Dear all,

I hope you’re well. As you may know, Americans for the Arts is part of a broad coalition called Get Creative Workers Working (GCWW) that has been pushing recovery policies for the creative sector at a federal level.

I’m writing on behalf of the GCWW steering committee with an urgent request for anyone who knows decisionmakers within the White House, any of the federal agencies, or in the Cabinet regarding recovery policy for the creative sector and creative workers. We are at an important flex point regarding the coalition’s ongoing efforts to strengthen policy and direct funds for the integration of creative workers and businesses into the forthcoming Build Back Better recovery proposal, which we anticipate emerging from the White House in the next month.

In dialogues with House and Senate staffers, the dominant thing we have heard is that our proposals are much more likely to advance if included by the White House team in their proposal, prior to its delivery to Congress. To that end, we are seeking your help in reaching out this week to the White House to include $20 billion in creative economic recovery funding in the forthcoming proposal using the email template language below, which was crafted in collaboration with the steering committee of GCWW. A template email is below my signature.

If you know someone within the Executive branch (someone with influence in the White House, a senior official or leader of a Department, a member of the Cabinet or their staff, someone on or working for the Domestic Policy Council – see list here), please take the text below and adapt and send it to that person this week.

This is the primary goal—and relies on immediate personal engagement with these influential White House decisionmakers.
If you would, please email clord@artsusa.org to report your effort there, so we can try and keep track of the campaign.

If you know a member of Congress (or have a direct line to that member of Congress or their legislative staff), please consider reaching out to them to ask that they consider adapting the letter below and submitting it to the White House on behalf of the creative sector. Should you find it useful, you can see statistics on each state’s creative economy and the impact of COVID at http://www.americansforthearts.org/covidbystate.

If you would, please email clord@artsusa.org to report your effort there, so we can try and keep track of the campaign.

If you have any questions, please reach out to me or a member of the GCWW steering committee. Please also feel free to pass along this request to anyone in your circle who you think would be able to take action.

On behalf of the GCWW steering committee and Americans for the Arts, thank you all for your efforts!

Clay

____________________

Clayton Lord

Vice President of Strategic Impact
Americans for the Arts

1000 Vermont Ave NW 6^th Floor

Washington, DC 20005-4940

202.371.2830 x2022

www.AmericansForTheArts.org

Pronouns: he/him/his (what's this?)

____________________________________

Dear NAME,

I am writing to encourage the decisionmakers at the White House who are crafting the Build Back Better recovery proposal to incorporate into that proposal $20 billion—or 1% of a $2 trillion recovery proposal—to reactivate America’s $878 billion creative engine and put creative workers to work. The needs of our nation’s recovery infrastructure are great – and that includes our cultural infrastructure. A proposed breakdown of that allocation is below.

The creative sector is essential to recovery, and also has been devastated by the pandemic and economic fallout. According to ongoing research, 63% of creative workers became unemployed because of COVID (10 times the national rate) and 99% of creative businesses have cancelled events, resulting in nearly 490 million lost admissions. According to the Brookings Institution, the creative sector has lost over $150 billion, and research from Johns Hopkins University indicates the arts sector has been hit harder than any other sector by the pandemic—a point backed up by the Biden Administration’s framing document for the American Rescue Plan, in which the arts are recognized as a disproportionately impacted sector.

Activating the creative economy infrastructure to stimulate recovery just makes sense. With 5.1 million arts and culture workers and over 675,000 small businesses generating $878 billion annually in every congressional district and local economy, the creative economy offers the best path to help revive America’s economy across our nation. Creative businesses are jobs multipliers, creating jobs at almost twice the national rate. The creative economy supports more U.S. jobs than the legal or public safety sectors and generates more in household income and tax revenue than agriculture and mining combined. Investment in the creative economy offers a strong return on investment in the wake of COVID-19.

That is why 204 chambers of commerce in all 50 states have written to Congress supporting legislation that would fund the creative economy as part of recovery; mayors from 10 major cities have written a similar letter encouraging the employment of creative workers; and the Nonprofit Infrastructure Investment Advisory Group has centered this same Put Creative Workers to Work investment in the policy agenda they have shared with Congress.

Paying artists and other creative workers for their contributions to the health, equity, and well-being of our communities rebuilds our economy. To thrive tomorrow, we must create a jobs ecosystem for creative workers today.

A $20 billion investment in the creative economy would directly create or save 350,000 jobs, commission 300,000 new pieces of art, generate billions of dollars in local revenues through festivals, fairs, performances, and residencies, and help communities to process the trauma of COVID and get back on their feet. For every dollar used to commission an artist, research shows $.83 goes directly out in community investments that otherwise wouldn’t happen, and that every arts attendee spends, on average, $31.47 beyond the price of their ticket in the local community.

