Doug Johnson, McLean County Arts Center

May 2025

As the Executive Director of the McLean County Arts Center, advocacy for the arts has been a vital role. In my first months on the job, I met with our elected officials in Springfield to reinforce the value the arts provide to our communities. In my time here, I've had the good fortune to lead the downstate team in Washington, D.C., for National Arts Advocacy and to be on the small team that successfully achieved the 50 million Capitol Bill to support the arts across the state.  That Illinois bill was the first statewide support completed at anything approaching that success.

I serve on the Arts Leadership Council of Arts Alliance Illinois, the statewide arts advocacy group.  They play a crucial role in communicating the value of the arts and organizing legislation and support in ways a state agency cannot. It is a role I was invited to join in the year that the MCAC hosted One State: Together in the Arts, in Normal, for the state's annual arts conference. The then-executive director of Arts Alliance Illinois was Ra Joy. More recently, he served as the Chief of Staff at the National Endowment for the Arts. 

We are now in a complex time with federal support of the arts being decimated. As of this writing, the Executive Director, Chief of Staff, and all of the National Endowment for the Arts divisional directors have resigned.  The National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) is an independent agency of the United States federal government that offers support and funding for projects exhibiting artistic excellence.  It was created in 1965 as an independent federal government agency by an act of the U.S. Congress, signed by President Lyndon B. Johnson on September 29, 1965.

NEA funding is a catalyst, as every grant must have a cash match from the state or the receiving organization. About 11% of the funds from the state's Illinois Arts Council originate with the NEA. Still, the cash grants in Illinois are matched again by local organizations when money reaches local programmers. NEA funds support grassroots organizations more than individual artists. When actress Jane Alexander served as the chair of the National Endowment of the Arts (October 1993 – October 1997) significant changes to the program model were introduced, with a strong emphasis placed on meeting the public where they are, adding focus on veteran's artist services, and ensuring that every congressional district received federal arts dollars.  Ultimately, our federal funding for the arts is a budgetary rounding error compared to other developed nations' arts support. 

During the first Trump administration, the president's proposed budget zeroed out the NEA. Fortunately, Congress did not support these efforts, and federal support for the arts prevailed. There were efforts to erode that support through actions like the Grothman amendment, but these plans did not receive the support of our elected officials in Illinois and rightfully failed. 

We are now in a different time, and many of the legislative and judiciary guardrails that have previously protected these vital programs have been rendered inert. Regardless of party affiliation, now is the time for all citizens to voice their concerns to our elected officials. I hope that you take this opportunity to engage with our elected officials and voice your concerns. These are your tax dollars, and your voice matters. 

I've been in the Washington offices of elected officials when staff members receive these calls. They tally each one, the calls are all notated, and emails are also tallied. I encourage you to use the website and application 5 Calls. This free website allows you to identify your elected officials, select the topics and legislation that matter to you, provide sample text for the communication, and provide contact information (phone, addresses, and emails) to make your voice heard. I've included the link below.

5 Calls

Some expect you to feel powerless in bureaucracy, and silence is consent. When my daughter, Marie, was a Political Science undergrad at the University of Illinois she had internships with Sen. Claire McCaskill (Missouri), Sen. Dick Durban (Illinois). She also worked for the Washington-based consulting firm of one of my family members, Jim Hock. He was later the chief of staff for Penny Pritzker while she was the Secretary of Commerce under the Obama Administration.  In these roles Marie learned many things, but one of the most important was the value elected officials place on communicating with constituents.  If staff members in D.C. get a dozen calls on a piece of legislation, they take notice.  If they get two dozen calls, they take action.  While we are months away from midterm elections, your voice still matters.

I appreciate your support of the Arts!

Americans support the Arts!

Americans are highly engaged in the arts and believe more strongly than ever that the arts promote personal well-being, help us understand other cultures in our community, are essential to a well-rounded K-12 education, and that government has an important role in funding the arts.

1. “The arts provide meaning to our lives.” 69% of Americans believe the arts “lift me up beyond everyday experiences,” 73% feel the arts give them “pure pleasure to experience and participate in,” and 81% say the arts are a “positive experience in a troubled world.”

2. “The arts unify our communities.” The personal benefits of the arts extend beyond the individual to the community. 72% believe “the arts unify our communities regardless of age, race, and ethnicity” and 73% agree that the arts “helps me understand other cultures better.”

3. “Most of us seek out arts experiences.” Nearly three-quarters of the adult population (72%) attended an arts or culture event during the previous year, such as the theater, museum, zoo, or a musical performance.

4. “We experience the arts in unexpected places.” Americans also enjoy the arts in "non-traditional" venues, such as a symphony in the park, a performance in an airport, or exhibitions in a hospital or shopping mall (70%).

5. “There is near universal support for arts education.” 91% agree that the arts are part of a well-rounded K-12 education. Over 90% say students should receive an education in the arts in elementary school, middle school, and high school. 89% say the arts should also be taught outside of the classroom in the community.

6. “We support government arts funding at all levels.” Most Americans approve of arts funding by local government (60%), state government (58%), federal government (54%), and by the National Endowment for the Arts (64%). ]

7. “We will vote for candidates who increase arts funding.” 53% support increasing federal government spending on nonprofit arts organizations (vs. 22% against). Americans are twice as likely to vote for a candidate who increases federal arts spending from 45 cents to $1 per person than against (37% vs. 18%).

8. “We make art in our personal time.” Half of all Americans are personally involved in art-making activities such as painting, singing in a choir, making crafts, writing poetry, or playing music (47%).

9. “Creativity boosts job success.” 55% of employed adults say their job requires them to “be creative and come up with ideas that are new and unique.” An even greater proportion (60%) say that the more creative and innovative they are at their job, the more successful they are in the workplace.

10. “Cultural institutions add value to our community.” Whether people engage with the arts or not, 90% believe cultural facilities (theaters, museums, sculpture parks, neighborhood arts centers) improve quality of life, and 86% believe cultural facilities are important to local business and the economy.

11. “We donate to the arts.” 24% of the population donated to an arts, culture, or public broadcasting organization in the previous year. Donors were typically younger and had higher incomes and education.

12. “Not everyone in my community has equal access to the arts.” Despite the many benefits that the arts bring to individuals and communities, just 50% believe that “everyone in their community has equal access to the arts.”

Americans Speak Out About the Arts in 2018, conducted by Ipsos Public Affairs for Americans for the Arts in 2018, is based on a nationally representative sample of 3,023 adults.