Be An #ArtsHero: ACTION PACKET!
It’s September. The Senate has failed to Act. We will continue until FPUC is extended and Our Community gets the relief it needs to survive.
We Unite to keep Arts Workers Alive, in their Homes, and with jobs to return to when the crisis subsides.
ORGANIZATIONS/PRODUCERS/
EMPLOYERS/UNIONS 5
2. Use your organization’s website to be an #ArtsHero 6
3. Utilize your marketing/PR departments. 6
4. Schedule a Zoom town hall 8
5. Write to your local newspapers. 8
6. Be An #ArtsHero Action Network Campaign 9
3. #ArtsHero VIDEO CAMPAIGNS 14
Be An #ArtsHero and ExtendPUA Call To Action! 14
Cast of Rent Sings "Will I?" with Arts Workers for Federal Relief 14
Social Media Handles for ALL SENATORS 15
The National Assembly of States Arts Agencies. 15
Senators’ record on Arts & Culture Funding 16
1. The open letter to Chuck Schumer and Mitch McConnell signed by 40 Senators. 16
Americans For The Arts Action Fund 17
Music Workers Alliance Campaign: 18
Like us, follow us, and join our story. 20
NOTE: THE ACTION PACKET IS A LIVING DOCUMENT AND IS UPDATED ALL OF THE TIME WITH NEW ACTIONS AND CAMPAIGNS. CHECK BACK OFTEN.
INTRODUCTION
If you are receiving this action packet, you have a great deal of influence in the Arts & Culture community. Whether you are an institution, board member, employee, artist, administrative staff, audience member, or cultural consumer, you have a vested interest in making sure the arts survive this crisis and that our cultural institutions and artists can make a full recovery.
The Arts make up 4.5% of total GDP and create over $877 Billion dollars annually in value-added to the United States economy and employ 5.1 million people.* Simply put, there can be no full American economic recovery without an Arts & Culture Recovery. The Arts are big business and an enormous contributor to the overall health of the U.S. economy. To that end, The Senate must act immediately to draft and pass legislation to appropriate massive amounts of relief to the Arts & Culture sector. For perspective, the airline industry alone was appropriated $50 billion in the CARES Act and the Arts & Culture sector comparatively adds $265 billion more in value to the U.S. economy than the entire transportation sector combined.
*Creative Economy State Profiles - NASAA
This action packet details a campaign called #ArtsHero that anyone can participate in. We are hopeful that all artists, institutions, influencers, audiences, employees, and culture consumers will join together in this campaign. The more apparatus to disseminate information at your disposal, the better. Below is a list of suggestions, opportunities, and tools for action to advocate for the passage of massive arts relief by the U.S. Senate. We hope that you will dedicate your time, your staff, your platform, and your power towards helping our community (and the U.S.economy) survive.
EVERY ACTION SUGGESTED SUPPORTS THE SUPER-OBJECTIVE OF GETTING ALL 100 SENATORS to be an #ArtsHero by signing Arts & Culture relief legislation into law. The objective is for this campaign to go viral as soon as possible so that the U.S. Senate can understand just how valuable the arts are in American society. Please join us and help!
ABOUT US
Be An #ArtsHero, an intersectional grassroots campaign to get the U.S. Senate to pass emergency Arts relief, calls on the 5.1 million Americans employed in the U.S. Arts & Culture sector to urge all 100 Senators to pass massive economic relief immediately. Be An #ArtsHero mobilizes all Arts workers, institutions, and anyone who relies on the Arts economically or personally, to use their individual and organizational platforms and apply pressure on their Senators.
Be an #ArtsHero is 100% volunteer run. We are working around the clock. If you’d like to lend a hand w/in #ArtsHero, drop us an email at artsherovolunteers@gmail.com.
NEWSLETTER
Want to keep up to date on the latest Be An #ArtsHero news? Sign up for our newsletter HERE.
ORGANIZATIONS/PRODUCERS/
EMPLOYERS/UNIONS
READ OUR ONE SHEET FOR CONTEXT AND ACTION
Your Administrative and Communications Infrastructure is crucial to this campaign’s success. We invite you to use the full resources of your institution as follows as well as anything else you dream up.
*Use your press departments to maximize their relationships with press outlets to create shareable news stories about the #ArtsHero movement.
*We use our #ArtsHero social media platforms to raise awareness about the arts and culture sector’s impact on the broader economy. We create graphics, factoids, and memes. (You can too with Photopea! Or Canva.) All content is directed toward educating the broader public and persuading the Senate to appropriate relief for the sector.
