We are pleased to inform you of late-breaking news. On Thursday, June 23, the U.S. House of Representatives will consider a floor amendment to restore $100 million to the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB) that had been previously cut in subcommittee this month. Every Representative, including yours, will be voting on this amendment. Please take two minutes go to the Americans for the Arts E-Advocacy Center capwiz.com/artsusa/utr/1/BAALEUQXIX/GOBNEUQXOE/ to ask your Representative to vote for the bipartisan amendment to restore CPB funding.

The amendment will be offered by Reps. David Obey (D-WI), Nita Lowey (D-NY) and James Leach (R-IA) during House consideration of the FY 2006 appropriations bill for the Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education. That bill includes funding for CPB as well as several other smaller agencies.

We also want to alert you to the fact that the House may consider an additional floor amendment today to the same appropriations bill. This floor amendment would restore $35.6 million to the Department of Education’s arts education program, which had been zeroed out in subcommittee this month. If the amendment is actually offered, it would be the first time in years that the full House has had a debate on arts education. This floor amendment is being sponsored by Reps. Jerry Nadler (D-NY), Sherwood Boehlert (R-NY) and James Leach (R-IA). For your convenience, we have crafted a unified message to your Representative urging restoration of funding for both CPB and arts education.

Please take action by 3 pm EDT on Thursday, June 23 to insure that your message reaches Congress before these key votes. Thank you for your continued action in support of the arts.

As part of the Arts Alive Conference hosted by the NJ Theatre Alliance (on Sept. 22-23) at the Hyatt Regency Hotel in New Brunswick, ArtPRIDE will present "Putting a Face on Arts Advocacy," a workshop that will provide easy ways to incorporate arts advocacy into your busy life/schedule/daily routine. Following the workshop on Sept. 22, ArtPRIDE and the NJ Theatre Alliance will host a Gubernatorial Candidates' Reception on the stage of The State Theatre in New Brunswick, offering an opportunity for the candidates to present their positions on state arts and cultural support. Stay tuned for more details!

The ArtPRIDE NJ Foundation will unveil the MAP (Measuring Arts Participation) Project this fall to help arts groups learn more about their audiences. The MAP Project will provide arts and cultural groups with online survey instruments to help measure demographics, travel-related spending by participants, how audience members learn about cultural activity (marketing and pr), and quality of artistic experience. The MAP Project was launched by a START grant from the NJ State Council on the Arts and the Wallace Foundation with additional support from the Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation and the Prudential Foundation. Many groups have already indicated an interest in being the first to "test" the MAP Project. Contact the ArtPRIDE office if you wish to receive regular MAP Project updates.

ArtPRIDE is compiling a toolkit that showcases best practices in arts advocacy. Have you hosted a successful legislative reception? Found a new way to make sure your elected officials know how valuable your arts group is to the quality of life in your community? Share your stories with ArtPRIDE and be included in "Arts Advocacy in Action!" Contact the ArtPRIDE office with your contribution today (609-443-3582 or artpride@artpridenj.com)!