Joint Caucus on Arts off to a Strong Start
On March 13th history was made, or rather created, as the first convening of the Joint Caucus on Arts and Arts Education took place at the North Carolina General Assembly. There are currently 67 members of the caucus, which is 40% of the entire General Assembly, 47 in the NC House and 20 in the NC Senate with ample representation from both political parties. The vast majority were able to attend the meeting which featured presentations from Wayne Martin, Executive Director of the NC Arts Council, and Nate McGaha, Executive Director of Arts North Carolina.
Opening remarks by House Arts Caucus Chairs Rep. Becky Carney (D-Mecklenburg) and Rep. Jeffrey Elmore (R-Wilkes) invoked the power of the arts, the possibilities of the Caucus, and the reasons that they had both joined Rep. Linda Johnson (R-Cabarrus) in filing H56 on February 12th, which would insure access to the arts for every NC student by requiring one Arts Credit for High School Graduation to be completed between 6th and 12th grade. Senate Arts Caucus Chairs Sen. Deanna Ballard (R- Watauga) and Sen. Mike Woodard (D-Durham) closed by echoing their excitement for the Caucus and announcing that to mark the occasion they had jointly sponsored S238, which is identical to H56, and would significantly increase the chance that the vision of these bills would become a reality and insure creative opportunities for all North Carolina students.
The mission of the Arts Caucus is to educate NC Legislators about the civic, economic, and educational impact the arts and arts education have on North Carolina and its citizens and this first meeting was a significant step toward that goal. Wayne Martin gave a sweeping and detailed tour of the NC Arts Council, its history, and the multitude of grants and programs they provide in pursuit of their mission of “art for every citizen.” Nate McGaha then explained the role Arts NC plays to strengthen and celebrate a creative North Carolina while outlining the organization’s goals for the Caucus and providing a taste of the mounting evidence that the arts improve lives, create jobs, and empower our students for success.
This impressive display of unity for the arts reemerged two weeks later as the Arts Caucus was engaged yet again at ARTS Day 2019. The Caucus was invited to join arts leaders for ice cream and a powerful performance by Grammy-nominated singer/songwriter Tift Merritt on March 26th. The next day Caucus Chairs took the stage in the ARTS Day Pavilion inspiring some of the over 300 arts advocates in attendance with their words about the importance of the arts in our state, support of the $1 for the ARTS Initiative, and encouragement to take our unified message to our elected representative.
The Joint Caucus on Arts and Arts Education has only just begun its work, but is well on its way to making a lasting impact on funding and policy for nonprofit arts organizations, comprehensive arts education, and the creative economy. By engaging such a large number of legislators in this way we have an opportunity to affect real change for the arts in North Carolina for generations to come.