You Are Invited!
10/25/06
1. You Are Invited!
2. Candidates Speak Out About the Arts in MCA’s Legislative Questionnaire
3. Deadline extended: ARTISTS COUNT!
4. State Arts Board Sponsoring Statewide Arts Gathering
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1. You Are Invited!
You are cordially invited to
MCA’s Annual Meeting
With featured speaker Sheila Smith
“How Does Your Arts Community Stack Up? You May be Surprised!”
New data from The Arts, A Driving Force in Minnesota’s Economy allows us to compare and contrast the arts economies of St. Paul to Minneapolis, or the metro suburbs and the 10 regions of Greater Minnesota. The information will be new and thought-provoking even to those who have read the earlier reports. Sheila Smith has served as MCA’s Executive Director for eleven years. She will explore with wit and wisdom how to use the new reports to educate policy makers about the importance of Minnesota’s investment in the arts. Sheila collaborated with the Forum of Regional Arts Councils to produce twelve first-of-their-kind economic impact studies of the arts which were funded by The McKnight Foundation in 2006. New data on the arts economies of Minneapolis, St. Paul and metro suburbs has just become available.
6:00-7:30 p.m., Friday, November 10th, 2006
In the Illusion Theater auditorium
on the 8th Floor of the Hennepin Center for the Arts 528 Hennepin Avenue, Minneapolis.
The evening will also include presentations of Legislative Arts All Star Awards, election of new board members, thank yous to retiring members, and wine and socializing.
Event is free for MCA members, $5 for the general public.
PLEASE JOIN US! Please R.S.V.P to MCA by Election Day, Nov. 7th.
(And don’t for get to vote!!)
651-251-0868 or mca@mtn.org.
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2. Candidates Speak Out About the Arts in MCA’s Legislative Questionnaire
The results are in! Just over 50% of legislative candidates responded to our legislative questionnaire and now we can share the results with you. On MCA’s website you can find out what art forms your legislators participate in, and whether they would support restoring arts funding cuts and arts in education. Just go to MCA’s website www.mtn.org/mca to find the results in your area. Members of MCA will also recieve a hard copy of their results in the mail in the next week or so, with additional information. Check it out and be an informed arts voter.
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3. DEADLINE EXTENDED: ARTISTS COUNT!
Participate in the Economic Impact Study of Minnesota’s Artists
We’ve had a great response, and we know there are more artists who want to be a part of ARTISTS COUNT! so we’ve extended the deadline to:
ELECTION DAY, NOVEMBER 7, 2006.
Artists are an important part of a healthy community. Artists contribute to the economy, as well as the vitality, of Minnesota. Artists have significant economic clout.
Let’s prove it.
In order to prove the economic power of Minnesota artists AND because individual artists have been excluded from previous impact studies, the McKnight Foundation has funded an Economic Impact Study of individual artists in Minnesota, called Artists Count! Just like the report released in March called The Arts: A Driving Force in Minnesota’s Economy that studied arts organizations in Minnesota, the result will be more attention and respect for artists and their efforts to make their art and their living in Minnesota. This study will also give Springboard for the Arts information it needs to advocate for services for artists like health care and retirement programs.
WHO SHOULD PARTICIPATE?
Artists from ALL DISCIPLINES: Music, Dance, Theater, Literary Arts, Visual Art, Multimedia, and Crafts artists in Pottery, Metalwork, Wood, etc.
Make sure that YOU are COUNTED. It’s quick and easy to participate:
1. Complete the secure online survey about your income and expenses as an artist at: http://www.survey.artsusa.org/MNArtistSurvey
2. Tell all the artists you know to participate!
We know that Minnesota’s artists COUNT. This is our chance to prove it. Your information and privacy will be completely protected - the survey is housed on a secure site, with farewell protection, and the information gathered by the survey will only be reported in aggregate.
This study is a project of Minnesota Citizens for the Arts, Springboard for the Arts and the Minnesota Craft Council, with funding from The McKnight Foundation.
Our growing list of Partner Organizations includes: Actors Forum, American Composers Forum, American Association of Woodturners, Art Educators of Minnesota, Bloomington Art Center, Center for Hmong Arts and Talent, Central Minnesota Arts Board, COMPAS, Cornucopia, Dance USA, Fired Up!, IFP-MSP, Illusion Theater, Intermedia Arts, The Loft, Lake Elmo Arts Center, Lake Region Arts Council, MacPhail Center for Music, The McKnight Foundation, Metropolitan Regional Arts Council, Minnesota Center for Book Arts, Minnesota Center for Photography, Minnesota Fringe Festival, Minnesota Art Fairs Directory, Minnesota Citizens for the Arts, Minnesota Craft Council, Minnesota Music Educators Association, Minnesota State Arts Board, Minnesota String and Orchestra Association, Minnetonka Center for the Arts, Metris/Uptown Association/Uptown Art Fair, mnartist,org, NAAO - National Association of Artist Organizations, National Writer’s Union, Northern Clay Center, Perpich Center for Arts Education, Playwrights Center, Prairie Lakes Regional Arts Council, The Southern Theater, St. Paul Art Collective, Springboard for the Arts, Textile Center, Thirst, Theatre in the Round, Twin Cities Theatre and Film Alliance, Twin Cities Musicians Union, VSA arts Minnesota, Young Audiences, and the Forum of Regional Arts Councils of Minnesota.
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4. State Arts Board Sponsoring Statewide Arts Gathering
The Minnesota State Arts Board and regional arts councils invite and encourage you to attend a great event planned for Monday, November 6. This will wrap-up work on the Statewide Audience Development Initiative, but you need not have participated in SADI to attend. They’ve tried to design an agenda that is broad enough so that any organization will find this an interesting and useful day. The event (including meals and materials) is free! So please spread the word in your organization and among your colleagues, and encourage others to attend. The schedule and a registration form are available on the MSAB Web site: http://www.arts.state.mn.us/other/sadi_announcement.htm If you have questions, contact Sue Gens at the MSAB at 651-215-1600.
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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