Last week SJ Arnegger, Director of iHeartRadio Broadway, met virtually with the four Co-Organizers of the Be An Arts Hero campaign: Brooke Ishibashi, Carson Elrod, Jenny Grace Makholm and Matthew-Lee Erlbach. Be An Arts Hero is an intersectional grassroots campaign comprised of Arts and Culture workers, Unions, and institutions in the United States pushing the Senate to allocate proportionate relief to the Arts & Culture sector of the American economy.
According to the Be An Arts Hero website: The Arts & Culture sector employs 5.1 million people and provides $877 billion value added to the economy. The Arts & Culture economy adds more value than transportation, agriculture, or tourism. Our sector is a cornerstone of the larger U.S. economy, making up 4.5% of the GDP. 62% of Arts workers report that they are fully unemployed. 94% of Arts workers report income loss; to date, the average Arts worker reports $23,500 in lost revenue this year. Due to COVID-19, 66% of Arts workers report they are unable to access the spaces, staff, resources, or supplies needed to perform their work.
Be An Arts Hero is not only working to create a platform for information but is also proposing the DAWN: Defend Arts Workers Now bill. This bill authorizes the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA), the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH), the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS), the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB) and the Small Business Administration (SBA) $43.85 billion to make grants to the operators, employees, and artists of live venues, recording venues, cultural spaces, and related businesses to address the effects of the COVID-10 pandemic on all Arts Workers across the national Arts Economy.
To find out more information or to learn how you can be a part of the Be An Arts Hero campaign, please visit www.BeAnArtsHero.com. Be An Arts Hero provides resources and information on how you can contact your Senator or Representatives, utilize social media assets and more. You can also follow Be An Arts Hero on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.