Make the piece. Take risks. The rest will come…

Americans for the Arts Action Fund President and CEO Robert L. Lynch gave the following statement on the results of Election Day:

“The historic election of Sen. Barack Obama to be the 44th president of the United States will have tremendous impact on the nation’s arts community, public schools, and creative workforce. His commitment to arts and arts education on the campaign trail is just a preview of what his administration can accomplish.  President-Elect Obama demonstrates the leadership and vision to advance the arts in America through investing in more arts education in public schools, advocating for increased funding for the National Endowment for the Arts, promoting cultural diplomacy, and supporting artists rights.

Yesterday’s election results also expanded the base of support for the arts in Congress, which will help move arts and arts education initiatives through the legislative process. Initiatives that will fuel innovation and creativity are key to our economic recovery and global competitiveness. A new report issued last month by The Conference Board, “Ready to Innovate,” touts the importance of arts education in building the 21st-century workforce.  The arts are good for business, good for the economy, and good for the spirit.

In this election, the Americans for the Arts Action Fund raised the public dialogue about the arts and arts education throughout the entire campaign cycle: from presidential primaries in New Hampshire to congressional races in all 50 states. Through our ArtsVote2008 initiative, we successfully advocated for presidential and congressional candidates to make strong, public statements and commitments in support of arts and arts education.  Please view our multimedia timeline for further details on ArtsVote.

On the state and local front, our arts advocacy partners successfully engaged candidates and voters throughout the country to provide more support for the arts. Specifically in Minnesota, an historic statewide ballot initiative—the Clean Water, Land and Legacy Amendment—passed amending the state constitution to dedicate a portion of sales tax to support its natural and cultural resources.  This initiative will infuse $30 million alone to Minnesota cultural organizations, nearly tripling the current budget of the State Arts Board.  An additional $10 million to $20 million will fund arts education programs, the Minnesota Historical Society, and other local historical societies.  This continues the longstanding trend demonstrating that voters are willing to invest in public funding of the arts.”

Technorati Tags: art, politics, funding, democracy, education, Obama

Free pizza, lots of artists, and a big party…sounds great to me. Remember to VOTE on November 4th in this historic election. *Update* I went to the party after having “Election Enchiladas” and there was a bunch of dancers, pom-pons, and a general feeling of relief.

Take an hour to vote November 4th (or vote early if your state allows it). Selecting the next president of the United States is more important job than another hour at work.
Technorati Tags: vote, hour, election, democratic, democrat, republican, franchise, work, civic, duty

I from 1997-1999 I worked at the Paleontological Research Institution as a collections assistant before the Museum of the Earth was complete. I spent my days scrubbing 375 million year old fossils from the Devonian period.  I highly respect my peers who study science.  Below are a few selected gems of the outreach article published by the Museum of the Earth on the 2008 presidential candidates stance on science.

Senator John McCain

“McCain has an ambiguous record on whether he supports intelligent design in the science curriculum. In 2005, he said it should be taught:

Daily Star:
Should intelligent design be taught in schools?

McCain: I think that there has to be all points of view presented. But they’ve got to be thoroughly presented. So to say that you can only teach one line of thinking I don’t think is - or one belief on how people and the world was created - I think there’s nothing wrong with teaching different schools of thought.

Daily Star: Does it belong in science?

McCain: There’s enough scientists that believe it does. I’m not a scientist. This is something that I think all points of view should be presented.

But last year, he said the intelligent design theory should not be taught in the science classroom:

I think Americans should be exposed to every point of view, he said. I happen to believe in evolution. I respect those who think the world was created in seven days. Should it be taught as a science class? Probably not.”

Sources:
Arizona Daily Star. 28 Aug. 2005. http://www.azstarnet.com/sn/opinion/90521

Eagye, Abigail. “McCain talks war, religion, immigration”
Aspen Times 2 Jul. 2006.

 
Senator Barak Obama

From the York (PA) Daily Record:

Q: York County was recently in the news for a lawsuit involving the teaching of intelligent design. What’s your attitude regarding the teaching of evolution in public schools?