Investing in the creative engine will accelerate the economic recovery of American communities. The following Put Creative Workers to Work proposals were arrived at by a consortium of over 100 partner creative organizations, and have been endorsed by over 2,300 creative businesses and creative workers in all 50 states. For more detail on the policy proposals outlined below, please visit http://www.creativeworkers.net.

I strongly urge you to advocate for the inclusion of these recovery measures—we must Put Creative Workers to Work as part of the national recovery!

Sincerely,

NAME

PUT CREATIVE WORKERS TO WORK
$20 bil.

Incentivize Businesses and Local/State Governments to Put Creative Workers to Work
$14.1 bil.

$9 bil. to incentivize, through a hiring or tax credit of up to $50,000 per creative worker, creative and non-creative businesses, regardless of tax status, and local and state agencies to accelerate hiring, re-hiring, or retention of creative workers (such as visual and performing artists, data visualization specialists, graphic designers, digital artists, programmers, designers, architects, storytellers, public artists, etc.).
$2 bil. to incentivize financial institutions, through fees or partial matches that reduce risk, to invest in small creative businesses, creative non-employer/solo businesses, arts producing organizations of all types, cultural centers, and collectives. Wherever possible, assess need based on the impact of COVID on the organization and its service population, and direct assistance to those in most need first.
$2 bil. in grants to cover restart costs for small creative businesses up to 50% of their pre-COVID annual budget or $2,000,000, whichever is lower, specifically to provide capital for the creation of new creative product that can be sold.
$900 mil. to support local and state creative workforce programs.
$100 mil. to incentivize local and state entities to waive and/or subsidize restart fees for small businesses of all types, such as building permits, water/sewer connections, electricity, gas, etc.
$100 mil. to incentivize state or local government to create and expand use of an Eligible Artists Roster to subsidize the hiring of artists and creative workers.

Fund Creative Jobs, Fellowships, Residencies, and Commissions in Federal Departments
$4.25 bil.

$1.65 bil. to launch creative commissioning projects to support urban and rural community recovery, including to drive economic growth through clean energy and environmental sustainability; document untold histories and under-told narratives; help Americans rediscover our commonalities, reignite our patriotism, and celebrate our differences; commission free community entertainment; commission creative projects that showcase and make accessible government data; and commission new artworks centered on the themes of governing, civic pride, and collective destiny.
$180 mil. to situate artists in residence in all federal agencies to drive innovative practice among career employees and experts and increase community awareness, social cohesion, and knowledge transfer among staff and between staff and communities. Included in that, expand existing artist residency programs.
$100 mil. to expand investment in the arts and creative arts therapies, particularly for military populations.
$1.2 bil. to expand direct employment of artists and creative workers, including by completing the launch of, and directing funds towards, an Artist Corps within AmeriCorps and inclusion of creative workers within the Climate Corps.
$250 mil. to create a coordinated 1,000-community National Festival Project via the NEA, and national grant program to fund, via HHS, coordinated arts-based community health interventions in all 50 states.
$320 mil. to incentivize, via the NEA, local and state public and private investment to help cultural venues adapt their facilities and digital platforms for a post-COVID world, prioritize digital access to culture, and record and distribute historically under told narratives.
$20 mil. to support research initiatives and commissioned research projects via the NEA to map, define, and evaluate the impact of the creative economy on American economies.
$500 mil. to incentivize various federal efforts to integration of arts and culture into the mental and physical healthcare efforts of local communities, including through creative arts therapies, creativity-based public health and awareness campaigns, innovative rethinking to address future public health crises, and incentives to encourage support of arts-based therapies by insurance companies.
$35 mil. to underwrite the creation of a 3-person Office of Arts, Culture, and Creative Economy within the Domestic Policy Council to advise the President on issues related to the arts, culture, and creative economy and coordinate immediate relief and recovery efforts for the creative economy.

Invest in Arts in K-12, Higher, and Out-of-School Education for Recovery
$1.63 bil.

$1 bil. to create a temporary bridge program to incentivize local and state decisionmakers to protect arts educators during difficult budgeting processes.
$400 mil. in appropriations for the Assistance for the Arts Education (AAE) programs in the Labor-HHS-Education appropriations bill and strengthen equitable access to arts education through the Well-Rounded Education provisions.
$15 mil. to commission teacher professional development on arts- and creativity-inclusive trauma-informed education practice, with participation tied to recovery funding levels.
$50 mil. to fund, via higher education institutions, internship and fellowship stipends for creative sector students and recent graduates.
$61.5 mil. for the Title V Juvenile Justice Delinquency Prevention Incentive Grants at the Office Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP).

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