One Percent for Arts Petition

Join our Cause: Sign Our Petition!

http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/artsstimulus/

Congress will soon pass a $700 billion stimulus package aimed at creating jobs and stimulating the economy. Our petition asks that 1% of the stimulus support of the arts.

This is not unprecedented. In the 1930's the Work Progress Administration created by Roosevelt created three million jobs. They built roads, streets, highways, bridges, parks and public buildings. They also worked in the arts.

The WPA employed 40,000 artists, writers, musicians, theater workers, and performers. Public support made it possible for people of modest means to dedicate themselves to their work. The WPA supported Jackson Pollock, Arshile Gorky, Saul Bellow, Zora Neal Hurston, John Steinbeck, Sterling Brown, Orson Welles, John Houseman, Burt Lancaster, and many other great talents, known and unknown. Our generation deserves no less.

An arts stimulus package could increase fellowship and scholarship opportunities, create workplace arts programs, foster cultural exchange programs, support artists in residency programs in schools and libraries, and more.

We are also calling for a cabinet level position for a Secretary of the Arts.

Sign the petition!

UPDATE: January 11

With your support we now have almost 4,000 signatures! Our proposal has won support from representative John Conyers and from the progressive caucus who have passed the proposal to Nancy Pelosi. The Obama transition team has also shown some interest.

This is great progress and we need to do more. Please take a moment to:

1. Share the petition with friends and ask them to sign in support: www.ipetitions.com/petition/artsstimulus/index.html

2. Email or call your legislators--US representatives and US senators, Find contact information here: .

3. Contact the Obama transition team. Submit your ideas to at

4. Post information about the campaign on your blog, or write a letter to the editor to raise awareness about this campaign.

This project is supported by
Institute for Policy Studies:
http://www.ips-dc.org

Split This Rock Poetry Festival: http://www.splitthisrock.org

1. A stimulus program for the arts:

2. http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/artsstimulus/

3. Modeled after WPA program

4. One percent of the 600 billion stimulus package for the arts

5. Sign our petition! Advocate for the arts!