1. Engage Your Contacts
Use your subscriber email list, website, PR departments, and social media to urge your board, staff, community supporters, and audience members to write or call their Senators to ask them to be an #ArtsHero and Defend Arts Workers Now by passing the DAWN Act. We’ve been told that hearing from constituents is the most effective way to get things done.
We have STATE SPECIFIC RESOURCES in the Graphics Yard. You can find all 50 State Specific resources in the Drive below.
State Specific #ArtsHero Campaign Folders
2. Use your organization’s website to be an #ArtsHero
Use your website to promote #ArtsHero. When your audience lands on your web page, you can guide them to US, so our website can tell them how to best take immediate ACTION.
You could also link to an ACTION NETWORK campaign that will allow your audience to click once and be taken to a website that will allow them to immediately write a letter to their senator. (What if every Arts and Culture institution in the country did this? It would be incredible and be such an easy way to let your audience take immediate action to save our industry. You can make your own institution-specific campaign at ActionNetwork.org or you can use our campaign and simply adjust the body of the text. https://actionnetwork.org/letters/artshero)
3. Utilize your marketing/PR departments.
- Use your subscriber email list, website, PR departments and social media to urge your board, staff, community supporters, and audience members to write or call their Senator to ask them to be an #ArtsHero by supporting the DAWN (Defend Arts Workers Now) Act.
While we have created identifiable graphic content, there is no official graphic design for this campaign. Feel free to create whatever you want, or use our graphics yard. We would love to see every individual and institution’s version of the #ArtsHero. - Use the hashtag #ArtsHero so others can cross-promote your posts. Link to our website www.beanartshero.com
- Use https://www.govtrack.us/congress/members to find your elected representatives’ contact information. We’ve included a sample letter here.)
A sample script for a call:
Hi there. My name is __________, I am a constituent of Senator __________. First and foremost, I just need the Senator to know that there are 40 million Americans who could lose their homes without an immediate extension of the Federal Pandemic Unemployment Compensation program, and the latest data in the Washington Post shows that Black and LatinX people are going to be hit the hardest.That is absolutely unacceptable. So first and foremost, there can be no more political games played about the extension of FPUC. People need it right now to stay in their homes and it has to happen. Now.
Additionally, I am really concerned that while Congress is passing much needed relief packages to stabilize this part or that part of the economy, there seems to be no real relief being designated for the Arts & Culture Sector. Arts & Culture adds $877 billion in value to the economy, employs 5.1 million people, and is 4.5% of GDP. Here in our state, Arts & Culture employs thousands of people and provides BILLIONS in value added to our state’s economy. That’s big business. More than Transportation, Tourism, or Agriculture. Right now arts institutions are shutting down daily and a lot of them for good. Without dedicated relief, arts institutions and artists won’t be able to survive this crisis. That won’t just hurt them. It will hurt all of us if that vibrant Arts economy is allowed to collapse So I urge Senator ________ to craft legislation that extends the Federal Pandemic Unemployment Compensation program, subsidizes COBRA so that people keep their insurance in a global pandemic, and dedicates billions of dollars in relief to the arts via the DAWN Act. Arts are part of the economy. The WHOLE economy needs relief. There’s no American economic recovery without an Arts & Culture recovery. So it has to happen. Thank you so much for your time.”
Use your subscriber email list to urge your audience members to write a letter to the editor of their local paper asking that their Senator be an #ArtsHero.
- You can use the sample letter included HERE as a template or jumping off point. For example, this would be a letter an institutions could send to it’s subscriber email list. Simply fill in the data and the Senators names and phone numbers. https://docs.google.com/document/d/1FnWcpRP3fV4IWX9Lp7_zr86CJlIV17K2LcoUwbOOh-w/edit
- Agility PR has a list of the top ten papers in every state. All you need to do is search for the top ten papers in your state and AgilityPr will give you the list and their contact information. https://www.agilitypr.com/
Use your communications and social media departments to amplify the “#ArtsHero” hashtag by creating and sharing #ArtsHero content. We will be following and amplifying all #ArtsHero social media and are optimistic we'll go viral and that will successfully move the dial on Congressional action. There is no official graphic design for this campaign. Feel free to create whatever you want, use the hashtag, and ideally everyone will cross-promote all of the unique designs, should you choose to create them. Again, our socials are:
Instagram: @beanartshero • Instagram photos and videos
Twitter: Be An Arts Hero (@BeAnArtsHero1)
Tik Tok: @beanartshero
Facebook: Be An Arts Hero on Facebook.
4. Schedule a Zoom town hall
Schedule a Zoom Town Hall with your audience and give them a personalized invitation to this Action Packet to be #ArtsHeroes in helping join with you in spreading the word.
