Arts Wisconsin: Advocates spoke up for arts, arts education and creative opportunities for everyone, everywhere in Wisconsin

Contact: Anne Katz, Arts Wisconsin

608 255 8316 | akatz@artswisconsin.org

Over 200 Wisconsinites from the worlds of the arts, business, education, civic issues, politics, and government rallied at Arts Day 2010, on Wednesday, March 3, 2010, at the Monona Terrace Convention Center and the State Capitol in downtown Madison.

If there ever was a time that Wisconsin needed the arts, it’s now. This is an important moment for creativity, innovation and entrepreneurship – all qualities inherent to the arts – as the qualities needed to move the state’s economy, educational systems, and civic infrastructure forward. 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 thrive.

Arts Day 2010 featured:

* Laura Heisler, Director of Programming for the new Wisconsin Institutes of Discovery at UW-Madison, and the Institutes’ connections between the sciences, arts and humanities, community and education, at the Arts Day Legislative Breakfast.

* Lt. Governor Barbara Lawton announcing the Wisconsin Arts Board’s New Economy Funding Initiative, a plan of action to creatively advance and invest in Wisconsin’s economy, educational system and civic infrastructure

* Students from Ralph Waldo Emerson Elementary School in Milwaukee proudly demonstrating an interactive educational art project

* Young arts leaders from UW-Green Bay, UW-Whitewater, and UW-Milwaukee enthusiastically advocating for increased arts investment in the future

* Discussions about the critical role of the arts in education for all Wisconsin students

* Peter Thomas, the “Live Bard,” providing narrative literature readings throughout the day

* 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.

Wisconsin Eye, Wisconsin’s political and civic media channel, recorded the Arts Day proceedings for future broadcast. Arts Day was presented by a strong statewide coalition of arts, business, educational, government and civic partner organizations and others:

Sponsoring Partners

Supporters:

* Footlights.com

* Wisconsin Counties Association

* Wisconsin Eye

Donors:

* Arts @ Large, Milwaukee

* Arts Wisconsin

* Broadjam, Inc.

* PortalWisconsin.org

* The Widget Source, Middleton

* Wisconsin Education Association Council (WEAC)

* Wisconsin Presenters Network

* Wisconsin Visual Artists

Sponsors:

* AIA Wisconsin: A Society of The American Institute of Architects

* Association of Wisconsin Symphony Orchestras

* Big Shoes Network, Milwaukee

* Ward-Brodt Music Company, Madison

* Wis. Association of Independent Colleges and Universities

* Wisconsin Federation of Museums

* Wisconsin Music Educators Association

* Wisconsin Regional Writers Association

* Wisconsin School Music Association

Endorsing Partners

* AIGA (American Institute of Graphic Artists) Wisconsin

* Leadership Wisconsin

* Theatre Wisconsin

* Tourism Federation of Wisconsin

* Wis. Academy of Sciences, Arts and Letters

* Wisconsin Advocates for Music Education

* Wisconsin Alliance for Arts Education

* Wisconsin Alliance of Artists and Craftspeople

* Wisconsin Alliance of Cities

* Wisconsin Art Education Association

* Wis. Association of Convention and Visitors Bureaus

* Wisconsin Downtown Action Council

* Wisconsin Economic Development Association

* Wisconsin Foundation for the Arts

* Wisconsin Main Street Program

* Wisconsin Screenwriters Forum

“Wisconsin’s diverse, multi-layered, fantastic arts industry came together on Arts Day to show what a strong, vital arts community we have statewide,” says Peter Crawford, Arts Wisconsin Board President. “Arts Day and ongoing advocacy statewide lead to greater understanding by decision-makers of the power of the arts to transform Wisconsin’s communities. Strong state investment in the arts, for economic vitality, educational advancement, and civic engagement, is the right course of action for Wisconsin, now and into the future. The ongoing, unified voice of the arts community is critical to this success.”

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