In one week’s time you have generated over 2700 emails to legislators and Governor McGreevey asking them to restore funding for our cultural agencies! It is clear that your hearts are in the arts!!

Today is Valentine’s Day--don’t forget to email or write/fax/or phone your legislators if you’ve not yet done so. Send them a Valentine and tell them that the arts and history are dear to your heart and that without them this state doesn’t have one! As former State Senator and Mayor of New Brunswick John Lynch said, “The arts are what keeps this town (New Brunswick) ticking!” E-Valentines are available by clicking Networking on the ArtPRIDE web site, and “Send a Card.” They are also available at www.bluemountain.com Remember to copy ArtPRIDE!

Children and young adults at schools in Mercer, Gloucester and Salem counties made Valentines for Governor McGreevey and the state legislators, telling them why the arts and culture in New Jersey are important to them. A special thank you to art teachers Jan Wilson of Nottingham High School in Hamilton Township, Carolyn Mortimer of A. P. Shalick High School in Pittsgrove, and Jeanne Jablonski and Nancy Gibas of Logan Township School for working with students who are gaining a clear understanding of exactly what budget cuts will mean to arts programs that come into their schools.

ArtPRIDE is responding to your suggestions and will provide a timeline with important dates that require action from you. A major rally is planned for May 15 in Trenton as part of the ArtPRIDE Congress. We will also pass along information on testifying at public budget hearings in April. It will be critical to sign up immediately to testify if members of the arts community are to be heard.

Postcards to legislators will arrive soon for you to distribute to your constituents. Please let us know that you would like to receive them and we will make sure that you have a sufficient quantity. Ads for playbills and display will also be available shortly.

A sample letter for vendors and merchants will be ready this weekend in ArtPRIDE's online Crisis Resource Room and in the mail. Please copy and/or adapt this letter for each vendor in your accounts payable. Make a special effort to call vendors that you patronize regularly and ask them to write the Governor and key legislators. Remember—they will lose business if you have to scale back!

Most of all, remember that although “elimination” of arts support in the budget will hurt your arts group, most importantly it will affect audience members and patrons young and old. And that cultural funding for the arts and history is not acceptable without strong, staffed agencies to support it. The NJ State Council on the Arts, NJ Cultural Trust and NJ Historical Commission provide more than grants—services to the field are central to their mission! Their proven evaluation processes and reporting systems assure that state dollars are spent fairly and wisely--not politically.

ArtPRIDE’s Arts Crisis Resource Room is growing every day. Sample flyers, op ed pieces, the Governor’s pro arts remarks at last July’s NJSCA meeting, and press articles are available to download along with this great “Save NJ Arts” web site banner for you to place on your web site and connect with the statewide advocacy network.

If you have information to share with us, please call or email ArtPRIDE at 609-443-3582 or artpride@artpridenj.com

Please let us know what you are doing to draw attention to the value of the arts in your community. If your town has issued a proclamation in support of the arts, please copy it and send it to ArtPRIDE (note new address—165 Third St., #4A, Bordentown, NJ 08505). If you receive a favorable (or unfavorable) letter in response to your own letter supporting the arts, please copy it to ArtPRIDE. If you discover letters to the editor in your weekly newspaper on the topic, please pass them on, and better yet WRITE ONE YOURSELF!

If you would like to volunteer to help distribute or collect postcards, plan the rally, assist with pr efforts, or offer support in the office, please contact the ArtPRIDE office or Berda Rittenhouse, the Grassroots Committee Chairperson at 908-995-4279 or berdar@ptd.net