5. Write to your local newspapers.
Use your position within your organization to write a letter to the editors of your local papers. Use your subscriber email list to urge your audience members to do the same. Find all your local papers’ contact info here.
A letter to a prominent national paper signed by hundreds of prominent artists and arts leaders united in the ask is POWERFUL. If anyone feels like they have the connections, clout, or resources, email us at BeAnArtsHero@gmail.com and we can draft the letter together and get it out for co-signing and publication ASAP. If you are a reporter who has happened upon this packet, Hi! Hit us up with advice or suggestions on how to make this possible.
6. Be An #ArtsHero Action Network Campaign
Click below and instantly be able to write a letter to YOUR Senators no matter where you live in the country.
Be An #ArtsHero Action Network Campaign
An important NOTE:
Be An #ArtsHero is an INDUSTRY-WIDE campaign that celebrates, amplifies, works with, and lifts up all other campaigns. We know that Unions, Symphonies, Ballets, Operas, Theatres, Museums, Libraries, Television Studios, Community Theatres, and others have their own campaigns. This is an effort to UNIFY and AMPLIFY to make them all visible to the United States Senate as fast as possible. As you write letters or make calls on behalf of any campaign, you can ask that your senator be an #ArtsHero and support your campaign.
7. Senators to Focus On
The #ArtsHero campaign is about sustained public activity to appeal to the entire U.S. Senate, with a special focus on the Senators below that are particularly crucial to the success in getting dedicated arts relief into future legislation. We know that support for the arts is a completely nonpartisan issue and that The Arts & Culture Sector brings economic prosperity wherever the Arts are nurtured. And with a growth rate of 4.2%, nearly double the rest of the economy, relief and investment in the arts is the safest bet on helping the economy bounce back from its current crisis. It’s important to note that some of the senators below have already advocated publicly and privately for dedicated Arts relief.
Lamar Alexander, TN
Marco Rubio, FL
Rick Scott, FL
Martha McSally, AZ
Kelly Loeffler, GA
Cory Gardner, CO
Susan Collins, ME
Shelley Moore Capito, WV
Mitt Romney, UT
Cindy Hyde-Smith, MS
Josh Hawley, MO
Rob Portman, OH
Bill Cassidy, LA
Pat Roberts, KS
John Hoeven, ND
Deb Fischer, NE
Jerry Moran, KS
Dan Sullivan, AK
Lisa Murkowski, AK
John Boozman, AR
THESE Senators are crucial to influence and advocate for the arts with. If you know people who are arts administrators, audience members, or artists in these states, please get this packet to them. In the coming days, we will be sending this action packet to as many arts institutions in these states as possible.
*Use the #ArtsHero hashtag and @ every Senator, but especially the ones that listed above, urging them to be an #ArtsHero by including arts relief in any upcoming relief legislation. Communicate with U.S. Senators in any way possible kindly, compassionately, and relentlessly. We are urging all one hundred to Be An #ArtsHero. We want the campaign to be positive and give them a positive action that they can perform to become an #ArtsHero, stabilize the economy, save our jobs, keep us in our homes, and keep us with insurance during this pandemic. Example Tweet: “@SenatorRomney, with the arts making up 4.5% of GDP, there can be no American economic recovery without an arts recovery. Be an #ArtsHero and allocate relief for the arts community today!!”
Find your Senator and ALL their handles/contact info here:
***Senators Social Media Handles***
INDIVIDUALS
READ OUR ONE SHEET FOR CONTEXT AND ACTION
You and your platform are invaluable. In essence, with your reach, you have the capacity to do just as much work spreading the word and making this movement go viral as an arts institution. So for you, the most important thing you can do is….
1. Contact Your Senators
- Via Phone: Here you can find your senators phone number. https://www.senate.gov/senators/contact
When you get your Senators or staffers on the phone, here is a sample call script.
YOU:
Hi there. My name is __________, I am a constituent of Senator __________. First and foremost, I just need the Senator to know that there are 40 million Americans who could lose their homes without an immediate extension of the Federal Pandemic Unemployment Compensation program, and the latest data in the Washington Post shows that Black and LatinX people are going to be hit the hardest.That is absolutely unacceptable. So first and foremost, there can be no more political games played about the extension of FPUC. People need it right now to stay in their homes and it has to happen. Now.
