Press RoomPress ReleasesHigh Museum of Art and Community Partners Launch #GAArtsFuture Advocacy Campaign

High Museum of Art and Community Partners Launch #GAArtsFuture Advocacy Campaign

July 21, 2017

 

ATLANTA, July 21, 2017 – Today the High Museum of Art and more than a dozen metro Atlanta arts and culture organizations are voicing their support for arts funding by launching the #GAArtsFuture postcard-writing campaign. The goal of the campaign is to demonstrate the arts’ positive impact on the lives of Georgia residents and to underscore the importance of continued funding for the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA), the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH), and the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS).

The president’s budget plan for fiscal year 2018 called for the elimination of these federal agencies, which fund important artistic initiatives throughout the state of Georgia, including educational programming, exhibitions, performances and projects.

Participating organizations include the Alliance Theatre, Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, The Woodruff Arts Center, WonderRoot, Spelman College Museum of Fine Art, ArtsATL, Atlanta Ballet, Atlanta Contemporary, The Atlanta Opera, The Breman Museum, BURNAWAY, Center for Puppetry Arts, Michael C. Carlos Museum, The Museum of Contemporary Art of Georgia (MOCA GA) and Museum of Design Atlanta (MODA).

Each institution will offer blank postcards, along with the Washington, D.C. addresses of all state representatives, to patrons on site at their locations. Signage accompanying the postcards provides information for visitors about how NEA, NEH and IMLS funding affects the arts in Georgia. Guests may use their creativity to write personalized messages on the postcards, which the organizations will collect, stamp, and mail to congressional leaders.

“Funding for arts organizations throughout Georgia is vitally important to our communities. Faced with the potential elimination of funding, we felt compelled to offer visitors a simple yet impactful way to contact their representatives and make their voices heard,” said Rand Suffolk, Nancy and Holcombe T. Green, Jr., director of the High Museum of Art. “Working together with our partner organizations expands the reach and impact of this important initiative. We hope other institutions throughout the state will also participate and lend momentum to our efforts.”

“Arts organizations throughout Georgia and the communities that they serve benefit from the generosity, support and funding from the NEA, the NEH and IMLS,” said Andrea Barnwell Brownlee, director of the Spelman College Museum of Fine Art. “Our collective voice is impactful. For that reason, through our #GAArtsFuture campaign, we invite our stakeholders and champions of the arts to join us and regularly connect directly with legislators about the importance of arts funding.”

Chris Appleton, executive director of WonderRoot, adds, “We have found, year after year, that local investments follow national priorities. WonderRoot is thrilled to work with these partners on #GAArtsFuture to ensure our congressional representatives know about the expansive support that citizens have for arts and culture throughout the state of Georgia.”

The High Museum of Art is providing a digital toolkit with printable postcards, signage and additional materials to help partner organizations implement the campaign. The toolkit is also available for download via the High’s website so it may be accessed by other interested institutions.

Please visit www.high.org/gaartsfuture for more information.

 

About the High Museum of Art
The High is the leading art museum in the southeastern United States. With more than 15,000 works of art in its permanent collection, the High Museum of Art has an extensive anthology of 19th- and 20th-century American art; a substantial collection of historical and contemporary decorative arts and design; significant holdings of European paintings; a growing collection of African American art; and burgeoning collections of modern and contemporary art, photography, folk and self-taught art, and African art. The High is also dedicated to supporting and collecting works by Southern artists. Through its education department, the High offers programs and experiences that engage visitors with the world of art, the lives of artists and the creative process. For more information about the High, visit high.org.

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DIGITAL IMAGES AVAILABLE UPON REQUEST

Media contact:

Marci Tate Davis
Manager of Public Relations
404-733-4585
marci.davis@high.org