Do the Candidates Support the Arts? 

Election Day 2012 is quickly approaching. Through public appearances and ads wherever you look, the candidates have been making their case for your vote. Between U.S. and State representatives New Yorkers will be deciding on 241 seats. While there are certainly many important issues to take into account when casting a ballot, I wanted to know how our local political contenders support the arts.

So I set out to discover where  hopeful candidates stood on the arts. This was a much more difficult task than I had imagined. Many different organizations ask the candidates to complete questionnaires revealing their position on certain issues. Health Care, the economy, the environment, education, gun control, Afghanistan and several other topics are universal to most position polls. The Arts and Humanities however... is a topic that is often not included in the questions asked. In those questionnaires where the arts are included, candidates will often skip the question. Even candidates who have a strong history of supporting the arts are reluctant to articulate their stance on this issue.

When Barack Obama took office in 2009, he was the first President ever to enter office with a plan for the arts. However, if you look at his website today, the arts is no longer included in the list of issues that he is addressing.

Most candidates will release official statements about their position on a variety of topics, but you will be hard pressed to find a candidate who has an official statement about arts and culture. There is a candidate who is running for the NY State Senate who is an artist, Catherine Wark and even she does not have an official policy on the arts.

When the Democratic National Committee released their National Platform in September, it included a statement of support for the arts:

"Arts and Culture. Democrats are proud of our support for arts funding and education. We are committed to continuing the policies and programs that have already done so much for our creative arts industry and economy. Investment in the arts strengthens our communities and contributes to our nation's rich cultural heritage. We will continue to support public funding for the National Endowment for the Arts, for the National Endowment for the Humanities, and for programs providing art and music education in primary and secondary schools. The entire nation prospers when we protect and promote the unique and original artistic and cultural contributions of the women and men who create and preserve our nation's heritage."

Americans for the Arts requested an official stand from Governor Romney on this topic but has yet to receive a response. You can check out their website for updates to see if they receive it in the next couple of weeks.

So how do you know if the arts are important to your candidates? Well, each year Americans for the Arts scores incumbent candidates from the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives based on: their voting record on items such as arts funding, committee memberships, sponsorship of pro-arts legislation, and other pro-arts activities and issues a grade. This is very helpful, but it only provides information about the incumbents and not their rivals. Also, it only provides information for national seats and not state or local seats.

After two days of researching NY candidates' positions; reading their statements, websites and blogs; reviewing questionnaires; scanning newspaper articles and searching countless pieces of key legislature, I was disappointed with my results.

You can check out my findings below.  I'll update it over the next few weeks as I uncover more information. And if you know information about where these candidates stand on the arts, please email me [shay at nyitawards dot com] and I will include your insights.

DID YOU KNOW...

86% of OOB practitioners voted in the 2004 presidential election. This is 22% higher than the national average of 64%.

Key and notes below

U.S. Senate

	Party	Name	AFA Grade		Other Information
	Democratic	Kirsten E. Gillibrand	A+		No official statement
	Republican	Wendy Long	NI		No official statement
	Green	Colia Clark	NI		No official statement: Is the Director of Humanism Economy Rights and the Arts and has coordinated arts workshops, has supported arts programs in prisons
	LBT-Libertarian	Chris Edes	NI		No official statement
	CSP-Common Sense	John Mangelli	NI		No official statement

U.S. House of Representatives

District	Party	Name	AFA Grade	AFA Score	Other Information
5	Democratic	Gregory W. Meeks	A	80
5	Republican	Allan W. Jennings, Jr.	NI	NI
5	LBT-Libertarian	Catherine Wark	NI	NI	Is a jewelry artist
6	Democratic	Grace Meng	NI	NI
6	Republican	Daniel J. Halloran	NI	NI
6	Green	Evergreen C. Chou	NI	NI
7	Democratic	Nydia M. Velazquez	A	80
7	Republican	James Murray	NI	NI
8	Democratic	Hakeem S. Jeffries	NI	NI
8	Republican	Alan S. Bellone	NI	NI
8	Green	Colin M. Beavan	NI	NI
9	Democratic	Yvette D. Clarke	A+	93
9	Republican	Daniel J. Cavanagh	NI	NI
9	Green	Vivia M. Morgan	NI	NI
10	Democratic	Jerrold L. Nadler	A+	108	He lists support for the arts amoung his accomplishments
10	Republican	Michael W. Chan	NI	NI
11	Democratic	Mark S. Murphy	NI	NI
11	Republican	Michael G. Grimm	A	80
11	Green	Henry J. Bardel	NI	NI
12	Democratic	Carolyn B. Maloney	A+	98
12	Republican	Christopher R. Wight	NI	NI
13	Democratic	Charles B. Rangel	A+	93
13	Republican	Craig Schley	NI	NI
13	SOC-Socialist Workers	Deborah O. Liatos	NI	NI
14	Democratic	Joseph Crowley	A	80
14	Republican	William F. Gibbons, Jr.	NI	NI
14	Green	Anthony Gronowicz	NI	NI
15	Democratic	Jose E. Serrano	A+	90	Official Statement: "Senator Serrano deepened his appreciation for the arts and dedicated himself to using it as a vehicle for education and community empowerment."
15	Republican	Frank L. Della Valle	NI	NI
16	Democratic	Eliot L. Engel	A+	96
16	Republican	Joseph McLaughlin	NI	NI
16	Green	Joseph Diaferia	NI	NI

