Show your suppport for NEA funding!

Dear Arts Advocate,

Earlier this month, the Congressional Arts Caucus co-chairs circulated two separate letters to all House members asking them to support an increase in funding for the National Endowment for the Arts and an increase to the Arts in Education program at the U.S. Department of Education. We ask for your help in contacting your Representative's office and urging them to "sign-on" to these Dear Colleague letters.

The first letter states, "We are requesting $176 million to support the NEA's core mission and expand popular initiatives like the Challenge America program. The NEA was last funded at this amount in 1992, and has never recovered from a 40 percent budget cut in FY1996." Last year saw historic increases for the NEA. With your help, we hope to continue to build on the momentum of last year and restore the NEA to its 1992 appropriation .

The second letter, on arts education, supports an increase of funding to $53 million, from the current level of $35.3 million. Over the past six years Congress has approved incremental funding increases which have resulted in approximately 160 awards to school districts in 180 Congressional Districts throughout the country despite the President's yearly attempt to eliminate the program.

There is no time to lose! The deadline for signatures is this FRIDAY, March 14, so please ask your House Member to sign-on to the letters as soon as possible. To get started, simply click here.