Mr. Smith Goes to Washington - oh wait, I already live here....
For my first real blog posting I wanted to share a really interesting experience I had the other day. It's a bit long, but I'll put the bulk of it below the cut, so click there if you want to check it out.
A few of you know that I work in Washington DC for the US government and teach a policy class at a local university. But in addition to being a full time policy wonk I'm also an arts supporter. I was a music major (voice) and got a master's degree in arts management, but life took me in another direction and I ended up getting a PhD in another field and working in government instead. So as an arts supporter and policy teacher, I decided to go to Capitol Hill for what's called Arts Advocay Day.
See, in the spring, an amazing thing happens in Washington. No, it's not the blooming of the cherry blossoms, or the arrival of the tourists, or return the birds from their winter vacation. Yes, those things happen, but we also experience the return of The Citizen Lobbyist. In the springtime, after the president releases his (or her, eventually) budget recommendations to Congress, organizations and associations from all around the country bring their members and constituents to Washington to hit the halls of Congress to talk with their senators and representatives. See, we Americans believe that the citizens actually have a voice in the process. Yeah, well, that may or may not happen, but we still flock to Capitol Hill to make our voices heard.
It's in this spririt that Americans for the Arts brings arts activists to Washington to lobby for funding for the arts, from the National Endowments for the Arts and Humanities, the Institute of Museum and Library Services, the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (Big Bird and National Public Radio), and arts in education programs. They have training all day Monday, go to an arts policy lecture at the Kennedy Center that night (speakers Robert Redford and documentary-filmmaker Ken Burns) and then the following morning they have a kickoff Congressional breakfast and then hit the halls.
I went this year, and although I didn't 'hit the halls', I was there for the breakfast. Every year they usually bring in celebrities to rouse the troops and add heft to the lobbying. No, we didn't get Angelina Jolie, but we got the next best thing, artswise - Wynton Marsalis. He's a pretty heavy hitter in the arts and jazz world, and made a great speech to the crowd. Also, actor Chris Klein (American Pie and Election) was there as well, lending his voice. They also got a rare opportunity to testify in front of the House Subcommittee for the Interior, which was a big coup. Several members of Congress also spoke to the group.
The key with this was the fact that now that the Democrats have control of Congress, the main arts supporters are now in key powerful postitions. Norm Dicks, the chair of the Interior Subcommitee, and Louise Slaughter, the chair of the Appropriations committee, are all committed arts supporters and were there to rouse the troops as well.
There's a lot of optimism among arts advocates because of the shift in power, but they're also optimistic because the NEA is now almost bulletproof. If you all recall the early 1990's when the NEA was under political attack for funding art that was too controversial, too sexual, too gay-focused. Now they fund very non-inflamatory stuff like Shakespeare in the schools, opera and musical theater for the troops, and poetry reading. That doesn't mean that they aren't pushing some boundaries. E.g., in The Big Read initiative, they feature, Oprah-style, reading clubs where they promote books that have been banned in the past, like Fahrenheit 451 and To Kill a Mockingbird. Many still criticize the agency for being too middle of the road and not supporting art that pushes boundaries. But the Chairman has done a number of things to keep it stable, politically untouchable and actually meriting increases in funding, like ensuring grants in every congressional district in the country. He's very politically savvy and his staff (even democrats) seem to like him.
So as I walked out of the Canon House Office building after the breakfast event was over, I passed the NEA chairman hailing his car on the corner, a group of firefighter union members dressed in suits walking up the street to have their meetings with their members of Congress, and a group of teenaged schoolchildren visiting DC, I had one of those sappy moments you see in movies, where I really felt the power of the people to make a difference in the issues they care about. I recognize that most policy making is done by the powerful and the connected, and that much of the system is (or is very capable of being) corrupted, but once in a while I have one of those 'Mr Smith Goes to Washington' moments and am so glad to live and work in Washignton. Nice spring weather and cherry blossoms help too. :)
OK, if you've made it this far, I promise that my posts won't be this longwinded. I just get very excited about the opportunity to merge my interest in the arts with my work in policy and government. And while I'll never be a Washington bigwig (nor do I want to be), there are times when I truly feel connected to what's going on in the halls of power.
