February 10, 2009—The Senate passed the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act with a vote of 61 to 37 today. As the bill heads to Congressional conference, $50 million in recovery funds to be distributed by the National Endowment for the Arts hang in the balance. Americans for the Arts President and CEO Robert Lynch said:

"The United States Senate missed an opportunity today to provide much needed stimulus support to the nation’s creative workforce. By not including $50 million in recovery funds to assist non-profit arts organizations from closing or laying off more workers, the Senate has failed to respond to the very real economic crisis facing the non-profit arts industry .... As the bill heads to conference, Congressional leaders and the White House need to recognize that the arts are a legitimate U.S. economic industry and must keep the arts recovery funds in the final version of the legislation. These funds will allow arts organizations--large and small--to play a vital role in reviving their local economy."

Arts advocates are urged to take action by contacting their member of Congress and writing to their local media--many media reports have portrayed the arts funding included in the House version of the bill negatively. Americans for the Arts has an excellent system though which you can take immediate action: click here to send a letter to your elected officials. Click here to send a letter to your local media outlet.