How Will the Election Affect the Arts?
11/17/06
1. How Will the Election Affect the Arts?
2. New Board Members Join MCA
3. Campus Arts Advocates
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1. How Will the Election Affect the Arts?
Last week’s surprising election will cause a lot of change for us both on the state and national levels. Here’s a rundown on how it will affect the arts:
IN MINNESOTA:
The biggest change in Minnesota politics will be that Democrats now have a majority in the House. This means that both leaders and committee chairs will change, among other things. The good news is that the new Speaker of the House, Rep. Margaret Anderson-Kelliher, was awarded an Arts All Star for her tireless work on behalf of the arts in the last legislative session. The new House Majority Leader, Tony Sertich, is also a friend of the arts. Among many friends of the arts who are returning is Arts All Star Rep. Ron Erhardt. The Minority Leader has not yet been chosen. It may be a month or so before we know who will be our new committee chair and who will sit on the committee that oversees the arts. Of the 134 candidates elected to the Minnesota House, 59% responded to our legislative survey, and 99% of respondents stated they supported increased arts funding.
The Senate continues to be held by the Democrats, who increased their position by a few seats. New leaders were elected due to the unfortunate loss of (Arts All Star) Majority Leader Dean Johnson. The good news is that the new Senate Majority Leader, Senator Larry Pogemiller, was also an Arts All Star awardee this year. Arts All Star Senator Richard Cohen will continue as the Chair of the Finance Committee. The new Minority Leader of the Senate, David Senjem is also an enthusiastic arts supporter. Among many friends of the arts who are returning are Arts All Stars Sen. Scott Dibble and Sen. Dennis Frederickson. We look forward to working with both the new legislators and new legislative leaders on behalf of the arts. Of the 67 candidates elected to the Minnesota Senate, 55% responded to our legislative survey, and 97% of the respondents stated that they supported increased arts funding.
All in all, about a fourth of the state’s legislators will be new. This means that we have a lot of work to do to educate these folks once they take office in January.
We did lose some friends of the arts this session, both through retirements and through election defeats. Arts All Stars Sen. Dallas Sams, Rep. Greg Davids and Rep. Mike Charron all lost their seats. Other friends who will not be returning include Sen. Becky Lourey, Sen. Cal Larson, Sen. John Hottinger, Sen. Sheila Kiscaden, Rep. Ron Abrams, Sen. Steve Kelley, Rep. Barb Goodwin, Sen. Wes. Skoglund, and Rep. Matt Entenza. We would like to thank them all for their many years of effort on behalf of the arts in Minnesota.
While we are thrilled that so many Arts All Stars have become leaders in both houses which should be helpful to the arts, the financial condition of the state continues to be worrisome. Because of large cuts to education, local government aids and health care in the past couple of years there is a huge pent up demand for increased spending, while the state’s revenues have not been increased. We will be working to improve conditions for the arts in an environment where many issues will be competing for funds. However, having so many arts friends on the political stage will be wonderful.
NATIONALLY:
Changes in Minnesota are reflected on the national level where Democrats will be the majority in both the U.S. House and U.S. Senate. Our national partners Americans for the Arts believe that this should somewhat improve the chances for arts initiatives, although budget pressures also continue on the federal level. AFTA gives out letter grades to members of Congress.
In Minnesota, two members who didn’t have very good records on the arts (Rep. Gutknecht (F) and Rep. Kennedy, grade (C) on AFTA’s report card) will not be returning. We are glad to see that four arts advocates, Reps. McCollum (A+), Oberstar, (A) Ramstad (A+), and Peterson (B) were returned to Congress.
New Minnesota Senator Amy Klobuchar is a great friend of the arts and in fact was endorsed by the Americans for the Arts PAC. Of the three new members we are sending to Congress, two, Rep. Walz (southern MN) and Rep. Ellison (Mpls.) have the potential to be supportive of the arts. We look forward to working with our entire Minnesota delegation on national arts issues.
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2. New Board Members Join MCA
MCA welcomed nine new board members at its annual meeting last Friday. We also said farewell to many members who had served on the board for a long time.
First of all, thank you to retiring members Liz Bucheit, Sarah Caflisch, Allison Geiger, Kathy Peterson, Dr. Kay Robinson, Victoria Salas, Kevin Smith, Tom Trow, and Mara Wittman. Between them they represent several decades of passionate advocacy on behalf of the arts in Minnesota. You are the greatest!
New members welcomed to the board include:
Hal Cropp Executive Director, Commonweal Theater, Lanesboro (returning to serve on the MCA board after a few years break)
Steve Downing Executive Director, MacRostie Art Center, Grand Rapids
James Kent President, Valley Crossing Arts Council, Crookston
John Nuechterlein President and CEO, American Composers Forum, St. Louis Park
Chris Rasmussen Central Minnesota Arts Board, Sauk Rapids
Gregory Smith Director of Education, Children’s Theatre Co., Minneapolis
Amy Stearns Historic Holmes Theatre, Detroit Lakes
David Steglich Chief Operating Officer and Deputy Director, Walker Art Center, Minneapolis
Delina White Anishinaabe Arts Initiative, Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe, Deer River
To see who else is on the board and read everyone’s bios, check out the staff and board page under “who we are” on MCA’s website www.mtn.org/mca.
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3. Campus Arts Advocates
MCA is in the process of organizing the 2007 Campus Arts Advocate program. Our new Campus Organizing Intern will be networking with arts advocates on Minnesota’s college campuses and helping students to get to Arts Advocacy Day in March, 2007. Are you a student who would like to learn more about getting involved? Would you like to be the Lead Arts Advocate on your campus? It’s fun and not too much work. Send an email to field@mtn.org and we’ll connect you to the new organizer. Be a part of the action!
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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