And then I go back to work and sit in boring meetings all day. :)
A few of you know that I work in Washington DC for the US government and teach a policy class at a local university. But in addition to being a full time policy wonk I'm also an arts supporter. I was a music major (voice) and got a master's degree in arts management, but life took me in another direction and I ended up getting a PhD in another field and working in government instead. So as an arts supporter and policy teacher, I decided to go to Capitol Hill for what's called Arts Advocay Day.
See, in the spring, an amazing thing happens in Washington. No, it's not the blooming of the cherry blossoms, or the arrival of the tourists, or return the birds from their winter vacation. Yes, those things happen, but we also experience the return of The Citizen Lobbyist. In the springtime, after the president releases his (or her, eventually) budget recommendations to Congress, organizations and associations from all around the country bring their members and constituents to Washington to hit the halls of Congress to talk with their senators and representatives. See, we Americans believe that the citizens actually have a voice in the process. Yeah, well, that may or may not happen, but we still flock to Capitol Hill to make our voices heard.
It's in this spririt that Americans for the Arts brings arts activists to Washington to lobby for funding for the arts, from the National Endowments for the Arts and Humanities, the Institute of Museum and Library Services, the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (Big Bird and National Public Radio), and arts in education programs. They have training all day Monday, go to an arts policy lecture at the Kennedy Center that night (speakers Robert Redford and documentary-filmmaker Ken Burns) and then the following morning they have a kickoff Congressional breakfast and then hit the halls.
I went this year, and although I didn't 'hit the halls', I was there for the breakfast. Every year they usually bring in celebrities to rouse the troops and add heft to the lobbying. No, we didn't get Angelina Jolie, but we got the next best thing, artswise - Wynton Marsalis. He's a pretty heavy hitter in the arts and jazz world, and made a great speech to the crowd. Also, actor Chris Klein (American Pie and Election) was there as well, lending his voice. They also got a rare opportunity to testify in front of the House Subcommittee for the Interior, which was a big coup. Several members of Congress also spoke to the group.
The key with this was the fact that now that the Democrats have control of Congress, the main arts supporters are now in key powerful postitions. Norm Dicks, the chair of the Interior Subcommitee, and Louise Slaughter, the chair of the Appropriations committee, are all committed arts supporters and were there to rouse the troops as well.
There's a lot of optimism among arts advocates because of the shift in power, but they're also optimistic because the NEA is now almost bulletproof. If you all recall the early 1990's when the NEA was under political attack for funding art that was too controversial, too sexual, too gay-focused. Now they fund very non-inflamatory stuff like Shakespeare in the schools, opera and musical theater for the troops, and poetry reading. That doesn't mean that they aren't pushing some boundaries. E.g., in The Big Read initiative, they feature, Oprah-style, reading clubs where they promote books that have been banned in the past, like Fahrenheit 451 and To Kill a Mockingbird. Many still criticize the agency for being too middle of the road and not supporting art that pushes boundaries. But the Chairman has done a number of things to keep it stable, politically untouchable and actually meriting increases in funding, like ensuring grants in every congressional district in the country. He's very politically savvy and his staff (even democrats) seem to like him.
So as I walked out of the Canon House Office building after the breakfast event was over, I passed the NEA chairman hailing his car on the corner, a group of firefighter union members dressed in suits walking up the street to have their meetings with their members of Congress, and a group of teenaged schoolchildren visiting DC, I had one of those sappy moments you see in movies, where I really felt the power of the people to make a difference in the issues they care about. I recognize that most policy making is done by the powerful and the connected, and that much of the system is (or is very capable of being) corrupted, but once in a while I have one of those 'Mr Smith Goes to Washington' moments and am so glad to live and work in Washignton. Nice spring weather and cherry blossoms help too. :)
OK, if you've made it this far, I promise that my posts won't be this longwinded. I just get very excited about the opportunity to merge my interest in the arts with my work in policy and government. And while I'll never be a Washington bigwig (nor do I want to be), there are times when I truly feel connected to what's going on in the halls of power.
And then I go back to work and sit in boring meetings all day. :)