Arts Advocacy – 

Arts Advocacy

 United Arts’ study – COVID-related impact/losses to the arts community:
–  Orange County – Orange County legislative delegation

–  City of Orlando

United Arts’ role in arts advocacy: 

United Arts and Orange Arts & Cultural Affairs Advocacy Committee work in concert with the Florida Cultural Alliance statewide advocacy agency, primarily for increased state arts funding through the Department of State, Division of Cultural Affairs. 

Each year, a group of Central Florida arts leaders makes a trip to Tallahassee to meet with our legislators. United Arts coordinates the travel and accommodations, sets up the legislative appointments, prepares talking points, and conducts a debrief with area participants for the separate teams’ legislative meetings.
Occasionally we work with our national partners at Americans for the Arts on advocacy for NEA funding, federal relief support, and other initiatives.
We will notify you of advocacy alerts when we need your help to contact legislators to request support for increasing statewide arts funding.
If you want to be included in alert emails, or are interested in joining the Tallahassee group, please send your contact information to: Trudy@UnitedArts.cc.

State of Florida Arts Funding 2020-21 (last year):

Updated 6/30/20:

The arts were funded, statewide, with $13.6M. This is approximately half of last year’s funding ($21.25M).

The legislature recommended only one grant line item (of four) for Cultural & Museum Grants, so that held funding for the majority of our local nonprofits, at about 31% of their recommended grant amounts. Unfunded line items were: Cultural Facilities, Endowment, and Culture Builds Florida grants.

 Just the facts:

• Platform for REQUEST – the ONE-SHEET for 2021 state arts funding – Tallahassee Arts & Culture Advocacy Day, January 2020
• DCA Ranking and Recommendations:
  – 659 well-vetted, ranked & recommended Department of State, Division of Cultural Affairs’ matching grants qualify for $59,849,052 in total state investments under the four DCA-funding categories for 2020-21 state funding. 
  – 41 counties – 61% of Florida’s 67 counties — comprise the recommended 659 total matching grant requests – (County by county listing);
  – 4-county Central Florida — 60 requests for $5,019,441 (platforms by county & request detail)

CONTACTS AT Florida Cultural Alliance and Florida legislature:

1. Florida Cultural Alliance: Jennifer Jones, executive director; at info@flca.net.
   – The Florida Cultural Alliance statewide call is on the 4th Monday at 10am. Next on Mon, Aug, 24 at 10a.
   –  Florida Cultural Alliance – Advocacy Resource Guide 
2. FY21 Contacts for State of FL Government – House-Senate-Local leadership
3. Need more info about Central Florida’s arts advocacy, Arts & Culture Advocacy Day in Tallahassee, or Orange County’s Arts & Cultural Affairs Advocacy Committee, contact Trudy@UnitedArts.cc.

Updated 8/18/20 – tdw
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YEAR 2019-20 FUNDING:

State of Florida, Division of Cultural Affairs (DCA) arts funding for 2019-20 is:

• $21,250,028 in APPROPRIATIONS APPROVED under the Florida Department of State (DOS) Division of Cultural Affairs (DCA) in FY 2019-20 State budget for three of the four DCA matching-grant categories:
  – $2,980,028 to fully fund all 132 Culture Builds Florida Matching Grants
  -$12,300,000 for Cultural and Museum Matching Grants (provides approximately 29% of each of the 478 recommended grant amounts)
  -$5,970,000 for Cultural Facilities Matching Grants (funded first 18 on ranked list fully, and partially funds #19)
• This budget allocation brings Florida from 48^th place, back up to 20^th in the nation, in state arts funding!
• Talking points about FY20 state arts funding & the chart of 6-year funding history
• Contacts: Elected Officials – State of Florida & Key Legislators- updated 19-0412
• Talk points for DCA & CFL area  from 2019-20
• PRESS related to State Arts Advocacy

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• Orange County Commissioners’ District Map

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Go to Grants …

• United Arts Grants
• Orange County Grants