Arts groups promote postcard campaign to protect NEA funding

Georgia arts organizations, stung by the pre sident’s plan to eliminate the National Endowment for the Arts (among other federal arts programs), are fighting back with a postcard-writing campaign.

More than a dozen Atlanta-based groups will offer blank postcards to patrons, along with the addresses of the state’s U.S. representatives. Signage in some locations will describe the financial, educational and cultural impact of the arts on the state. The organizations will then col-

lect, stamp and mail the notes to Congress.

The House has, in fact, rejected President Donald J. Trump’s attempt to erase the NEA and the National Endowment for the Humanities, and last week a House committee presented a spending bill tha t would provide about $145 million for each — or $5 million less than last year’s bill.

But the sca re wa s enough to prompt action. The campaign has been tagged #GAArtsFuture. “Funding for arts organiza

tions throughout Georgia is vitally impor tant to our c ommunities. Faced with the potential elimi- nation 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, director of the High Museum of Art, in a statement.

The goal of the campaign is to

demonstrate how the arts positively impact the lives of Georgia residents.

The organizations that will be offering the postcards include the Alliance Theatre, the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, the Woodruff Arts Center, Wonder Root, Spelman College Museum of Fine Art, Arts ATL, Atlanta Ballet, Atlanta Con- temporary, the Breman Museum, BURN AWAY, the Center for Puppetry Arts, the Museum of Con- temporary Art of Georgia (MOCA GA )and Museum of Design Atlanta (MODA).

CONTRIBUTED BY MOCA TheM use umof Contemporary Art G eorgiaisa mong a group of Atlanta arts organizations using a postcard-writing campaign to voice support for federal funding of the arts.