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A note from our CEO
As we mark National Arts in Education Week, I return to a belief I hold with absolute certainty: creativity isn’t separate from public life. Arts education isn’t a stand-alone issue. It creates well-rounded, life-ready students — and it’s foundational to our democracy.
It’s easy to think of arts education as only preK-12. That’s where the story starts, but not where it ends. The arts in higher education, and at HBCUs especially, deserve the same urgency. That’s why we’re calling on Congress to protect arts education funding via the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) and to advance both the HBCU Arts Act and the Arts Education for All Act — legislation that treats arts education as one continuous pathway, from classroom to career.
Fall also means our ArtsVote campaign is in full swing, inspiring artists, supporters, and everyone to make their voices heard at the ballot box. We’re activating ArtsVote this week in DC at the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation’s Annual Legislative Conference, with more activations popping up nationwide.
ArtsVote is about showing up for the arts and for democracy — join the movement as an ArtsVoter and partner.
We’ll cap off September with the Nancy Hanks Lecture on Arts & Public Policy, a decades-long tradition encouraging leaders to think seriously about how culture and policy shape our nation’s future — holding space when it’s needed most.
I encourage you to join us: advocate for “Every Student, Every Community” access to the arts, join our Community Conversation on Arts Education on September 17, tune into the Nancy Hanks Lecture livestream September 30, and get involved with ArtsVote.
— Erin Harkey, CEO
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