Thought Leadership and reach

WESTAF Leadership Visits the Pacific Jurisdictions

During the Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month of May, a delegation of WESTAF’s leadership undertook a two-week trip to Guam, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI), and American Samoa to learn about and celebrate the cultures of these vibrant yet isolated Pacific communities that are now a part of the WESTAF region. The trip covered more than 18,000 miles from Los Angeles to Hawaiʻi, Hawaiʻi to Guam and CNMI, then back to Hawaiʻi to get to American Samoa, with a return through Hawaiʻi to Los Angeles. The group was warmly received by each jurisdiction’s arts agency and were able to meet artists, arts administrators and elected officials from each of these communities, with about three or four days in each place. The engagement with each individual community included museum visits, gallery events, dance festival participations, cultural demonstrations, special performances, visits to seafaring programs, WESTAF presentations tailored for individual artists, and meetings with government officials. While there is much to be highlighted, WESTAF’s major takeaways and learnings include the need for networking and connection, grant-writing assistance, and resource dissemination for individual artists and local art organizations within each of the Pacific Jurisdictions. As the United States Regional Arts Organization now representing these jurisdictions, WESTAF is now more committed than ever to the equitable and community-centered resourcing of these unique and remote communities across the Pacific Ocean.

WESTAF Leadership Visits the Pacific Jurisdictions

The New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Foundation is a multi-faceted organization that spearheads music education, community engagement, and cultural preservation in Louisiana. Most famously, the Foundation owns and operates the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival, a renowned annual showcase of musical performances, arts and crafts marketplaces, and local culinary delights — bringing in over 460,000 people from across the globe.

In April, WESTAF staff traveled to New Orleans to understand how ZAPPlication®, CaFÉ™, and GO Smart™ have helped the Foundation enhance the execution of the festival and maximize the impact of their programs on the local community. Read our latest blog post to get the full story!

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WESTAF Continues Support of NEA Performing Arts Discovery Program in Partnership with Western Arts Alliance

The National Endowment for the Arts has renewed a grant to WESTAF to continue the management of the Performing Arts Discovery program in partnership with the Western Arts Alliance (WAA). Enhancements that WAA and WESTAF are considering for the third year of the redesigned program, now called PAD Showcase, include professional development programming for participating artists with a focus on international opportunities, a PAD live showcase/jam session at the San Diego WAA Conference and travel for presenters from key target markets to the Conference.

WESTAF Submits Public Comments on Indian Arts and Crafts Act

WESTAF has been tracking proposed changes by the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs to the Indian Arts and Crafts Act. In April, WESTAF submitted public comments to the draft bill supporting language to include Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders under the protection of the truth in advertising law and supporting the use of the “Native creative economy.” WESTAF encouraged the Committee to engage in deeper consultation with directly affected stakeholders and also prepared a primer on the legislative history of the act to support discussion and reflection.

WESTAF Recommends Inclusion of Arts and Cultural Organizations in NTIA’s Digital Equity Grant Programs for Community-Based Support

The Digital Equity Act 2021, part of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, establishes $2.75 billion in grant programs to promote digital inclusion and equity to ensure that all individuals and communities have the skills, technology, and capacity needed to reap the full benefits of our digital economy. The National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) is the agency administering the grants. WESTAF submitted public comments in May encouraging grant programs to include arts and cultural organizations as important entities who work on digital literacy, workforce development, and bridging the digital divide. WESTAF also provided feedback in using a scoring system that favors collaborations to support capacity building of local, community-based organizations who serve the covered populations. WESTAF will continue to monitor the Act’s implementation for opportunities involving arts and cultural organizations.

WESTAF Submits Senate Interior Appropriations Subcommittee Testimony

WESTAF and WAAN submitted a joint testimony to the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee in support of the President’s budget proposal of $211 million for the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA). (For reference, the FY23 budget of the NEA was $207 million.) This testimony mirrors the testimony submitted to the House Appropriations Committee in March. The testimony urges Congress to support the budget request put forward by the Biden Administration and parity in funding between the NEA and National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH). It also urges Congress to build a specific path to index funding for the NEA and NEH at $1 per capita.

Representative Barbara Lee Reintroduces Advancing Equity through the Arts in Humanities Act

Representative Barbara Lee of California recently reintroduced the The Advancing Equity Through Arts and Humanities Act (H.R. 3239). As an early supporter of the act, WESTAF partnered with Californians for the Arts and the Congresswoman’s Office on a webinar about the legislation hosted virtually last summer.

WESTAF Joins California Creative Economy Work Group

WESTAF has been invited to join the California Creative Economy Work Group chaired by Julie Baker, CEO, Californians for the Arts/California Arts Advocates and Gustavo Herrera, CEO, Arts for LA and organized by California Forward, a statewide nonprofit organization leading a movement to ensure the economy and the government work for everyone.