Profile

Thank you to the many people who have been blog contributors to, and readers of ArtsBlog over the years. ArtsBlog has long been a space where we uplifted stories from the field that demonstrated how the arts strengthen our communities socially, educationally, and economically; where trends and issues and controversies were called out; and advocacy tools were provided to help you make the case for more arts funding and favorable arts policies.

As part of Americans for the Arts’ recent Strategic Realignment Process, we were asked to evaluate our storytelling communications platforms and evolve the way we share content. As a result, we launched the Designing Our Destiny portal to explore new ways of telling stories and sharing information, one that is consistent with our longtime practice of, “No numbers without a story, and no stories without a number.”

As we put our energy into developing this platform and reevaluate our communications strategies, we have put ArtsBlog on hold. That is, you can read past blog posts, but we are not posting new ones. You can look to the Designing Our Destiny portal and our news items feed on the Americans for the Arts website for stories you would have seen in ArtsBlog in the past.

ArtsBlog will remain online through this year as we determine the best way to archive this valuable resource and the knowledge you’ve shared here.

As ever, we are grateful for your participation in ArtsBlog and thank you for your work in advancing the arts. It is important, and you are important for doing it.

Estee Dechtman

Estee Dechtman is a current senior at Denver School of the Arts. Estee has been an arts advocate on a local, state, and national level throughout her life. Through the Educational Theatre Association, she serves as an International Thespian Officer where she travels the country advocating for the arts and teaching leadership workshops. She will be advocating on the Hill this March for Arts Advocacy Day, and continues to teach high school theatre students around the country how to advocate for theatre in their schools. After completing her term as an ITO, Estee plans to study theatre and political science to unite her passions of the arts and social change.