Fill in the blank: D.C. is a ________ town.
Chances are “arts” wasn’t the first word to come to mind. More likely “government,” or, in recent years, “tech.” Councilmember David Grosso (I-At Large) wants to change that.
“D.C. has a vibrant arts community,” Grosso told DCist in a recent interview, “but it doesn’t get the support it needs.” Hence why Grosso has started ArtsAction D.C., a coalition that he says is a “collective voice to advocate for funding of arts in the District.”
Though Grosso only announced the formation a couple of weeks ago, he says he’s been recruiting artists, art institutions, and organizations for it since the spring, and they’ve been meeting monthly at Arena Stage since March. Tomorrow, Grosso is hosting the first event on behalf of ArtsAction D.C.—a “Politics & Art” jam session at the Wilson Building, perhaps D.C.’s least punk venue.
Advocating for the arts, Grosso says, has been one of his highest priorities since he was elected to the Council, but finding a proper way to do so hasn’t always been easy. “I thought ‘what if we got all [these organizations] together to advocate with one voice on behalf of the District’s arts scene and the creative economy,” he says. While that’s a noble effort on Grosso’s part, the lingering question, of course, is “how?”
That’s what The Arts Coalition for the Dupont Underground—the coalition working diligently to transform the currently vacant trolley station underneath Dupont Circle into a cultural institution—is wondering. In an email, Braulio Agnese, a member of the Board of Directors for Dupont Underground, says that they’ve recently joined ArtsAction D.C. and have attended only one meeting so far.
“It’s unclear yet how much, and in what ways—apart from bolstering ArtsAction D.C.’s efforts through public messaging, going to meetings, etc.—the Dupont Underground will be involved with the group, or how, specifically, the coalition would benefit us,” Agnese says. “But we are also getting started on a lot of things ourselves and so have limited time, energy, and resources.”
Apart from Dupont Underground, ArtsAction D.C. has recruited more than 40 organizations that “drive the creative economy sector in D.C.” Its members include organizations in theater, dance, visual art, written and spoken word, music, fashion, film, and festivals
As one of their first tasks, Grosso says they focused on ways to engage candidates in the general election and gauge their commitment to the arts and funding for the arts. They sent surveys to all the major candidates who ran in the election and just recently put the full responses of all who replied up on their newly launched Web site.
Next in the pipeline, Grosso says the coalition is “developing a study entitled ‘Funding for a Cultural Plan for D.C.,'” which will outline how more money can go to funding the arts sector. They intend to release the study sometime next year, prior to the FY16 Budget process.
Although Agnese still isn’t sure how ArtsAction D.C. will help the Dupont Underground project, he’s optimistic about it and praises Grosso’s efforts. “We are involved because we think the city could do a better job fostering, supporting, and promoting arts and culture in the District, and we applaud what Councilmember Grosso is doing,” he said.
Tomorrow’s Politics & Art jam session will take place at 6 to 9 p.m. at the Wilson Building and will feature local and national elected officials, local musicians, dancers, and other performance artists. Tickets are free, but an RSVP is required. Info here.
