By Charles Phaneuf, vice president Strategy, South Arts

Earlier this month, my colleagues and I were thrilled to attend the first in-person Georgia Arts Day since 2019! The two-day event was hosted by Georgians for the Arts, with the first day focused on peer-to-peer networking and learning at the Center for Puppetry Arts while the second day was focused directly on advocacy at the Georgia Capitol. Congrats to Georgians for the Arts on a sold-out event and an inspiring two days! South Arts, like our friends at the Community Foundation for Greater Atlanta, chose to sponsor, participate in and promote the event because we think this is an important time for sector advocacy.

Why, you might be asking yourself, are we all so excited about Georgia Arts Day?  

Our mission at South Arts is to advance Southern vitality through the arts. To that end, we fund, build and amplify the sector through a wide portfolio of grants and public programs that serve artists, arts and culture organizations, and communities. Over the years, we have come to realize that this mission can only be accomplished with policies that enable the creative sector to do its best work. 

South Arts is based in Atlanta, and we serve a nine-state region in the southeast. Despite the integral role of arts and culture in our communities, nationally and internationally, the arts in the South have traditionally been underfunded. We know this from looking at data from the National Assembly of State Arts Agencies and studies such as “Freedom Maps” by Maria Cherry Rangel and Ron Ragin. We have much work to do to reach a point where our sector is sustainable and serving our diverse and growing region. 

Looking across the country and the region, we’ve seen great policy wins over the last few years, including a major infusion of funding to the sector through pandemic relief programs such as the CARES Act, the American Rescue Plan, and Shuttered Venue Operator Grants. We also…