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Regular Session, 2010 ENROLLED
SENATE CONCURRENT RESOLUTI ON NO. 26
BY SENATOR CROWE
A CONCURRENT RESOLUTI ON
To commend and honor Americans for the Arts on the occasion of its 50
th
Anniversary.
WHEREAS, Americans for the Arts is the nation's leading nonprofit organization for
advancing the arts and arts education in America; and
WHEREAS, Americans for the Arts is dedicated to representing and serving local
communities and creating opportunities for every American to participate in and appreciate
all forms of the arts; and
WHEREAS, Americans for the Arts was founded in 1960, and was originally called
the Community Arts Councils, Inc. (CACI); later in 1964, CACI adopted a new name, the
Arts Councils of America (ACA); and finally, Americans for the Arts was created in 1996
as a result of the merger between the National Assembly of Local Arts Agencies (NALAA)
and the American Council for the Arts (ACA), one of a small number of successful unions
between two national nonprofit groups; and
WHEREAS, Americans for the Arts President and CEO Robert L. Lynch has led the
organization since the merger, expanding Americans for the Arts' annual budget from three
million in 1996 to thirteen million in 2009; and
WHEREAS, Americans for the Arts played a central roll in the formation and
establishment of the National Endowment for the Arts in 1965; and
WHEREAS, Americans for the Arts provides leadership and training to local public
and nonprofit arts agencies, arts and business councils, business committees for the arts,
state arts agencies, state arts advocacy organizations, and community based cultural
organizations across the country in helping their numbers increase and grow from fifty to
five thousand; and
WHEREAS, Americans for the Arts produces annual events that heighten national
visibility for the arts and arts education, including but not limited to Arts Advocacy Day in SCR NO. 26 ENROLLED
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Washington, D.C., the Nancy Hanks Lecture on Arts and Public Policy, the National Arts
Awards, and the Public Leadership in the Arts Awards; and
WHEREAS, Americans for the Arts enjoys a strong partnership with the National
Lieutenant Governors' Association as four years ago the two organizations jointly began
awarding the prestigious Public Leadership in the Arts Awards; and
WHEREAS, Americans for the Arts continues to produce groundbreaking research
on the size and economic impact of the nonprofit arts industry through its series on "Arts and
Economic Prosperity," which reports that approximately 100,000 nonprofit cultural
organizations generate $166.2 billion in economic activity every year supporting 5.7 million
jobs and generating $29.6 billion in government revenue; and
WHEREAS, Americans for the Arts understands the complex ecosystem of support
for the arts and has expanded its leadership, advocacy, and training to also promote private
sector support of the arts as well as professional development in state-of-the-art earned
income techniques at its National Arts' Marketing Project Conference; and
WHEREAS, Americans for the Arts brings together the arts policy interests of all its
national partners, including the National Lieutenant Governors' Association, the Conference
Board, and the American Association of School Administrators, at its National Arts' Policy
Roundtable, which is co-convened by Robert Redford at the Sundance Preserve; and
WHEREAS, Americans for the Arts has been a leader in promoting active
participation in arts education both in and out of school through its professional development
work and national visibility PSA campaigns, "The Arts, Ask for More."
THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the Legislature of Louisiana hereby
congratulates and honors Americans for the Arts on fifty years of service in promoting arts
and arts education throughout the United States of America.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that a copy of this Resolution be transmitted to the
Americans for the Arts.
PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE
SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES