The Booking Session will run from 10am to 2pm on May 15. Rounding out the agenda will be the finalization of blocks; a session on contracting both domestic and foreign artists; a session on posting events to the LPN website calendar; and updates on future LPN initiatives. The LPN will be able to cover at least half the cost of your hotel room (possibly the full amount, depending on the number of presenters attending), as well as your lunch on Tuesday.

LPA/LCA meetings will be held Wednesday morning, and then all will travel to the Capitol to inform the legislators!

1. Eighth graders who had high levels of arts engagement from kindergarten through elementary school showed higher test scores in science and writing than did students who had lower levels of arts engagement over the same period.
2. Students who had arts-rich experiences in high school were more likely than students without those experiences to complete a calculus course. Also, students who took arts courses in high school achieved a slightly higher grade-point average (GPA) in math than did other students.
3. In two separate databases, students who had arts-rich experiences in high school showed higher overall GPAs than did students who lacked those experiences.
4. High school students who earned few or no arts credits were five times more likely not to have graduated than students who earned many arts credits.
5. Both 8th-grade and high school students who had high levels of arts engagement were more likely to aspire to college than were students with less arts engagement.
6. Arts-engaged high school students enrolled in competitive colleges—and in four-year colleges in general—at higher rates than did low-arts-engaged students.
7. Students who had intensive arts experiences in high school were three times more likely than students who lacked those experiences to earn a bachelor’s degree. They also were more likely to earn “mostly A’s” in college.

For details, check out the National Center for Education Statistics’ Arts Education in Public and Secondary Schools 1999-2000 and 2009-2010 and Arts and Achievement in At-Risk Youth: Findings from Four Longitudinal Studies [PDF]

If you were planning to attend the booking session for the Louisiana Presenters Network in Baton Rouge on February 16, that meeting has been rescheduled for Wednesday, April 11. It will be held at the Capitol Welcome Center in Baton Rouge, beginning at 10am.

If you are in a region that has a March DAF deadline, and you need additional info on artists to be included, please contact Naomi Cordill at symphony@bayou.com. She has info on several of the artists up for block-book consideration and may help you with that problem.

And remember: even if you write your grant before the block-booking session, if your chosen artist is selected and her fee is lowered you still can save money in the end.

We’ll see you on April 11!

Every summer, approximately 70 students (ages 15-20) from all over the nation meet in Washington, D.C., to attend the National Symphony Orchestra’s Summer Music Institute (SMI). The Institute offers four weeks of private lessons, rehearsals, coaching by National Symphony Orchestra members, classes, and lectures to prepare aspiring musicians for their futures in music.

Several of the students are graduates or current participants of the NSO Youth Fellowship Program, an orchestral training program for talented young musicians. Also included are students participating in the Young Artists of Color National Training Initiative of the Kennedy Center. In addition to their many lessons and training sessions, the students also perform a series of free Kennedy Center Millennium Stage concerts that are open to the public. Watch past SMI Millennium Stage performances by selecting any of the concert dates in the “Watch & Listen” section on the right side of this page.

The Summer Music Institute is coordinated by the National Symphony Orchestra Education Program, which is a component of the Kennedy Center Education Department. Young people, teachers, and families take part in innovative and effective education programs initiated by the Center, including performances, lectures, demonstrations, open rehearsals, dance and music residencies, master classes, competitions for young actors and musicians, backstage tours, and workshops. These programs have become models for communities across the country, as educators and government leaders recognize what the Center has known for years: that the arts can unlock the door to learning for young people, fostering creativity, teaching discipline, improving self-esteem, and challenging students to think in new ways, as well as offering them experiences in the joy of the performing arts.

Visit kennedy-center.org/smi for additional details and application information.

The meeting will be held at the Capitol Welcome Center in Baton Rouge at 10am, and the session usually lasts until about 3pm. Lunch will be ordered and delivered to the center.

If you’d like to attend, or if you have questions, please contact Naomi Cordill at symphony@bayou.com or 318-435-0029.

All students selected to participate in the 2012 Summer Music Institute attend on full scholarship, so there is no cost for lessons, room and board, and local transportation Information about financial aid for travel to Washington, audition repertoire, and an application are available at http://www.kennedy-center.org/nso/nsoed/smi.

As supporters of the Arts industry, the election on Saturday is particularly important to you. The Louisiana Division of the Arts, which is housed in the Department of Culture, Recreation and Tourism, is directly overseen by the Lt. Governor. For these reasons, it is important for us to vote on Saturday, and to do so with knowledge of the issues.

Monday, October 17, a questionnaire was sent to both candidates vying for the office of Lt. Governor, offering them an opportunity to share their views and visions for Louisiana’s Arts and Tourism future. As of today, only one candidate has forwarded a response. We thought it important to share that response with you and will also provide the corresponding reply from the other candidate when it is received.

LPAA Survey 2011

Jay Dardenne Response

1. What did you do to support the arts and Louisiana’s creative economy prior to running for Lieutenant Governor?

My interest in supporting the arts began in 1984 when I was selected chairman of Baton Rouge’s first FestForAll. A few years later, I again served as President of the River City Festival Association. During my years as state senator, I continued supporting the arts through legislation and as spokesperson for the yearly “Arts Day at the Legislature” when schools from around the state participated in this annual event with a juried art show at the State Capitol. I believe strongly in the state’s responsibility to foster culture and the arts and to encourage the development of artists and craftsmen.