Additionally, I am really concerned that while Congress is passing much needed relief packages to stabilize this part or that part of the economy, there seems to be no real relief being designated for the Arts & Culture Sector. Arts & Culture adds $877 billion in value to the economy, employs 5.1 million people, and is 4.5% of GDP. Here in our state, Arts & Culture employs thousands of people and provides BILLIONS in value added to our state’s economy. That’s big business. More than Transportation, Tourism, or Agriculture. Right now arts institutions are shutting down daily and a lot of them for good. Without dedicated relief, arts institutions and artists won’t be able to survive this crisis. That won’t just hurt them. It will hurt all of us if that vibrant Arts economy is allowed to collapse. So I urge Senator ________ to craft legislation that extends the Federal Pandemic Unemployment Compensation program, subsidizes COBRA so that people keep their insurance in a global pandemic, and to dedicate billions of dollars in relief to the arts via the DAWN Act. Arts are part of the economy. The WHOLE economy needs relief. There’s no American economic recovery without an Arts & Culture recovery. So it has to happen. Thank you so much for your time.”
- On Social Media:
Use the #ArtsHero hashtag and @ your Senators, urging them to be an #ArtsHero by including arts relief in any upcoming relief legislation.
Find your Senators and ALL their handles/contact info here:
Senators Social Media Handles
(A VERY special thanks to Joe Beumer for making this AMAZING database.)
Via Email:
We’ve made it easy to email your Senators. Click here to get started.
These are particularly important Senators to convince and so if you know anyone with personal connections who can advocate for them to Be An #ArtsHero, that would be fantastic.
Thom Tillis, NC
Joni Ernst, IA
Lamar Alexander, TN
Marco Rubio, FL
Rick Scott, FL
Martha McSally, AZ
Kelly Loeffler, GA
Cory Gardner, CO
Susan Collins, ME
Shelley Moore Capito, WV
Mitt Romney, UT
Cindy Hyde-Smith, MS
Josh Hawley, MO
Rob Portman, OH
Bill Cassidy, LA
Pat Roberts, KS
John Hoeven, ND
Deb Fischer, NE
Jerry Moran, KS
Dan Sullivan, AK
Lisa Murkowski, AK
John Boozman, AR
THESE Senators are crucial to influence and advocate for the arts with. If you know people who are arts administrators, audience members, or artists in these states, please get this packet to them. In the coming days, we will be sending this action packet to as many arts institutions in these states as possible.
Use the #ArtsHero hashtag and @ every Senator, but especially the ones that listed above, urging them to be an #ArtsHero by including arts relief in any upcoming relief legislation.
Communicate with U.S. Senators in any way possible kindly, compassionately, and relentlessly. We are urging all one hundred to be an #ArtsHero. We want the campaign to be positive and give them a positive action that they can perform to become an #ArtsHero. Example Tweet: “@SenatorRomney, with the arts making up 4.5% of GDP, there can be no American economic recovery without an arts recovery. Be an #ArtsHero and allocate relief for the arts community today!!”
2. Share #ArtsHero Images
Check out our Graphics Yard where you can find State/Senator-specific graphics, National graphics, as well as #ArtsHero Art. Share and tag!
Senators Social Media Handles
If you’d like to make your own graphics, PHOTOPEA is a free graphics creating website.
3. #ArtsHero VIDEO CAMPAIGNS
WE DO NOT HAVE ANY VIDEO CAMPAIGNS THAT ARE ACTIVELY SEEKING SUBMISSIONS AT THIS TIME. CHECK BACK FOR NEW CAMPAIGNS!
HERE ARE SOME PAST VIDEO CAMPAIGNS
Be An #ArtsHero and ExtendPUA Call To Action!
Cast of Rent Sings "Will I?" with Arts Workers for Federal Relief
4. Follow and Amplify
Instagram: @beanartshero
Twitter: @BeAnArtsHero1
Tik Tok: @beanartshero
Facebook: Be An #ArtsHero FB Page
Invite your friends to join the cause in the same way by creating and sharing #ArtsHero content and urging Senators to craft relief for our industry.
RESOURCES
THE GRAPHICS YARD!
THE GRAPHICS YARD! you can find the graphics that we are creating and graphics submitted to us. We are open to graphics that you create yourself. We’ve been using CANVA, but you can use PHOTOPEA, which is free as well.
Social Media Handles for ALL SENATORS
(An incredible thanks to Joe Beumer)
This is a master list of every social media profile handle for every sitting member of the U.S. Senate!! Find your Senators socials here!!
The National Assembly of States Arts Agencies.
NASAA’s CREATIVE ARTS ECONOMY BY STATE page aggregates on a state by state basis, the total number of arts jobs, total value ADDED to the economy, and the importance of the arts and culture sector on the U.S. economy.
