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National Arts Action Summit
This page provides stories and resources related to engaging in arts and art education advocacy. It features our yearly trip to the National Arts Summit (Arts Advocacy Day) in Washington D.C. and other student and faculty efforts in advocacy. Your voice matters - use it!

2021
Dr. Baer's ART 493 class attended the 2021 virtual NAAS April 5-9. 
*Thank you to the Miami University Art Department for helping us pay registration fees!

2020
Our 2020 preparation was truncated due to the COVID-19 global pandemic. We thank our students and the work they prepared in order to engage in advocacy.

2019
MU PARTICIPANTS
Students: Maria DeSantiago, Lily Ellison, Mackenzie Mettey, Ariel Williams (Art Education); Caroline Bastian, Spencer Campbell, Camille Boggan, Joshua Sweet (Arts Management)
Faculty: Stephanie Baer, Stephanie Danker (Art Education); Willie Caldwell (Arts Management)
Ariel: "I want other people to have this experience though, and so it would be like, if it's possible to come, absolutely, but now I feel like I know how to do this, whereas I wouldn't have if I wouldn't have gone on this trip."

​Mackenzie: "Every time I go I’d like to find new ways to increase my risk taking in regards to advocating. There are so many things that I find problematic with our world and this experience has proven that I have a way to use my voice to potentially cause a small change in the world. In having these conversations we may be opening doors that we never knew existed. We need to take opportunities like this and run with them."
Video created by Mackenzie Mettey
Lily: "In preparing for the trip, I think the most important thing we did was take time to develop the personal stories we wanted to share with the representatives. Having a few weeks beforehand to really construct a well written story helped me feel more confident and comfortable advocating and presenting our ask."

Mackenzie: "The process inspired me to advocate further. I think it showed not only me but our group that we have a voice and we can use it if we find the right opportunities and get involved, that is. I think that this would have been a very different experience if we wouldn’t have stepped up and put the work and the time into preparing. This wasn’t necessarily an easy job. The time and effort we put into it by writing, rehearsing, and prepping our speeches was the reason the experience yielded any substance. Without our dedication to the process the trip would’ve been just that, a trip...Imagine if our entire program got this experience and went out into the world and kept coming back and using those skills."

Just imagine.
Read about the curriculum and experience of the 2019 National Arts Action Summit here:

Baer, S. (2020). The future is ours: Lighting the fire with pre-service advocacy experiences. Art Education, 73(5), 38-43.

Preparing for Advocacy: 2019
Workshop #1: Policy & Legislation led by Willie Caldwell
Public Lecture: 2018 Ohio Educator of the Year and Arts Advocate, Jon Juravich
Workshop #2: Writing and Developing Influential Personal Stories led by Dr. Stephanie Baer
Workshop #3: Practicing Your Pitch with Bill Behrendt, Executive Director of Ohio Citizens for the Arts

2018
MU PARTICIPANTS
Students: Perry Tatlow (Art Education), Emma Laskowski (Art Education), Caroline Bastian (Arts Management)
Faculty: Stephanie Baer (Art Education), Willie Caldwell (Arts Management), Stephanie Danker (Art Education)
Travel and participation sponsored by the Miami Department of Art.
​Video created by Perry Tatlow and Emma Laskowski. Check out the Miami News story here.

Resources

Resources are plentiful for those interested in pursuing change. There are advocacy agencies and organizations at local, regional, and national levels that are hungry for more advocates to step up and use their voices in their communities. The work doesn’t have to happen in Washington D.C. There are ways to advocate everywhere if we attend to teaching the skills of advocacy. Part of it is learning the context and stakeholders. Part of it is uncovering our own beliefs and personal connections. Part of it is realizing what image we project and how to leverage that in a positive and confident way. Finally, it’s practice. As with learning any new art form or material, it is through practice that we find mastery and achieve change.

​#becauseofarted, #whyartmatters, #americans4arts