What We Care About
Become an Advocate
Learn more about these leading Advocacy Organizations. Become of a member of these organizations to help them support the arts in your community.
Massachusetts
MassCreative is a broad-based, statewide advocacy organization that promotes more job opportunities, more livable communities and better schools through the arts, sciences and humanities. This member-driven organization will take up the work of MAASH and go even further to engage and serve a broader constituency of nonprofits, artists, audiences, creative entrepreneurs and for-profit cultural businesses—everyone who believes in the power of arts and culture to create a strong, vibrant Massachusetts. The organization identifies significant legal issues of importance to the industry, including the promotion of arts education and after-school programs, and works to influence legislation on funding for the arts, sciences, and humanities through the Massachusetts Cultural Council.
The MAASH website provides steps for advocacy as an individual, a nonprofit, or as a local cultural council, as well as links to locate local Massachusetts officials and agencies. By joining MAASH, either as an individual or as a local cultural council, you receive e-mail updates, advocacy training, member benefits and the opportunity to help shape the Massachusetts legislative agenda.
The Massachusetts Cultural Council (MCC)
The MCC is a state agency committed to building a central place for the arts, sciences, and humanities in communities across Massachusetts through a combination of grant programs, partnerships and nonprofit cultural organizations, schools, communities, and individual artists. The MCC website has tips on successfully advocating for arts, sciences and humanities.
Arts|Learning encourages academic and artistic excellence and reform in teaching and curriculum development for preschool through college levels through the advancement of policies, practices, programs and partnerships, building networks and alliances between the education system, the art community, and government agencies and organizations. The A|L Networking and Advocacy Division provides information, resources and programming to help individuals advocate for the arts in their communities, whether across the Commonwealth or Massachusetts or in any other state or region of the United States. The A|L website also has a section for tips on successfully advocating for arts in education and is Massachusetts’s representative in the Kennedy Center Alliance for Arts Education Network.
Massachusetts Art Education Association (MAEA)
Massachusetts Art Education Association (MAEA) is the state member of the National Art Education Association (NAEA). The NAEA is the leading professional membership organization exclusively for visual arts educators across the United States. The mission of NAEA is to promote art education through professional development, service, advancement of knowledge, and leadership.
Western Massachusetts Arts Alliance
The Western Massachusetts Arts Alliance fosters community-based arts activity through building relationships and collaborations among diverse cultural organizations, artists, educators, and community groups. The website provides helpful tips for individuals to advocate for more jobs, better schools and culturally healthier communities. For more information: click here. You can also get involved by joining as an individual member, amateur or professional artist member, business member, or arts organization member.
Preservation Massachusetts is a statewide non-profit preservation organization dedicated to preserving Massachusetts’s historic and cultural heritage by actively promoting the preservation of historic building and landscapes in an effort to stimulate economic development, tourism, and the retention of community character. Presently, this organization partners with Architectural Conservation Trust and Massachusetts Association of Olmsted Parks to strengthen its advocacy efforts. The organization provides steps for successful advocacy and offers workshops and programs in matters of preservation.
The Boston Foundation was one of the first community foundations and today is one of the largest, with assets of almost $650 million. The Foundation is made up of over 750 separate funds, which have been established by hundreds of donors either for the general benefit of the community or for special purposes. The Foundation sponsors special initiatives and the exploration thereof and works with other organizations and with government to find new ways to build the Boston community.
National
Americans for the Arts is a national nonprofit organization dedicated to representing and serving local communities in the promotion of the arts and arts education. The goals of the organization include generating public and private sector policies and resources and building an individual awareness and appreciation of the value of the arts and arts education. Americans for the Arts is part of a greater network of national associations that collaborate on resources for promoting the arts in Elementary and Secondary Education Act (a.k.a. No Child Left Behind) reauthorization and appropriations efforts.
One way to get involved with Americans for the Arts is to join the activist list, which provides individuals with current legislative issues regarding art professionals in your local area. The activist list also makes it very simple to contact local and federal government representatives and the media concerning particular legislative issues.
Another way to get involved is by joining as a member. Membership provides access to current legislation and updates, art policies, and art legislation talking points. Also provides access to services, programs and resources specifically designed for art professionals.
The NAEA is part of the Arts Education Working Group, a coalition of national arts and arts education advocacy organizations that invites state and local organizations to join the movement to keep the arts in public schools by signing-on to a statement in support of arts education: Arts Education: Creating Student Success in School, Work, and Life, which communicates the benefits of arts education to policymakers at all levels.
Kennedy Center Alliance for Arts Education
The Kennedy Center Alliance for Arts Education Network (KCAAEN) is a national coalition of non-profit Alliances for Arts Education working in partnership with the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts to support policies, practices, programs, and partnerships in favor of arts in the education system. Members of the KCAAEN work to build collaborations between schools, community partners, and cultural institutions, engage in public speaking on behalf of arts education, generate resources for arts education leaders and practitioners, provide professional development, and recognize innovation and achievement to those who demonstrate outstanding support for arts education.
