About NHCFA
New Hampshire Citizens for the Arts shall serve as a means of communication with the public and lawmakers. It shall communicate the views of its membership to legislators on all matters pertaining to the cultural life of New Hampshire. It shall advocate with local, state, and federal legislators on art and cultural issues, and its representatives shall testify before legislative committees whenever appropriate. It shall organize and promote seminars, conferences, and festivals for the purpose of fostering public interest in the arts, and carry out other educational and promotional endeavors. It shall be self-supporting through membership dues, donations, grants, and fund-raising activities. All funds derived from its operations shall be used for advocacy and educational purposes.
What does New Hampshire Citizens for the Arts do?
Awareness: NH Citizens for the Arts works at the grassroots level to educate local, state, and federal policy-makers and the general public about the importance of the arts in New Hampshire: for the education of our children, the vitality of our towns and cities, the health of our economy, and the inspiration and enjoyment of our citizens. NH Citizens for the Arts maintains a website and sponsors meetings, seminars, and other events including advocacy training, to raise awareness and foster public interest in the arts.
Advocacy: NH Citizens for the Arts advocates for appropriate legislative and financial support for the arts in order to strengthen opportunities for participation in the arts for all citizens.
Action: NH Citizens for the Arts identifies and monitors issues directly affecting the arts and humanities and supports political action to encourage legislation that makes it possible for the arts to thrive.
NH Citizens for the Arts has worked effectively to support and increase the budget of the NH State Council on the Arts; to insure matching state funds to keep federal arts grants coming to New Hampshire; to retain the high-school arts credit required for graduation; to preserve the state’s Percent for Art Program; to eliminate a proposed entertainment tax on tickets to cultural events; to stop efforts to tax nonprofits’ lands and buildings, and to maintain support for public television and radio. In the 1990s, through the Bipartisan Campaign for the Arts and Humanities, NH Citizens for the Arts joined with other organizations across the country to strengthen support for the National Endowments for the Arts and the Humanities. In 1987, a NH law was passed that established one of the few state grant programs in the nation dedicated to the design, construction, or renovation of cultural facilities. In 2003, NH Citizens for the Arts worked with the state legislature to restore funding for this program, which had been cut from the governor’s budget.