A: I’m a Christian, and I believe in parents being able to provide children with religious instruction without interference from the state. But I also believe our schools are there to teach worldly knowledge and science. I believe in evolution, and I believe there’s a difference between science and faith. That doesn’t make faith any less important than science. It just means they’re two different things. And I think it’s a mistake to try to cloud the teaching of science with theories that frankly don’t hold up to
scientific inquiry.

Source: York Daily Record. March 30, 2008.

 
Governor Sarah Palin

From NewsMiner.Com:

 “In response to written questions during the 2002 election:

Q: The education section of the Republican Party of Alaska’s platform states “We support giving Creation Science equal representation with other theories of the origin of life. If evolution is taught, it should be presented as only a theory.” Do you support this position? Why?

A: I support this plank in the Republican Party’s platform. I believe society can have healthy debates on scientific theories, so equal representation of creation and evolution shouldn’t be an offense.”

Source: http://www.newsminer.com/news/2008/aug/29/palin-issues-2002-alaska-gubernatorial-race/

From Framing Science:

“In running for Governor of Alaska in 2006, GOP VP candidate Sarah Palin said she supported teaching alternatives to evolution. When asked during an election debate, she said:

‘Teach both. You know, don’t be afraid of information. Healthy debate is so important, and it’s so valuable in our schools. I am a proponent of teaching both.’

She later attempted to clarify her statement by saying in an interview:

‘I don’t think there should be a prohibition against debate if it comes up in class. It doesn’t have to be part of the curriculum.’

She added that, if elected, she would not push the state Board of Education to add such creation-based alternatives to the state’s required curriculum

The daughter of a science teacher, Palin has said that she personally believes in creationism.

‘My dad did talk a lot about his theories of evolution,’ she said. ‘He would show us fossils and say, ‘How old do you think these are?”

Asked for her personal views on evolution, Palin said, ‘I believe we have a creator.’ She would not say whether her belief also allowed her to accept the theory of evolution as fact. “I’m not going to pretend I know how all this came to be,” she said.

Sources: Nisbet, Matthew C. “VP candidate Palin supports teaching creationism” Weblog entry. Framing Science. 29 Aug. 2008. http://scienceblogs.com/framing-science/2008/08/vp_candidate_palin_supports_te.php

Kizzia, Tom. “‘Creation science’ enters the race” Anchorage Daily News 27 Oct. 2006.
(http://dwb.adn.com/news/politics/elections/story/8347904p-8243554c.html)

From Infidel Guy Radio:

“In October of 2006, the Anchorage Daily News reported that Palin said the following about creationism at a debate:

“Teach both. You know, don’t be afraid of information….Healthy debate is so important and it’s so valuable in our schools. I am a proponent of teaching both. And you know, I say this too as the daughter of a science teacher. Growing up with being so privileged and blessed to be given a lot of
information on, on both sides of the subject — creationism and evolution. It’s been a healthy foundation for me. But don’t be afraid of information and let kids debate both sides.”

Sources: Gene, Shinai. “Politics: Palin on
life, faith, and creation.” Weblog entry. Infidel Guy Radio. 30 Aug. 2008. http://www.infidelguy.com/article486.html

An interesting article on VP hopeful Gov. Sarah Palin in the LA Times:

Palin treads carefully between fundamentalist beliefs and public policy

A post from Harvard University Press Publicity Blog on Gov. Sarah Palin:

On humans, dinosaurs, and Sarah Palin 

Senator Joe Biden

From Fox News:
“‘I refuse to believe the majority of people believe this malarkey!’ the senior senator from Delaware exclaimed [referring to Intelligent Design]”

Source: Sammon, Bill. “Biden’s embellishment could provide easy fodder for GOP” Fox News Online. 23 Aug. 2008.  http://elections.foxnews.com/2008/08/23/bidens-embellishments-could-provide-easy-fodder-for-gop/

From Melissa Rogers:

“Joe Biden on teaching intelligent design in public science classes:

Pres. Bush’s comments last week “supporting the teaching of ‘intelligent design’ alongside the theory of evolution in public school science classes has fueled concerns among some of the wall between religion” and gov’t “could be breached.”

“This is a nation founded on the idea of the separation of church and state. After 200 years, why the hell would you want to go messing with that?”