We are second, only to retail, in value added to the United States economy. We are far ahead of transportation, construction, agriculture, and even utilities. We make up about 4.5% of GDP. Simply put, there is no full American economic recovery without an American arts and culture recovery. This resource gives umbrella information, but has an easily navigable map to show what the value added of the arts sector for each state is. You just hover your cursor over each state and it shows you the total value added to that state by the arts sector. It’s a very cool tool. This can be particularly useful for reaching out to the specific Senators we most need to vote for any upcoming relief legislation.
Americans for the Arts
There is no better resource to fully educate yourself on just how important the Arts are in the United States. Like really, SPIN THE WHEEL!!
Americans For The Arts is a wellspring of potential content creation. It’s full of research, facts, figures, pre-made infographics, posters, and social media ready to go cut and paste items. Feel free to take their studies, data, etc. and put your own spin on it (using https://www.photopea.com/ or Canva.com) and put it out, hashtag it, and we will all share it.
Senators’ record on Arts & Culture Funding
1. The open letter to Chuck Schumer and Mitch McConnell signed by 40 Senators.
KINDRED CAMPAIGNS
Americans For The Arts Action Fund
NEW: Americans For The Arts Petition/Letter
Americans For The Arts Senator Petition Campaign
OUR MISSION: TO ENLIST AND MOBILIZE ONE MILLION CITIZEN ACTIVISTS TO ADVANCE THE ARTS AND ARTS EDUCATION AT THE FEDERAL, STATE AND LOCAL LEVELS.
Americans For the Arts Joint Statement on COVID/RELIEF MAY 2020
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1QshUJK_vt0xfiScVyXTKqsOQbDKOhcg4/view
IATSE CAMPAIGN
IATSE has developed a comprehensive list of “asks” that are some of the most progressive and extensive that we have come across. Please take a moment to amplify their “asks” and make them visible to the U.S. Senate.
Equity’s Campaign
Actors’ Equity Association has a campaign that anyone in the country can participate in. It’s not labor exclusive at all. Anyone can click on the following hyperlinks that will take you to Actor’s Equity Association’s campaigns for the following three “asks” that would benefit everyone in the arts sector.
extend Federal Unemployment Assistance (FUPAC) benefits through 2020
4 BILLION in dedicated relief for the arts and culture sector
Be sure to add the #ArtsHero so that they can be part of the larger industry-wide push for emergency arts relief!
- EXTEND PUA CAMPAIGN
ExtendPUA.org creates awareness and provides resources for tangible action any person can take to extend the FPUC and PUA. It was created by two entertainment industry professionals who are currently, of course, also unemployed.
Thank you to this campaign for encouraging others to find this Action Packet!!
Take Action | Extend PUA and FPUC
Music Workers Alliance Campaign:
MUSIC WORKERS ALLIANCE:
On #MakeMusicDay 2020 MWA kicked off #UnemploymentCountdown, sharing daily #FPUC STORIES of music workers who had no income since March 2020 and cannot go back to work due to the live performance shutdown. Music workers impacted by Covid-19 depend on enhanced unemployment benefits and MWA calls for their extension.
All stories link to All Representatives.
Music Workers Alliance Campaign.
- The Flood of Faces Campaign
This ingenious campaign is the brainchild of Emma Barishman. The concept is simple. Get a headshot of yourself. Write a letter to your Senator on the back of it and send it to them. In this way, the U.S. senate will SEE the FACES of those who will suffer from inaction and a lack of relief for Arts workers and Arts & Culture institutions. Here are shareable graphics that you may share on your social media. We at #ArtsHero are all DOING THIS and encourage you to do so as well.
- Save Your Cinema Campaign for independent movie theatres. We are all in this together.
https://saveyourcinema.com/#takeaction
- PLAYBILL’s Broadway Community Project.
This tool is an easy way to show a person outside of the Arts & Culture world just how many people and jobs are involved in the production of a Broadway play. While it’s Broadway specific, it can help anyone see just how many people and involved and how many jobs it takes to producer Art & Culture experiences in this country.
- The Costume Industry Coalition: Our immediate goal is to act as a united front to ensure our future as a vital part of the entertainment industry not just in New York City but around the world.
Like us, follow us, and join our story.
Facebook Instagram Twitter
https://www.costumeindustrycoalition.com/
- NIVA CAMPAIGN (National Independent Venue Association)
https://www.nivassoc.org/artists-letter-to-congress
- Artist Relief Tree
This fund is set up to collect donations from those of us with the means to help. We intend to support artists, particularly freelance artists, in a small way. Unfortunately we cannot hope to replace artists’ entire fees or lost work, but we wish to provide hope, make a small difference, and show solidarity with colleagues and friends.
https://artistrelieftree.com