A Letter to our Congressional Delegation from our Arts Action Initiative
The Honorable Jeanne Shaheen U.S. Senate
Washington, DC 20510
The Honorable Maggie Hassan U.S. Senate
Washington, DC 20510
The Honorable Annie Kuster U.S. House of Representatives Washington, DC 20515
The Honorable Christopher Pappas U.S. House of Representatives Washington, DC 20510
Dear Senators and Representatives:
The United States is navigating unprecedented economic and civic uncertainties due to the spread of COVID-19. As Congress and the Administration plan new federal assistance addressing the effects of the ongoing pandemic, New Hampshire’s creative businesses and nonprofits have come together as the Arts4NH Action Initiative to ask for continued investment in the arts sector. We were some of the first organizations to have to close our doors in early March and it appears that we will not be able to fully open and operate at capacity until several months into 2021. The closure of theatres, concert halls, community schools of the arts, festivals, studios, museums, galleries, and film production has also meant that independent and self-employed creative workers have also been sidelined. The COVID-19 crisis has hit the creative sector and its related industries, including tourism, hard, and the effects will deepen as shutdowns and cancellations continue.
NH’s creative people and business have jumped into doing what we do best - innovating through outdoor socially distant performances and events, online arts experiences, and distance learning opportunities, serving audiences now while making plans for an uncertain future. All of this activity, though admirable, does not mitigate the continuing loss of revenue. This reality together with venue capacity limitations and the slow return of audiences and constituents to public gatherings, is having a catastrophic financial impact on creative businesses and creative workers and on the small businesses and the communities dependent on the economic revenues and civic benefits involved.
New Hampshire’s nonprofit and for-profit creative businesses are most grateful for the support they received through the various programs of the CARES Act. We extend our deepest appreciation for your efforts to include the arts sector in the many programs created by this Act. These programs (e.g. PPP, EIDL, Expanded Unemployment benefits, and NEA/NEH grants) have been an important lifeline in the early months of the pandemic.
Looking ahead, $21,539,931 represents the net financial losses the signatories of this letter will sustain through the end of 2020. This provides just a glimpse of the staggering blow that the entire cultural sector will sustain due to the COVID-19 outbreak as creative businesses and workers move into and through much of 2021. In the absence of additional financial support, losses at a substantive scale will cripple individual cultural institutions and the arts sector as a whole for years to come. Many organizations may not survive.
The creative sector serves artistic and educational missions through myriad occupations filled by individuals who work in full-time, part-time, hourly, seasonal, and freelance capacities. In March 2020 the U.S. Department of Commerce reported that the arts and culture workforce contributed $877.8 billion or 4.5% to the nation’s gross domestic product (GDP) in 2017. The impact for New Hampshire was $2.658 billion or 3.3% gross state product (GSP). This economic activity supported 22,597 jobs.
A strong creative economy is an essential component in jump-starting recovery efforts and moving on from the current crisis, and we are eager to do our part. In that spirit, we join the national call to ask for the following specific relief efforts focused on our state’s creative sector in the next package of investments from Congress:
Expand and recapitalize the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) for nonprofit and for-profit businesses allowing for a second round of forgivable loan opportunities.
Fully fund the Economic Injury Disaster Loan program (EIDL)
Provide low-interest forgivable loans to assist microbusiness (self-employed, sole
proprietors, partnerships, freelancers, and LLC)
Approve the Save our Stages Act establishing grants for Independent Live Venue Operators.
Approve substantial funding for the National Endowment for the Arts, National Endowment
for the Humanities and the Institute of Museum and Library Services for direct grants to NH organizations and for funds distributed through the NH State Council on the Arts, NH State Library, and NH Humanities.
Strengthen Charitable Giving Incentives to all Americans to help their communities during these challenging times through tax-deductible charitable donations.
Extend/expand unemployment funding for staff, gig and freelance workers whose employment is tied to shutdowns due to the pandemic, to ensure that workers can return to those venues when conditions allow.
Creative businesses and workers are vital contributors to the economy and the vitality and wellbeing of communities throughout New Hampshire. Thank you for your leadership and for supporting investment in a strong creative sector to benefit New Hampshire’s citizens and visitors. Please contact Trip Anderson, Arts4NH Board Member at (508) 265-3263 (tripanderson111@comcast.net) or Joe Gleason, Capitol Center for the Arts at (603) 391-8390 (joe@ccanh.com) with your questions.
Sincerely,
Mary W. McLaughlin, Board Chair Arts4NH