By Tom McClimon
December 17, 2007

The United States Conference of Mayors joined with the Americans for the Arts Action Fund and ArtsVoteNH in a Presidential Candidates Forum to press for support of the arts from Presidential hopefuls. Arts advocates and arts organizations from throughout New Hampshire attended this forum.

Representing the Conference of Mayors at this event held November 29 in Concord at the Capitol Center for the Arts were Honolulu Mayor Mufi Hannemann, chair of the Conference’s Tourism, Arts, Parks, Entertainment and Sports Committee; Stamford (CT) Mayor Dannel Malloy; and Conference Executive Director Tom Cochran.

“For the first time in our history, the Conference of Mayors brought a group of mayors to New Hampshire prior to the primaries to stress the importance of integrating the arts into the American culture in our cities. The arts are an integral part of the development, strength and education of every community. Mayors will be asking the presidential candidates to support the creation of a cabinet level Secretary of Culture and Tourism,” stated Cochran in his opening remarks.

“The arts define the soul of a city,” stated Hannemann in his remarks in which he announced that support of the arts and tourism was one of the ten points within the Mayors’ 10-Point Plan, Strong Cities…Strong Families…for a Strong America. This document identifies the ten priorities that the nation’s mayors are discussing with the Presidential candidates, the media, and the voters.

Hannemann challenged the audience of arts advocates to learn more about the Presidential candidates’ views on the arts by posing three questions to them on the campaign trail. These questions are:

1) How will you respond to the needs of individual cultural practitioners and working artists?

2) What policies and platforms will you implement to assure that a vibrant and sustainable creative industry thrives in each of our cities?

3) To what extent will arts education initiatives be prioritized in your administration’s agenda?

“No one deserves a vote unless they support the arts,” declared Malloy. “Imagine if we had a federal government that supports the arts as local governments do.” Annually, local governments contribute over $2 billion in support of the arts. Malloy cited examples of ways that the arts have played an important role in his community. “Other countries support the arts far greater than we do. It’s time our federal government shows some leadership in the arts.”

Robert Lynch, President and CEO of Americans for the Arts, and David Macy, Resident Director of the MacDowell Colony, served as the forum’s moderators. In his remarks, Lynch thanked the nation’s mayors for their support of the arts. “Mayors see the value of the economic impact of the arts,” stated Lynch. It has been shown that the nonprofit arts and culture industry generates over $166 billion in economic activity annually, supports over 5.7 million full time jobs, and returns over $12 billion in tax revenues annually.

The event also featured remarks by surrogates by some of the Presidential candidates and Miss New Hampshire, as well as performances by such noted national recording artist Delfeayo Marsalis and local artists groups such as the Kids Coop Theatre, Black Bear Moon Rhythm Ensemble and the Nashua Symphony Orchestra Trio.