Happy Holidays!
12/20/06
1. Happy Holidays!
2. New Program Provides Artist Access to Health Care
3. MCA Seeks Campus Arts Advocates
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Everyone at MCA would like to wish you a
VERY HAPPY HOLIDAYS!
We look forward to a new year full of great things for the arts.
Sincerely,
The MCA Staff and Board
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2. And Here’s a Christmas Present: New Program Provides Artist Access to Healthcare
Springboard for the Arts and Neighborhood Involvement Program are thrilled to announce their new program, Artists’ Access to Healthcare. This partnership between the two Twin Cities based nonprofits will help provide free or low-cost healthcare to individual artists. Beginning November 11, individual artists may apply to Springboard for a voucher to be used at the N.I.P. Community Clinic, located in the Uptown neighborhood of Minneapolis.
“Many of the artists we serve are both low-income and self-employed, so healthcare is a major concern for them.” says Laura Zabel, Springboard’s Executive Director, “We are so excited to be partnering with N.I.P. to provide artists with a new option for affordable healthcare. Helping artists connect to options for healthcare, especially preventative care, is one of Springboard’s long-term goals. This program is a perfect start to that goal, and we hope that the partnership will be able to grow to provide even more healthcare related services specifically for artists.”
Leslie Rohde, Executive Director of Neighborhood Involvement Program adds, “We’ve all seen the signs - a great nation deserves great art. At the N.I.P. Community Clinic, we also believe that a great city should provide affordable health care for its artists. For years our Clinic has provided medical care for working artists (full and part-time) that do not have health insurance, so we are very excited about this partnership with Springboard for the Arts. We hope that Artist Access to Healthcare (AAH) will encourage more artists to access care and raise awareness about all the employed and hardworking, yet uninsured people in the Twin Cities. We want to thank Laura Zabel for her unique vision, for including N.I.P. in this project and for making access to healthcare for uninsured artists a reality.”
More information and applications to the program can be found on Springboard’s website at www.springboardforthearts.org, or by calling 651-292-4381. N.I.P. strengthens individuals and the community by providing health care, education and social services to our underserved neighbors. Springboard for the Arts’ mission is to cultivate a vibrant arts community by connecting artists to the skills, contacts, information and services they need to make a living and a life.
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3. MCA Seeks Campus Arts Advocates
STUDENTS: DO YOU LOVE ART? Become a Campus Arts Advocate!
Work with Minnesota Citizens for the Arts, a non-partisan statewide arts advocacy organization, to help connect your fellow students to a state-wide network of artists, legislators and students who support the arts!
Opportunities include:
* Networking with MCA staff and artists and legislators statewide
* Broadening knowledge of the statewide arts community
* Educating peers on legislative processes surrounding arts funding Join our Team of Students, Artists and Activists From Campuses throughout Minnesota!
For More Information:
* Visit www.mtn.org/mca and Click “How You Can Help”
* Contact Erinn Liebhard at MCA: lieb0099@umn.edu
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http://www.mtn.org/mca
Your frequently updated, one-stop site for:
• information about Minnesota Citizens for the Arts,
• how you can get involved,
• an Action Center called the DESKTOP LOBBYIST where you can write a letter to your legislator
• or even find out who your legislators are,
• facts about the arts in Minnesota,
• the latest on legislative and congressional action on arts issues
• And more!
Join Our Arts Advocacy Family
MCA is funded entirely by the dues of its members. Do you appreciate receiving up to the minute news on the fate of the arts in the Minnesota State Legislature and Congress? We could not provide Arts Alerts if it weren’t for the wonderful and committed arts advocates who show their commitment by joining MCA. You can join by printing out the membership form on our website at http://www.mtn.org/mca. Individual dues are just $30, and a household membership is just $40. Thank you!
MCA values your privacy, and will not sell or distribute your personal information to anyone.
MCA is a non-partisan statewide arts advocacy organization whose mission is to ensure opportunity for all people to have access to and involvement in the arts. MCA organizes the arts community and lobbies the Minnesota State Legislature and Congress on issues pertaining to the nonprofit arts. If you are interested in learning more about how to advocate for the arts, or how to activate people in your arts organization or community to lobby for the arts, please call us at 651-251-0868 or e-mail mca@mtn.org.
State arts funding supports access to the arts for all Minnesotans. The state-funded Minnesota State Arts Board and eleven Regional Arts Councils provide grants and services in every Minnesota county for artists, arts organizations, arts projects and school artist residencies. For more information on regional or state grants, go to http://www.arts.state.mn.us/racs/index.htm