Celebs, Congress team to support arts
Members of Congress and the entertainment industry will gather in Washington, D.C., on May 9 to celebrate bipartisan support for arts inclusivity and spotlight artists living with brain cancer − all in an effort to fight proposed budget cuts to the National Endowment for the Arts.
The #RightToBearArts event, which USA TODAY is co-hosting with nonpartisan charity The Creative Coalition and global oncology company Novocure, will bring together celebrity advocates such as Tim Daly (“Madam Secretary”), Caterina Scorsone (“Grey’s Anatomy”), Dean Norris (“The Act”) and Wendi McLendon-Covey (“The Goldbergs”). Members of Congress in attendance will include Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., Rep. Jack Bergman, R-Mich. and more.
The event will take place during Brain Cancer Awareness Month and will feature artists living with glioblastoma, the aggressive brain cancer that killed Sen. John McCain in August.
After a day of advocacy on Capitol Hill − where celebrities will ask lawmakers to fund the National Endowment for the Arts − celebrities and lawmakers will gather for dinner and a fashion show of the artists donning Optune, a portable device to treat cancer.
The event underscores how the arts have enhanced the lives of artists who happen to be brain cancer patients, Robin Bronk, CEO of The Creative Coalition, tells USA TODAY.
The National Endowment for the Arts provides arts funding to every congressional district in the U.S., Bronk says. “This year it’s particularly important that we do this, because President Trump has called for the elimination of funding for the National Endowment of the Arts,” Bronk says.
Trump has tried eliminating the National Endowment for the Arts the last two years as part of his federal budget request, which Congress has rejected. But he’s trying to do so again.
Bronk points to the efforts of both The Creative Coalition and other arts advocates for convincing Congress to block the cuts, and noted Congress approved funding increases for the NEA the last two years.
“It’s not a red issue, it’s not a blue issue, it’s a citizenship issue,” Bronk says. Bronk wants both lawmakers and the nation to know that “the efficacy of the arts cannot be understated.”