NY State Senate

District	Party	Name	Other Information
10	Democratic	James Sanders, Jr.
11	Democratic	Tony Avella
11	Republican	Joseph R. Concannon
12	Democratic	Michael N. Gianaris
12	Republican	Aurelio A. Arcabascio
13	Democratic	Jose R. Peralta	Has made it a point to attend many community arts events including: movie nights, arts and crafts events, book fairs, etc.
14	Democratic	Malcolm A. Smith
15	Democratic	Joseph P. Addabbo, Jr.
15	Republican	Eric A. Ulrich
16	Democratic	Toby Ann Stavisky
16	Republican	J.D. Kim
17	Democratic	Simcha Felder
17	Republican	David Storobin
17	SCP-School Choice	Abraham Tischler
18	Democratic	Martin Malave Dilan
18	Republican	Michael E. Freeman-Saulsberre
19	Democratic	John L. Sampson	Supported "Creative Celebration" that encourages poetry, essays and artwork
19	Republican	Jane Neal
19	Conservative	Elias J. Weir
20	Democratic	Eric Adams	Has shown support for arts exhibits and has served on the Cultural Affairs Committee
20	Republican	Rose Laney
20	Conservative	Brian Kelly
21	Democratic	Kevin S. Parker
21	Republican	Mindy Meyer
22	Democratic	Andrew S. Gounardes
22	Republican	Martin J. Golden
23	Democratic	Diane J. Savino
23	Republican	Lisa Grey
24	Democratic	Gary W. Carsel
24	Republican	Andrew J. Lanza	Has shown support for and helped promote community based arts programs and cultural events.
25	Democratic	Velmanette Montgomery	Has helped secure funding for arts programs and has said "arts enhance life quality"
25	Republican	John A. Jasilli
26	Democratic	Daniel Squadron	Has lent his support to several arts issues including the dissappearance of OOB spaces and the WTC arts center
26	Republican	Jacqueline Haro
27	Democratic	Brad M. Hoylman
28	Democratic	Liz Krueger
28	Republican	David Paul Garland
29	Democratic	Jose M. Serrano	Senator Serrano has perhaps done more for the arts in NYS than any other legislator. He heads the Arts Day in Albany events, supports many arts programs, promotes funding for the arts and has served on the Cultural Affairs Committee
29	Republican	Robert Goodman
29	Green	Thomas Siracuse
30	Democratic	Bill Perkins	Hosts "Creative Power of Women" events
31	Democratic	Adriano Espaillat
31	Republican	Martin Chicon
32	Democratic & Republican	Ruben M. Diaz	Has shown support for arts programs
32	Independence	David M. Johnson
33	Democratic	J. Gustavo Rivera
33	Republican	Michael E. Walters
34	Democratic & Republican	Jeffrey D. Klein	Has shown support for the arts, supports NYSCA & has served on the Cultural Affairs Committee
34	Conservative	Elizabeth Perri
34	Green	Carl Lundgren
36	Democratic	Ruth H. Thompson	Supports the "Arts Alive" project which provides funding to individual artists and new works. Holds and honorary degree in Arts and Sciences
36	Conservative	Robert L. Diamond

Which district are you in? Maps of NY State Districts.

241 open seats translates into nearly a thousand candidates. So I narrowed the list to just those candidates from the five boroughs. Even that was oppressive so I narrowed it even further to those candidates running for U.S. Senate and House seats and those running for State Senate seats. [There is no doubt that NY Assembly Members deserve our time and respect but there are just too many candidates vying for those 150 spots, that I could not undertake that much research in the short amount of time that I have to post this article.] However, if I can find significant information about Assembly Member candidates, I will post them as well.

AFA = Americans for the Arts

NI = a grade and/or score has not issues by Americans for the Arts

Note: Candidates might represent more than one party, however candidates are listed above under their predominant party. (e.g. Allan W. Jennings, Jr. might represent both the Republican and Conservative parties, however here I have listed him under the predominant party, which in this case would be the Republican party.)