The Show Can't Go On: Pass WPA and Invest in Our New York

Advisory

CONTACT INFORMATION

                                                                                                                Nathaniel Marro

                                          802-353-8056

                                                                                                               nathaniel.marro@gmail.com 

The Show Can't Go On: Pass WPA and Invest in Our New York 

WHAT: The Music Workers Alliance and Invest in Our New York coalition hold a rally to end tax breaks on the wealthiest New Yorkers and pass Senator May and Assemblymemeber Fahy's WPA-PR Act S1141A/A2409 to help support working class artists in the state.

WHERE: Outside Governor Cuomo's Office in Manhattan (633 3rd Avenue)

WHEN: Thursday, February 25th, 2021 at 12:00 PM

WHO: State Senator Jabari Brisport, State Senator Jessica Ramos, State Senator Brad Hoylman, Assemblymember Emily Gallagher, Alejandra Duque Cifuentes Executive Director of Dance/NYC, affected music workers and members of Music Workers Alliance Dennis Day and Jay Julio, affected dance worker Ann Chiaverini from Dance Artist National Collective (DANC), performances by brass bands, choir and dancers. Attendees will include over 100 pandemic-afflicted workers from New York artist communities.

BACKGROUND:  Daily News Op-Ed by Dance Artist National Collective (DANC) Garnet Henderson

                        Open Letter: The Show Can’t Go On: Arts & Culture Workers for a New York WPA 

NY ARTISTS / WPA FACTS

• In 2019, Arts and Culture contributed $119.9 Billion to the New York State economy and yet the working class creators have been left behind. 
• Americans for the Arts found 62% of arts and cultural workers are entirely unemployed, including more than 69% of Black and Indigenous artists and artists of color. 
• According to a survey conducted between November and December 2020, the Music Workers Alliance (MWA) found, 71% of musicians and DJs surveyed by the Music Workers Alliance have lost three quarters or more of their income. Many have dipped into savings, moved to cut expenses, and considered changing careers. 
• The WPA was a New Deal jobs program that put people to work by investing roughly $92 billion in 2021 dollars in infrastructure and cultural projects. One of the WPA’s most successful initiatives was Federal Project Number One, which publicly commissioned music, painting, writing, theatre, sculpture, dance & other media in a wide variety of styles and genres, across a wide array of cultures.
• The project’s main principles: “1) In time of need the artist, no less than the manual worker, is entitled to employment as an artist at the public expense 2)  the arts, no less than business, agriculture, & labor, are and should be the immediate concern of the ideal commonwealth.”
• The WPA framed art as a public good, it democratized creativity by allowing every day Americans to access the arts. It crucially treated artists as workers and considered art to be meaningful work. At its peak, it employed 46,000 people. 
• These programs supported the work of thousands of artists, including Doris Humphrey, Katherine Dunham, Arthur Miller, Orson Welles, Countee Cullen, Aaron Douglas, Jackson Pollock, and Aaron Copland
• The founding of state and local orchestras, beginning of the American Expressionist movement, the expansion in public arts education, collection of stories and narratives of former slaves, archival collection and recordings of regional folk art and music were amongst the many projects funded by the WPA

INVEST IN OUR NEW YORK

• Our communities have borne the brunt of sickness and job loss:
• Over 1.4 million New Yorkers are facing eviction
• 60% of New Yorkers have lost income
• 1.2 million New Yorkers are uninsured 
• 25% of NYC residents face food insecurity 

• While we've been enduring this pain, New York's wealthiest have grown richer:
• New York’s billionaires grew $87 billion richer during the pandemic — to a total net worth of $612 billion
• The top 1% of New Yorkers have the lowest tax burden of any income bracket
• Governor Cuomo cut taxes on the wealthiest New Yorkers, corporations, banks, multi-millionaires’ estates, yachts and private jets over the past decade

• We can stop budget cuts and protect the future of New York by ending tax breaks for the wealthiest New Yorkers and investing in our New York.

• That’s why we are joining together to Invest in Our New York. We demand:
• Raise $50 billion in new revenue by ending tax breaks for the wealthiest New Yorkers
• Prevent cuts to public programs and invest in high quality education, jobs, housing, healthcare and more
• Ensure revenue benefits the most vulnerable communities, including low-income New Yorkers, communities of color, workers excluded from federal unemployment and essential workers

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MWA is an organization of, by, and for independent music workers. More info at: musicworkersalliance.org.