NYSCA Advocacy Update: March 8, 2011

New York State Council on the Arts (NYSCA)

On Tuesday, February 8, advocates from across the state went to Albany for Arts Day. We let the legislators know that Governor Cuomo's recommended $5.6 million cut to the NYSCA was too drastic. A.R.T./New York's Ginny Louloudes and playwright Rogelio Martinez joined the NYC Arts Coalition to visit 94 Assembly and Senate members from NYC. Many were startled to see the level of proposed cuts to NYSCA, and some pledged to help.

WHAT YOU CAN DO

FAX or write your State Assembly Members and State Senators. A sample letter can be found below. We have been told that faxes and letters make a greater impact than emails.

  1. To find out who your State Senator is go to http://www.nysenate.gov.us  For the Assembly: http://www.assembly.state.ny.us.  Unfortunately, some of these sites do not give fax numbers.

  2. Please ask your friends, family, and colleagues who share your love of the arts to do the same.

SAMPLE LETTER

To:  Honorable ________ NY State Assembly Member/NY State Senator

From:  ____________________________________________________________
             Name                                            Address

I am a Patron of the Alliance of Resident Theatres/New York (A.R.T./New York) and attend many not-for-profit arts events in New York State.

If Governor Cuomo wants to reduce the State Budget Deficit, why is he proposing a $5.6 million cut to the New York State Council on the Arts?

  1. For very dollar spent on the arts, another dollar goes into the NEW YORK STATE ECONOMY. Governor Cuomo’s cut to NYSCA would cost New York State 11.2 MILLION.
    (Source, ARTS as an Industry: Their Economic Impact on New York City and New York State Alliance for the Arts, 2007)

  2. In 2009, 19 Million Domestic and Foreign Cultural Visitors to New York spent $18 Billion in NYC
    (Source: NYC & Co.)

  3. NYSCA cuts result in lost jobs. They hurt small business, from restaurants, parking garages, real estate, advertising, lumber yards, dry cleaners, AND REDUCE STATE PAYROLL TAXES

IS THIS THE WAY TO HELP NEW YORK STATE ACHIEVE ITS POTENTIAL?

RESTORE $ 2.8 MILLION TO THE NEW YORK STATE COUNCIL ON THE ARTS!