To that end, I authored a Senate Resolution requesting that the Department of Education develop an assessment to measure students’ knowledge in arts education with the goal of recognizing an appropriate arts curriculum. In 1999, I was the lead senate author of the “Percent for Art” bill, which requires that one percent of expenditures for construction or renovation of a state building be spent on works of art. This applies to all capital construction or renovation projects expending more than $2 million in state funds. This bill is still in effect today.

In addition, I was recognized for legislative leadership by the Louisiana Alliance for Arts Education (1999) and Arts Advocate of the Year by Impresarios Choice (2002). In 2006, I was chosen to serve as King of Baton Rouge’s annual Lollapalooza, a yearly arts event whose revenues are dedicated to the arts. In 2006, I was elected Secretary of State and part of my duties was the oversight of seventeen museums, including the Old State Capitol and the State Archives. I immediately increased the number of art shows and/or exhibits held at the State Archives from one every two or three months to two or more a month. I also established the first Friends Board for the state archives to support these events.

Since being elected Lieutenant Governor, I was honored by the Louisiana Trust for Historic Preservation as the person “who has done more than anyone in state government to preserve historic structures.” In addition, the Office of the Lieutenant Governor and the Louisiana Bicentennial Commission have partnered with the George Rodrigue Foundation of the Arts (GRFA) to sponsor the official poster contest for the Louisiana Bicentennial. The GRFA challenges high school juniors and seniors to create an artwork that honors Louisiana and captures those traits that set Louisiana apart. Either the first place senior or junior winner of the GRFA 2012 Scholarship Art contest will be chosen as the official poster of the Louisiana Bicentennial and the GRFA will provide $45,000 in college scholarships and awards to contest winners.

2. Statewide Arts Grants and Decentralized Arts Grants combined are down almost 50% from three years ago. How will you work to restore funding to a meaningful level that will benefit Louisiana’s citizens?

During last year’s legislative session, I requested that the legislature fund the arts at a level of $4 million. In the previous fiscal year, the arts were funded at $3.5 million. I worked actively with the Louisiana Partnership for the Arts and with the Arts Advocacy toward this goal. Because of our joint efforts, $500,000 was added to the executive budget for arts funding. I am eager to continue working with arts advocates to educate the legislature on the importance of arts to tourism and to education. Working together, we will appeal to the legislature to reinstate the cuts that have had such a negative impact 1 on arts organizations. These dollars are directly related to jobs and economic development both of which are important in helping the state economy rebound. I will continue our already established relationship with the Department of Economic Development and the motion picture industry to hire Louisiana artists and musicians and will continue to be a champion for all of our arts and cultural resources.

3. What is your vision for the Department of Culture, Recreation and Tourism?

My vision for the Department of Culture, Recreation and Tourism (DCRT) is to position it to move Louisiana’s economy forward. The arts, culture and recreation are fundamental to the success of tourism. I have given over 600 speeches across the state in the last four years promoting everything good about Louisiana. I will continue to be a champion and spokesperson of the arts and everything good that Louisiana represents.

The LPAA asks you to remember that your informed vote for this important office helps determine who will serve as the leader of the department responsible for arts, recreation, tourism, museums, archaeology, historic preservation, and cultural development—all key elements of Louisiana’s economy and unique identity.

Best regards,
Christie Weeks, Chair
Matt Young, Vice-Chair for Advocacy
Louisiana Partnership for Arts Advocacy

Advocacy is a year round endeavor–not a once during the spring legislative session undertaking.  This fall especially, it is incumbent on each of us to convey to those seeking election or re-election our belief that Louisiana’s cultural economy deserves just as much attention and effort to grow as other economic sectors.

As you relish your favorite arts forms, remember how important they are to our identity here in Louisiana, our economy, our joie de vivre, our future generations and more.  Remind those who set policy and decide funding that the arts help make us who we are!

Join the artists, arts organizations and committed individuals who are members of the Louisiana Partnership for the Arts Advocacy.  The success of our work throughout the state depends upon a united voice saying “Art WORKS for Louisiana!”

The success of our partnership with lobbyist, Kevin Hayes, is evident in our highly successful efforts to restore funding to the Decentralized Arts Funding (DAF) and the Statewide Arts Grants (SAG) programs. Currently, DAF is budgeted at $1,500,000, a 50% increase over the original budget; this additional funding was added by the Senate Finance Committee. However this is still a 32% decrease from last year’s $2,194,557 DAF figure. As of now, $959,466 is budgeted for SAG, a 38.5% increase over last year’s figure of $589,745. While the Governor is still reviewing the budget, his signature is expected on the bill by July 12th, with no anticipated line item vetoes to impact the arts.

LPAA’s alliance with the Louisiana Division of the Arts and the Office of Cultural Development — a unique cooperative relationship by national standards — enables shared input, resulting in better communication with the administration and legislators as to the importance of the cultural economy. In the coming year, with much of Louisiana still reeling from this year’s natural disasters, our state will rely more heavily than ever on artists and cultural organizations to restore Louisiana’s unparalleled quality of life.

I have thoroughly enjoyed my two years as Chairman of the Board of Louisiana Partnership for Arts Advocacy and Louisiana Partnership for the Arts. Having toured the state this past year as part of our advocacy efforts, I’ve met so many wonderful people and experienced the diverse cultures of each corner of the state; thank you for your hospitality and generous support of our mission. Please continue to support the Board of Directors under the leadership of our new Chair, Christie Weeks, as it continues, with your help, to ensure that the arts remain an essential part of Louisiana’s rich cultural fabric!

Tommy Usrey