To our valued Richmond Art Center community

Posted on March 17, 2017

To our valued Richmond Art Center community:

We add our voice and join with so many others who understand and value the crucial impact the arts and humanities bring to us as individuals, as members of our communities, and to our society, nationally and globally.

The proposed federal budget estimates $54 billion in domestic program cuts, which will eliminate funding for the National Endowment for the Arts, the National Endowment for the Humanities and the funding for afterschool programs throughout the country. These critical funds support local artists, writers, poets, historians, and nonprofit arts organizations, such as the Richmond Art Center’s Art in the Community program, making the arts accessible to underserved Richmond children and teens.

The Richmond Art Center stands with our nonprofit and cultural partners, and with citizens across our country, to support those agencies and organizations that may be impacted by this proposed budget. Our own roots at the Art Center trace back to 1936 when, with the support of the Works Progress Administration (WPA), local artist Hazel Salmi traveled the streets of Richmond with a suitcase packed with art supplies, eager to teach art to anyone interested. The value the role of the arts and humanities play in our lives, and the benefit to our larger society, cannot be discounted.

We realize that the House of Representatives and the Senate are now tasked with refining, reviewing, and approving the federal budget—a process that will span the next few months.

We will be urging our representatives in Congress to continue funding these agencies and hope that you, our dedicated and vibrant community of artists and arts enthusiasts, will lend your voices in speaking to your legislators about the vital influence, critical discourse, and positive societal impact that the arts bring to all of our lives.

Very best regards,