INCLUSION & EQUITY                                        
WESTAF ELC Alumna Joins Social Responsibility and Inclusion Team
We are thrilled to welcome Ashanti McGee as WESTAF’s new Grants and Access Manager. Ashanti is an artist and arts advocate who has called Las Vegas, Nevada home for over 25 years. She began her arts administrative work assisting local grassroots and nonprofits with grant writing and management and continued working in this area for over a decade. In 2014, she was selected as the Nevada representative for WESTAF’s Emerging Leaders of Color program and has served as a panelist for WESTAF’s Arts Leadership and Advocacy Seminar. She most recently served as a district representative for Nevada Congresswoman Susie Lee, focusing on outreach for Black, Native American, and LGBTQ+ communities around arts and culture, and environment and public lands. A proud mom of four, Ashanti has committed her work to arts and education, including updating arts education standards for the Nevada Department of Education; serving as a board member for Cultural Alliance of Nevada, a statewide arts advocacy organization; co-founding the Las Vegas Womxn of Color Arts Festival, and acting as a core member of NUWU Cultural Arts + Activism complex, a POC-owned and operated space in Las Vegas that works to uplift all communities by strengthening cultural knowledge and identity through the arts, activism, and education.

ALLIANCES, ADVOCACY & POLICY                  
Register Today for WESTAF’s Creative Vitality™ Summit!

Registration is now open for WESTAF’s upcoming and free to attend Creative Vitality™ Summit, taking place virtually September 20-21 and delivered in partnership with the National Creative Economy Coalition, ASU Herberger Institute for Design and the Arts, Grantmakers in the Arts, the National Association of Latino Arts & Cultures (NALAC), and others. The Summit brings together creative economy experts, economic development professionals, arts and culture leaders, solidarity economy advocates, and equity champions to share knowledge and practice in developing a more inclusive creative economy. Confirmed speakers, panelists, and facilitators include: Laura Callanan, Upstart Co-Lab; Laura Zabel, Springboard for the Arts; Nadia Elokdah, Grantmakers in the Arts; Tariana Navas-Nieves, Denver Arts & Venues; Abdiel López, Independent Curator; Cézanne Charles, rootoftwo; Sunil Iyengar, National Endowment for the Arts; Dee Schneidman, New England Foundation for the Arts; Zannie Voss, SMU DataArts; Hakim Bellamy, City of Albuquerque; Hollis Wong-Wear, hww.work; Alberto Mejia, NALAC; Adriana Gallego, Arts Foundation for Tucson and Southern Arizona; Susan Soroko, Arlington Economic Development; Althea Erickson, Consultant; Jessica Stern, Americans for the Arts; Hasan Bakhshi, Nesta; Patton Hindle, Kickstarter; Rasmus Tscherning, Creative Business Cup; Jen Cole, ASU Herberger Institute for Design and the Arts; Jonathon Glus, City of San Diego; Kim Tignor, Take Creative Control; Julie Baker, Californians for the Arts; Roberto Bedoya, City of Oakland; Felipe Buitrago, Commentator; Ted Russell, Kenneth Rainin Foundation; Randy Engstrom, Consultant; and David Holland, WESTAF. Last Chance to Apply for WESTAF’s Manager of Public Policy and Advocacy Position

We are hiring! WESTAF’s Alliances, Advocacy, and Policy (AAP) division is looking for someone to join the team as the new Manager of Public Policy and Advocacy. The AAP division connects, coordinates, and mobilizes a western network of artists, administrators, public officials and influencers within and outside of the arts field to build awareness of arts-related issues to drive legislation and policy. This position will collaborate closely with WESTAF Director of Impact and Public Policy David Holland to lead our efforts to strengthen advocacy for the arts at local, state, and national levels. The position is generously supported by the M.J. Murdock Charitable Trust through a multiyear award. To learn more, check out the full job description, and please share with your networks. WESTAF Collaborates with National Arts Advocacy Coalition on Arts Infrastructure Policy Statement

WESTAF worked with the Cultural Advocacy Group and organizations nationwide in crafting Rebuilding America’s Arts Infrastructure, a policy statement that has been released for endorsement. Use this Sign-On Form if your organization is in a position to endorse the statement. The statement has been shared with the White House and Members of Congress and is designed to both guide conversations on the arts and culture intersection with current infrastructure investment deliberations and set out a long-term policy agenda for the sector. WESTAF Supports Creative Economy Revitalization Act

WESTAF endorsed the Creative Economy Revitalization Act, a new piece of legislation sponsored by U.S. Representative Teresa Leger Fernandez (D-NM) alongside 175 organizations nationally. This legislation is co-sponsored by Representatives Rosa DeLauro (D-CT), Chellie Pingree (D-ME), and Ted Lieu (D-CA). The Senate bill will be co-sponsored by Senators Martin Heinrich (D-NM) and Alex Padilla (D-CA). We encourage our networks to inform themselves about this vital effort and support the measure with their members of Congress. The bill seeks funding through the Department of Labor and NEA to provide grants for various public-facing creative workforce projects across the country. WESTAF, the Western Arts Advocacy Network, and a range of organizations are also working with Be an #ArtsHero/Arts Workers United on a joint advocacy strategy in support of the Creative Economy Revitalization Act (CERA). Be an #ArtsHero/Arts Workers United is a 100% volunteer-run, intersectional grassroots campaign of Arts & Culture workers, Unions, and institutions in the United States pushing the Senate to allocate proportionate relief to the arts and culture sector of the American economy. WESTAF Expands Participation in Federal Arts Advocacy and Cultural Policy Networks

WESTAF also recently endorsed a letter to the U.S. Secretary of Education, Dr. Miguel A. Cardona, as part of an early effort to engage the Arts Education Partnership, a national network of over 100 organizations dedicated to advancing arts education. WESTAF also recently joined the Performing Arts Visa Working Group, a national network of organizations including the Association for Performing Arts Professionals (APAP), American Federation of Musicians, the Recording Academy, Tamizdat, and others that advocate for international artist mobility and engage USCIS and the State Department on issues affected international artist mobility in the U.S. context The group is advocating for the ARTS Act, which would reestablish the Arts Requiring Timely Service provision at the Immigration Service. WESTAF’s AAP division regularly issues advisory opinions, consultation letters, and no objection letters for international guest artists seeking entry to the U.S. for artistic and cultural projects. WESTAF has also taken an active role in international artistic exchange through management of the Performing Arts Discovery program on behalf of the National Endowment for the Arts in 2021. Joining the Performing Arts Visa Policy Working Group increases access to intelligence on changes to visa policies and international artist mobility issues, particularly during the pandemic. Western Arts Advocates Secure over $830,000,000 in State Relief and Recovery Funding for the Arts and Culture Sector

With legislation recently signed by Governor Newsom of California that included a historic $600 million in investments in arts and cultural programs to support the recovery of the sector, the total of state relief and recovery funding secured by arts advocates in the West is now estimated at over $830 million. A $65 million new creative real estate program, the Colorado Community Revitalization Act, was also recently announced in Colorado. WESTAF commends the energy, dynamism, and innovation of the Western Arts Advocacy Network in organizing effective advocacy and our state arts agency partners for their leadership is distributing these funds to the arts and culture field across the region.
GRANTMAKING                                              
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