artists committee

John Legend speaking at Arts Advocacy Day 2008

"To Americans for the Arts, my gratitude for your tireless and effective advocacy on behalf of art and all that comes with it—you truly make a difference and we're all the better for it."

"Like the air we breathe, the cultural winds in America blow across state lines and county boundaries. It's vitally important that all Americans have access to a common language in art and music; it helps mend the broken social contract and brings us together in appreciation of the best that human beings can do."

"Drama is about choice, character, and individual responsibility in a community. It engages a student on the crucial issues of their life in the way that no lecture, sermon, or even story can. I have been stunned by the influence theater can have on students who are fortunate enough to see it. I feel it is the implicit objective of every artist to reach as many young minds as possible. They are not only the next generation of audience members or artists, but the next generation of citizens. Access to theater may well determine the quality of their citizenship."

"The advocacy work of Americans for the Arts fosters appreciation for the arts on every level, from children in our nation's schools, to citizens who support the arts locally, to legislation on the state and federal level. The arts are a vehicle that brings the viewer and the creator to the different disciplines of the world: science, philosophy, theology, mathematics. This is the unique power of the arts."

"Funding for the arts and arts education is dramatically decreasing. Americans for the Arts is fighting to ensure that theater, art, dance, and music do not disappear from our schools and communities. We applaud this effort."

—Joanne Woodward and
Paul Newman

Arthur Mitchell

Brian Stokes Mitchell

Paul Muldoon

Kate Mulleavy

Laura Mulleavy

Matt Mullican

Hsin-Ming Fung