Americans for the Arts

Bob Faust didn’t set out to design a logo. He set out to design participation.

The ArtsVote checkmark, where the A and V lock together into a single mark, is built to do one thing: make voting for the arts feel simple.

The identity was created with his creative collaborator and life partner, the world-renowned artist Nick Cave. His sculpture Siren — interlocking bronze arms and vintage gramophones — debuted at the Venice Biennale this year as a symbol of collective voice and shared urgency.

When the arts are on the ballot, every vote is a choice about what kind of communities we want to build. This month, as we celebrate Pride, we’re reminded that the arts have always been a space where every identity finds their voice.

ArtsVote is how we protect all our creative voices. Read the full conversation with Bob in the June newsletter. Link in comments.

Want to go deeper? Explore ArtsVote and join us June 25 for Make Your Plan: The Path to the Polls — a free webinar on nonpartisan voter engagement. Link in comments.

“How do we stay connected?”

Conferences spark ideas. People do the work.

Our Post-AFTACON Email Networks are organized by pathway — so the conversations that started in Albuquerque don’t stop when you get home.

Didn't make it to AFTACON this year? We encourage you to join the pathways that fit your work:

→ Action and Advocacy
→ Arts, Humanities, and Community Vitality
→ Arts and Economic Sustainability
→ Arts Education
→ Arts in Civic Life
→ Nonprofit Strategy
→ Creative Work, Agency, and Technology
→ Empowering Rural Arts and Culture
→ Readiness, Response, and Community Care

This important work will continue through virtual learning opportunities starting at three months, and a field report at six months, carrying the ideas from AFTACON into your local communities.

Sign up today! 🔗 https://bit.ly/49ZTumK

73% of Americans say human-made artwork should cost more than AI-made art.

This month, we launched Data Drop — a new series turning arts research into visual stories. We asked artist Mike Renaud to translate new national survey findings into something you could actually feel.

He drew it by hand.

The question the data asked: If two artworks looked identical — but one was made by a person and one using AI — which should cost more?

73% of Americans said the human-made one. That’s according to a survey of 1,083 adults conducted by the National Opinion Research Center at the University of Chicago. And part of a new monthly study we developed in partnership with NORC on how Americans value arts and culture.

As technology evolves, this finding points to something enduring: People continue to place unique value on human creativity, expression, and lived experience.

Human still matters.

Read the full findings in our June newsletter. 🔗 https://bit.ly/4edRs57

If your organization has 501c3 status, you have more power to move voters than you might think.

On June 25 at 3 p.m. ET, Americans for the Arts and the Arts Action Fund are hosting Make Your Plan: The Path to the Polls — a free webinar on how arts and culture organizations can lead nonpartisan voter engagement in their communities, compliantly and creatively.

Joining us: Nonprofit VOTE, the leading nonpartisan resource on nonprofit voter engagement.

Here’s what you’ll walk away with:
→ How 501c3 nonprofits can legally equip voters with the information they need to make a voting plan
→ Strategies to share that information compliantly AND creatively
→ A first look at the updated ArtsVote logo from designer Bob Faust
→ Creative resources to help your organization encourage civic participation before Election Day

This webinar? Free. And it might change how your organization shows up for voters this fall.
Register now. 🔗 https://bit.ly/4vQGlox

86% of Americans say arts and culture define their community’s identity. Long Beach just proved it.

Last week, AFTA CEO Erin Harkey joined outgoing U.S. Conference of Mayors President and Oklahoma City Mayor David Holt to present the 2026 Citizen Artist Awards to entertainment mogul Snoop Dogg and visual trailblazer Ed Ruscha. Danny Trejo and Chuck D were also honored for using their platforms to strengthen communities and champion the arts.

The evening unfolded at the brand-new Long Beach Amphitheater — opened by Long Beach’s own Snoop Dogg. A full concert. A city full of pride. And a reminder that the arts do more than entertain a community: they shape its story.

“Through music, visual art, film, and cultural activism, they demonstrate that creative expression is not just entertainment — it is a powerful force for civic engagement, connection, and social change.” — Erin Harkey, CEO, Americans for the Arts

Congratulations to our 2026 Citizen Artist Award honorees. 🎉

The arts shape culture. They shape communities. And they shape the people bold enough to dedicate their lives to them.

Together with the U.S. Conference of Mayors, we are proud to present the 2026 Citizen Artist Awards to four icons who have done exactly that.

→ Chuck D — Hip-Hop Pioneer
→ Snoop Dogg — Entertainment Mogul
→ Ed Ruscha — Visual Trailblazer
→ Danny Trejo — Hollywood Legend

“Snoop Dogg, Ed Ruscha, Danny Trejo, and Chuck D embody what it means to be true citizen artists,” said Erin Harkey, CEO of Americans for the Arts. “Through music, visual art, film, and cultural activism, they demonstrate that creative expression is not just entertainment — it is a powerful force for civic engagement, connection, and social change.”

“Cities are the cultural capitals of our nation, and the arts define the civic identities of our cities. That is why this partnership between the U.S. Conference of Mayors and Americans for the Arts has endured for the last three decades,” said David Holt, outgoing President of the U.S. Conference of Mayors and Mayor of Oklahoma City.

Four icons. Four communities. One consistent truth: the arts are essential.

Congratulations to our Citizen Artist Awards recipients! 🎉

This week, the field showed up in every form. AFTACON 2026 gave us four incredible days together in Albuquerque. 1,000+ arts advocates, organized, energized, and ready to build.

A big shout out to Ayanna Hudson, who just celebrated one year with AFTA as Chief Programs Officer and delivered an experience with her team the field won’t forget.

We closed the final days of the conference with:
→ Performers on the mainstage who moved, sang, and created like the future depends on it.
→ ARTventures that took us into the community and Incubators that brought the community’s ideas into focus.
→ Lowriders and community dancing that reminded us arts advocacy is about protecting THIS. Belonging.
→ Arts Action Fund Reception bringing advocates together to turn our momentum into wins at the ballot box.

We’re deeply grateful to the City of Albuquerque Department of Arts and Culture and the New Mexico Department of Cultural Affairs — including Cabinet Secretary Debra Garcia y Griego and Mayor of Albuquerque Tim Keller — who opened their community to this field with generosity, pride, and purpose.

The conference is made possible through support from these amazing cultural partners as well as Cultural Planning Group, Knight Foundation, Lord Cultural Resources, National Arts Strategies, New Mexico Arts, and Your Part-Time Controller, with additional support provided by New Mexico Rail Runner Express and Visit Albuquerque.

We know the work extends beyond these four days in June. But we're thrilled to share we'll be convening again for AFTACON 2027 in Atlanta!

If you missed out on the magic, every mainstage moment is yours to watch for free.

🔗 https://bit.ly/43bDpqp

AFTA Board Chair Kristina Newman-Scott in conversation with civic leader Julián Castro and iconic actress Molly Ringwald. NEA Chairman Mary Anne Carter. Sessions spanning the breadth of what arts and culture workers are facing — evolving technologies, threats to expression, new possibilities for collaboration and civic impact.

But the AFTACON 2026 energy didn’t stop there.

Conversations that turn into collaborations. An artist mercado full of makers and visionaries. Flamenco so percussive and alive you couldn’t walk away. Hands-on experiences that reminded us why we do this work.

The work happens in sessions, but the magic also happens when we’re in community together.

That’s what we’re taking home — new connections, renewed commitment, and ideas that won’t stay local for long.

Missed the mainstage? Every plenary is yours to watch, free, from wherever you are.

🔗 https://bit.ly/43bDpqp