Increase for National Endowment for the Arts

Despite incremental increases in funding, the NEA has never recovered from a 40% cut in 1995. With no additional funding, inflation will cut into the NEA's ability to make grants to performing arts organizations. Please take a moment to write your Senators and Representative and ask them to increase funding for the NEA.

Tell me more

Talking Points

Please Edit the Sample Letter

Replace the generic "As your constituent and a performing arts advocate" in the first line of the letter with something specific about you. For example, "As a resident of Colorado Springs and the Director of the Ormao Dance Company,"
Personalize! Include information about you and your organization. For example, "The Alpine Chorale is celebrating its 10th season."
Tell your member of Congress how federal funds are used in their community. For example, "Last year we used an NEA grant to put on the regional premiere of a new opera titled xxx."
Click on the Tell Me More link above for more talking points.

Subject:

Dear [ Decision Maker ],

(Edit Letter Below)

As your constituent and a performing arts advocate, I am writing to express my strong support for increased funding for the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA).

The NEA provides critical federal funding for performing arts organizations, encourages artistic achievement, and brings the performing arts to Americans in every corner of the country. Direct grants to performing arts organizations--and NEA support allocated through state arts agencies--expand public access to performances, preserve great classical works, and nurture the creative endeavors of performing artists nationwide.

The NEA has never fully recovered from a 40% budget cut in FY96 and all of its programs are seriously under-funded. Any additional monies over the NEA's current budget of $155 million will ensure that the NEA continues to support arts organizations in all 435 congressional districts.

I urge you to support a budget of $170 million for the NEA recently approved by the U.S. House of Representatives for FY 2010 to restore funding for the creation, preservation, and presentation of the arts in America through the NEA's core programs--Access to Artistic Excellence, Challenge America: Reaching Every Community, Federal/State Partnerships, and Learning in the Arts.

Thank you for your attention to this important matter. I look forward to your support.

Sincerely,
[Your name]
[Organization]
[Your address]

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