Be An #ArtsHero, an intersectional grassroots campaign to get the U.S. Senate to pass emergency Arts relief, is calling for Congress to allocate proportionate relief to the Arts & Culture sector, which adds $877 billion in value to the economy annually, provides 4.5% of GDP, and employs 5.1 million Americans.
In an open letter to the senate, the campaign says, "The $877 billion our industry generated last fiscal year is about to disappear. The 4.5% we added to our GDP—about to vaporize. We are second only to Retail as the most powerful economic driver of this economy, boasting an export of $72.6 billion and an annual growth rate of 4.16% , nearly double that of the U.S. economy as a whole at 2.2%. Without your immediate action for financial relief by August 1, we will collapse, and the result will be an economic cataclysm.
We are the Arts Economy. We are everywhere. And our fates are tied together.
We are over 675,000 small businesses and organizations in every town, city, and state, employing 5.1 million hard-working Americans who are now desperately struggling to stay above water. Our influence reaches across every sector because the Arts Economy is a jobs multiplier, creating millions of sustainable jobs in collateral arts-adjacent economies. In short, our institutions of Arts and Culture anchor communities, producing highly interdependent commercial ecosystems that depend on rank-and-file Arts Workers who increase tax revenue, real estate value, and attract businesses, large and small. These are the dominoes. If you lose us, we lose the economy. We need your help."
Immediate and proportionate economic relief is essential to weather the storm.
GET INVOLVED:
The campaign harnesses the creative capacity and institutional infrastructure of the entire Arts & Culture sector, including Arts workers, Arts & Culture institutions, unions, and ultimately every single person who values the role of the Arts in their lives. In essence: everyone.
- Contact your Senators: call, write, tweet, tag and ask them, "Will you Be An #ArtsHero"?
- Visit BeAnArtsHero.com
- Sign the Open Letter to the Senators of the 116th Congress
- Download theAction Packet for step-by-step instructions for individuals and organizations
- Share the resource graphics on your websites, social media profiles, and email newsletters
- Follow "Be An Arts Hero" on social media and use #ArtsHero