#ARLSaveOurStage Advocacy Meeting Recap

Last night, Encore partnered with Embracing Arlington Arts to host an advocacy meeting, bringing arts groups and supporters together to create an action plan to counter the proposed FY2020 cuts to the Arlington County budget that would severely impact local arts organizations.

The event had a fantastic turn out. Around 110 individuals participated in the meeting, with 16 unique arts groups represented. Encore saw many familiar faces, including production and education participants, parent volunteers, and Board members, in addition to the entirety of Encore’s full-time staff.

Following opening comments from Encore’s Sara Duke and Janet Kopenhaver from Embracing Arlington Arts, 13 breakout groups were formed to contemplate the following questions:

How do these cuts affect your organization? How do they impact you personally?
What are the core reasons to restore funding to the arts?
How will you communicate your message? What new or innovative ideas do you have?

After a period of working and discussion time, groups were asked to share the three most significant take-aways from their tables. A summarized document of the thoughts from the meeting can be found here.

The formal portion of the evening concluded, advocates were invited to participate at five stations:

Poster Making, in preparation for April 2nd’s Celebration of the Arts event
Social Media, where individuals could record a video message to the County Board or take photos for their own social media accounts
Banner Signing, to be posted during the Celebration of the Arts event
Support the Arts petition – sign here!
Strategizing – interested in signing up to speak at an upcoming County Board meeting? Email info@encorestage.org and we’ll put you in touch!

Though participants were brought together by the dark cloud of these proposed budget cuts, the room remained alive with energy, positivity, and hope. Representatives from many local groups shared anecdotes that reflect the importance of Arlington County’s current support systems for the arts. A strong sense of community permeated the space as stories and plans were shared alike.

Sign the Petition

In case you didn’t catch it at 11, the advocacy meeting was fortunate enough to be covered by NBC Washington. Major thanks to reporter Shomari Stone, his crew, and the whole team at NBC Washington for their dedication to covering issues of local importance.

Calls to Action:

Send your comments about the proposed FY 2020 Budget to CountyBoard@arlingtonva.us or call their office at (703) 228-3130. Visit our #ARLSaveOurStage page for the full list of individual Board members’ contact information.
Bring attention – share about the cuts with your friends, family members, and neighbors, both in-person and online using the hashtag #ARLSaveOurStage.
Join us on April 2nd for a Celebration of the Arts. This is our last chance to show County Board members the importance of the facilities and funding with which Arlington provides arts groups.

Photos by Sarah Strunk. Robin Hood photo by Cindy Kane Photography. Video courtesy of NBC Washington. Blog contribution by Shannon McCarthy.

Category: Latest Encore News, The Front Row

Tags: advocacy, arlington county, ARLSaveOurStage, arts community, budget cuts, community, embracing arlington arts, save our stage

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