Arts Wisconsin: Arts Day 2010 set for Wednesday, March 3

Arts Day 2010 will take place on Wednesday, March 3, 2010, at the Monona Terrace Community and Convention Center and State Capitol in downtown Madison. Follow the Arts Day proceedings as they happen on FaceBook and Twitter! Speak up for the arts on Arts Day!

Arts Wisconsin, the state’s arts service, advocacy and development organization, a coalition of statewide arts, business, education and civic sponsors, and hundreds of community activists from across the state, will speak up for the state’s creative people, organizations and communities during Wisconsin’s annual legislative day for the arts. On Arts Day, people who care about Wisconsin’s future will come together to support investment in the state’s artistic, creative and human resources, to enhance and strengthen arts opportunities for everyone, everywhere in the state.

If there ever was a time that we needed the arts, it’s now. Creativity, innovation and entrepreneurship – all qualities inherent to the arts – are the qualities needed to move the local and state economy, educational systems, and civic infrastructure forward throughout Wisconsin.

The evidence is clear: participation and involvement in the arts and arts education are important to the people of Wisconsin, and critical to the long-term economic, educational and civic health and well-being of Wisconsin’s communities. The arts are essential to Wisconsin’s cultural and spiritual quality of life, to our economic development, and to the education of our children. Investment in Wisconsin’s arts sector is all about investment in good jobs, good education, and livable communities, and is directly tied to helping the state and all of its communities achieve and thrive.

Each year on Arts Day, representatives of the arts from around Wisconsin — small rural choirs and suburban community theaters, presenters and big organizations, museums and art centers of all sizes, painters, tenors, dancers, cellists, french horn players, arts administrators, board members, economic development professionals, educators, politicians, many others who care about Wisconsin’s future — join to:

* Encourage expanded state investment in the arts, culture, creativity and education through the Wisconsin Arts Board’s New Economy Funding Initiative and investment in other state agencies

* Support arts and creative involvement and opportunities to provide 21st century education for all Wisconsin students

“This is one of the only times that Wisconsin’s diverse, multi-layered,fantastic arts industry gathers together in one place, to show what a strong, vital arts community we have statewide,” says Peter Crawford, Arts Wisconsin Board President. “Events like Arts Day, combined with daily advocacy at home, lead to greater understanding by decision-makers of the power of the arts to transform Wisconsin’s communities. We’re looking for strong state investment in the arts, for economic vitality, educational advancement, and civic engagement. The unified voice of the arts community is critical to this success.”

Arts Day will feature:

* The Arts Day Legislative Breakfast, 8:30-10 am. The Arts Day keynote speaker is Dr. Laura Heisler, Director of Programming for UW-Madison’s Town Center at the new Wisconsin Institutes of Discovery, who will speak about the Institutes’ connections between the sciences, arts and humanities, education and community. Featured speakers include Lt. Governor Barbara Lawton and Assistant State Superintendent of Public Instruction Deborah Mahaffey.

* A public forum and update on the Wisconsin Task Force on Arts and Creativity in Education’s report and recommendations, 11 am – 12 noon, featuring best practices and models in arts and creativity in education from communities around Wisconsin.

* The presentation of the annual Rabin Youth Arts Awards by the Wisconsin Youth Symphony Orchestras. Student art projects from Milwaukee’s Arts @ Large program will be featured during the Legislative Breakfast.

* Arts Day 2010 Artist-in-Residence Tim Decker and student arts activists, helping Arts Day participants make art at this arts event

* Classical literature readings by Peter J. Thomas, “The Live Bard”

* A free public concert in the Capitol Rotunda, featuring the Parkview High School Symphonic Band of Orfordville, 12 noon, sponsored by the Wisconsin Music Educators Association.

Click here for the full Arts Day 2010 agenda:

Wisconsin Eye will film the Arts Day events for future broadcast.

Arts Day is presented by a strong statewide coalition of arts, business, educational, government and civic partner organizations and others. Click here for the up to date partner list.

For more information about Arts Day and the arts in Wisconsin, contact Arts Wisconsin, 608 255 8316 | akatz@artswisconsin.org | http://www.artswisconsin.org.