachusetts a creativity-driven state from the ground up. We are passionate about youth arts programs and arts education and are devoted to strengthening the availability and quality of this programming in every corner of the Commonwealth" (http://www.mass-creative.org/about).

I heard about today's Advocacy Day thanks to the many arts-related emails that end up in my inbox every day. I wanted to address this issue because I have heard that President Trump's proposed budget calls for the elimination of the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA), the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH), the Institute of Museum and Library Services, and the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB).  

"The president’s budget would eliminate the NEA’s $148 million budget, the NEH’s $148 million budget and the CPB’s $445 million budget, as well as $230 million for the Institute of Museum and Library Services, which supports libraries and museums across the country. Additional cuts could affect the Smithsonian Institution and the National Gallery of Art" (link to the Washington Post article here).

I believe that these proposed budget cuts are wrong. I believe that they show a complete lack of understanding of the importance of the arts, libraries, museums, and public broadcasting to the fabric of our society.

Public libraries are important because they provide services to their communities. I know that at my local public library, you can check out books, e-books, CDs, and DVDs, as well as magazines and newspapers. My library hosts monthly Adult Coloring Book Club meetings, a monthly Adult Book Club meeting, author events, and a teen anime/comics club. Local homeowner's/condo associations hold their meetings at my library. 

The Cambridge (MA) Public Library hosts a lot of events too - knitting groups, free lectures, toddler story times, English conversation groups, and computer classes. Students from Harvard University School of Law who are studying to be tax lawyers offer free tax help at the CPL from February to April.

The Minuteman Library Network and the Old Colony Library Network also make Museum Passes available to patrons. These passes - which can be requested online or in person - allow patrons to access local museums - such as the Museum of Fine Arts, the Institute of Contemporary Art-Boston, the Museum of Science, and the Peabody Essex Museum - either for free, or at a discount.