Arts Vote – November is Coming

This summer at the Americans for the Arts (AFTA) national convention in Boston featured the panel, “Everything You Need to Be a Top Arts Advocate This Election Year,” which focused on the tools we use to reach and prepare our constituents for local advocacy and impact.

This conversation revealed how those working in the arts sector are of two minds: how do we inform our audiences about bills and measures that will affect them and the arts sector, and how do we as individuals show up and engage in the civic process?

In the coming weeks, Arts for LA’s ArtsVote campaign will include the following strategies:

Candidate Surveys: Arts for LA will survey every candidate in 3 school districts and 7 municipalities (see details below);

Candidate Briefings: Arts for LA will meet with each of the run-off candidates for the Fourth and Fifth District races for the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors. Regardless of who wins, these meetings build relationships with decision-makers and strengthen the arts & culture platform;

Ballot Measures: Arts for LA will demonstrate what these measures will mean to you personally and as an arts sector, beginning with Prop 55 which is essentially the extension of Prop 30, a measure which produced the Local Control Funding Formula for public education and directed millions of dollars to our public schools, including arts education;

Polling Places & Poll Workers: Arts for LA will continue collaborating with the Registrar-Recorder’s office to encourage arts and culture places to become polling places and to support their staff and volunteers in being poll workers;

Coalitions: In addition to our work with LA County’s Registrar-Recorder, we are also deepening Arts for LA’s relationship with the League of Women Voters and other community initiatives such as National Voter Registration Day (Sept 27), Cal Nonprofit’s Vote With Your Mission, and LA Youth Vote.

In preparation for upcoming actions and arts advocacy, please take a moment to update your record with your home address (see below), so we can send you specific Action Alerts for elections in your voting district.

Louis Pasteur reminds us that “fortune favors the prepared mind,” and as we enter this dynamic and complex election season, we want you to be as prepared and informed as possible.