In my office, I’ve hung a quote on poster paper that reads: “Artists are MUST HAVE, not nice to have. They are essential, not peripheral.” It’s a conviction our board and staff share as McKnight’s arts program places working artists at the core of our focus.

Read more about arts advocacy on Giving Compass

Millions of Americans agree that artists and the arts are essential. But once again, the public good derived from the arts in communities all across the country has come in question with the potential elimination of the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA), along with the National Endowment for the Humanities, the Institute of Museum and Library Services, and the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.

The critical difference is that the arts sector is in a better position now than it has ever been before in its ability to explain the value of these agencies and the work they support. Because of intentional strategies to support independent, large-scale research, the arts sector has far-reaching and deep data that we didn’t have twenty-five years ago.

Organizations such as Americans for the Arts provides arts statistics for all 435 U.S. congressional districts across our country. Because of their work, we can now point to the fact that more than 700,000 businesses were involved in the creation or distribution of the arts, and they employ 2.9 million people, representing 3.9 percent of all U.S. businesses.

In addition, the NEA’s longstanding arts education program supports arts learning as a driver for transforming individual students, schools, and communities and has nurtured innovative and best practices in arts for youth.

Before any decisions are made about the future of the NEA, it’s important to recall that bipartisan congressional leaders...helped establish the agency.

These bipartisan partnerships created a platform to nurture American creativity and to elevate, sustain, and preserve this country’s diverse cultures and artistic traditions.

Read the source article at Home | Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors

Interested in more information? You might like this article about arts education measurement on GivingCompass.org