Source: Rogers, Melissa. “Biden on religion’s role in public life and church-state issues”. Weblog entry. Melissa Rogers: thoughts on news about religion’s intersection with public affairs. 23 Aug. 2008. http://melissarogers.typepad.com/melissa_rogers/2008/08/biden.html.

Vote No on Proposition 8.
Technorati Tags: Video, Proposition 8, california, san francisco, rights, marriage

Pete_Ipp.jpeg, originally uploaded by hypermodern.

Halloween in San Francisco is on its way!

Pete_Ipp.jpeg, originally uploaded by hypermodern.

Orange rose close up.

Americans for the Arts Action Fund is pleased to present you with its just released summary of the Arts Positions of the 2008 Presidential Candidates. (Also see side-by-side comparison table below.)

As you may know, Americans for the Arts Action Fund launched its ArtsVote2008 initiative in May 2007 in order to educate presidential candidates on issues impacting the
arts and arts education with the goal of securing—for the first time ever—formal position statements from the top candidates.

To date, we have shared with you Senator
Barack Obama’s comprehensive arts policy proposal that he began issuing in February 2008. Unfortunately, the McCain campaign has not been as forthcoming, despite numerous formal requests from the Arts Action Fund and Senator McCain’s own supporters over the last year. However, we are pleased to report that Senator McCain has now issued a short statement that he released in an article for today’s Salt Lake City Tribune.

With this information in hand, we ask you—the arts advocate—to take action by doing the following things:

1. Share this side-by-side comparison of the presidential candidates with your friends, family, and colleagues.
2. Blog about this issue on any sites that you are affiliated with.
3. Post the comparison chart on your social network sites, such as Facebook, MySpace, and others.
4. Send a Letter to the Editor of your local newspapers and journals. We’ve made it easy for you by drafting a customizable letter at our E-Advocacy Center that you can personalize. You will then automatically be given the choice to e-mail your letter to all the key media outlets in your area based on your zip code.
5. Ask questions about policies on the arts and arts education to both your Congressional and presidential candidates in any kind of town hall forums, online chats, or any other
   public forums.
6. Vote for the candidates that you feel will best advance the arts and arts education in America.

With only a few days left to Election Day, now is the time to act and show your support for the arts!

Arts Positions of the 2008 Presidential Candidates

	Sen. Barack Obama Democratic Nominee	Sen. John McCain Republican Nominee
Campaign has met with Americans for the Arts Action Fund to discuss policy issues.	Yes Meeting held 4/1/08	Yes Meeting held 4/1/08
Campaign has published policy proposals on the arts and/or arts education.	Yes Read policy proposal 2/28/08	No
Candidate has made statement on federal support of the arts.	>Yes View Pennsylvania speech on 4/2/08	No
Candidate has made statement on federal support of arts education.	Yes View Texas speech on 2/28/08	Yes Read Statement 10/03/08
National party platform includes statement on the arts and/or arts education.	Yes Read platform statement on page 49	No
Candidate has pro-arts Congressional record.	Yes Co-sponsored S. 548, Artist-Museum Partnership Act, 2/25/08	No Voted to cut funding or terminate the National Endowment for the Arts (see listing of votes*)

*Roll call votes on 7/12/00, 8/5/99, 9/15/98, 9/18/97, 9/17/97, 7/25/94, 9/15/93, 9/15/93, and 9/14/93.
Source:  Americans for the Arts Action Fund, as of 10/03/08

Americans for the Arts Action Fund is the bipartisan advocacy arm of Americans for the Arts, engaging citizens in ensuring that all Americans have the opportunity to appreciate, value, and participate in the arts. Arts Action Fund members are citizen activists who are committed to helping make certain that arts-friendly public policies are adopted at every level of government and in the private sector. ArtsVote2008, a program of the Arts Action Fund, was created to secure bold, new policy proposals in support of the arts and arts education in America from candidates in the 2008 presidential campaign.

For more info visit www.artsvote.org, or call 202-371-2830

Pete_Ipp.jpeg, originally uploaded by hypermodern.

Stephen Wirtz Gallery has its priorities straight.