Local Arts Advocacy: Tips and Tools

TOVAH FELDSHUH'S SPEECH TO THE
NEW YORK STATE LEGISLATIVE HEARING
ARTS DAY IN ALBANY
TUESDAY, MARCH 9, 2004

Good Morning Assemblyman Morelle, Senator Maltese, New York State Council on the Arts Chairman Richard Schwartz, Congressmen Richard Brodsky, David Sidikman, Members of the State Legislature and fellow artists. My name is Tovah Feldshuh. My Hebrew name is Tovah Feldshuh. And George Pataki is our Governor. His Hebrew name is Tovah Feldshuh.

I am greatly honored to be here to represent the many actors you help and the many non-profit theatres to whom you give a lifeline. I come before you today to speak about the importance of the arts and one of the great benefactors of the arts in our Empire State the New York State Council on the Arts. I also come before you to make you laugh.

A few Jewish Haikus:

Regarding Motherhood:
I test the warm milk
On my wrist. So what if
My son is forty.

I heard this one on Senator Maltese's answering machine:
Sorry I am not here
To take your call. At the tone,
Please state your bad news.

I heard this one on David Sidikman's; it was from his mother:
Is one Nobel Prize
So much to ask from a child
After all I ve done?

Regarding Richard Brodtsky¹s Bar Mitzvah:
Today I am a man
Tomorrow I return
To the seventh grade.

Regarding Passover:
Left the door open
For the prophet Elijah.
Now, our cat is gone.

Regarding NYSCA -- the New York State Council on the Arts where would I be without it? There would be no Manhattan Ensemble Theatre (among the numerous non profits I have worked for). And without MET, there would be no GOLDA'S BALCONY which sailed to Broadway this fall from its earlier run off Broadway. Why are theatres like MET important? It s like an ecosystem. You can't have a successful Broadway without a successful off & off off Broadway theatre, and the support for the latter has historically come from New York State Council on the Arts.

Excellence, I believe -- starts with small, meticulous steps simple straight stitches sewn with care. Golda's Balcony began in a 145 seat theatre, that received its first grant from the New York State Council on the Arts. MET: A theatre in the heart of Soho, next to the Gourmet Garage and across from a Japanese Furniture Mart, is a modest space, where art is pursued with clarity and cleanliness. You could eat off the floor of that place. And on the wings of critical support, we moved from the non-profit sector which you helped fund, to Broadway.

Commercial theatre, even with a hit, is tough. It is a constant game of selling tickets without subscription. Besides one s performance, there are endless public appearances, charity functions, industry gatherings, and community events. I mean, am I here, or am I here. NYSCA gives theatres like MET and all whom she employs, breathing time and Time to Dream. Though the total funding from the State Council is small, it serves as the seed money for new companies, new actors, new plays and daring new ideas.

"Do you know what a trim tab is? It is the little handle that changes the direction of an entire boat. NYSCA is the trim tab of the Arts. She captains the cultural ship of New York State, and you, Councillors, launch her journeys to shores that harbor not just cultural enrichment, but original thought."

In thinking about my reasons for coming up here today, I couldn't help but note the parallels between Golda Meir and New York State's numerous arts organizations -- particularly its small organizations; Golda/NYSCA. Every night I get up on the stage and look to channel the spirit of a great politician and great stateswoman -- Golda Meir.

I imagine that some of you as politicians, can relate to what it's like to be the underdog; the dark horse; the one with a small war chest and big dreams. Or in Golda s case, the one with a big chest, and big dreams. Golda Meir was a woman from "Milwaukee, Wisconsin" who barely finished high school and went on to not only become the Prime Minister of Israel, but one of the greatest Prime Ministers that young country has ever seen. She had a great sense of humor.

When Henry Kissinger was balking at sending an airlift to Israel in the '73 war, he said, "First of all I am an American, secondly I am Secretary of State of the United States. Lastly, I am a Jew." Golda said, "That's fine, Henry we read from right to left."

What do Golda Meir, NYSCA, and New York State's artists and arts managers have in common? VISION, POWER, AND INTEGRITY. Golda Meir had a VISION for a strong Israel, and she never lost it. Governor Rockefeller had a strong VISION for access to the professional arts for all New Yorkers and he never lost it. Despite the recession of the late 80's, the dot-com bust, 9/11, and today's current budget woes, the New York State Council on the Arts has, through its peer panel process, maintained the tremendous INTEGRITY. Each year, NYSCA provides state funding to arts organizations of the highest caliber in all 62 counties, so that its citizens may enjoy professional theatre, dance, opera, music, media, architecture, literature, museums and the visual arts.

NOW I ask: How do we engage young people? How do we show value for their art? How do we involve them in our organizations, programs and value systems? How do we promote their talents as they grow into mature artists and arts consumers? What are we doing to embrace them? There is a dialogue that needs to still happen in every community between youth and community arts organizations. There is no doubt that this dialogue is more important today than ever before in the history of our country. The stress level on young people today is extreme. In the arts, young people can find self-confidence, a voice of their own and a place to belong. They can also take a breather and foster a Dream. This country was built on dreams. When the arts shrink, dreams disappear. A dream in a young person can develop into a reality that will irrevocably enrich and inform our culture.

My life's dream started in kindergarten in Westchester County¹s public school system. I was GRETL in Hansel and Gretl and this break quickly segued to parts in our yearly grade school plays "Listen my children and you shall hear of the midnight ride of Paul Revere" - that was 3rd grade.

In fourth grade I did "Panic in the Palace". And I loved rehearsing. That year, we were learning about New York State. We followed the battles of the Native Americans and the battles of the Revolutionary War. We met our heroes: not just Washington, but Washington Irving; our landmarks: not just the Hudson River, but the Hudson River Artists. My home state became my friend through the arts.

As a young actor, once you get over the need for applause, the whole game of acting is transformation. The actor through his commitment to become other people is subliminally saying: "if I can do this, think what you can do." The actor engenders the hope of change. And the literature we speak takes a moment out of time to closely evaluate and look at the challenges we all face, fight and try to overcome. Art has always been the signature of a great civilization."

Because of its POWER, NYSCA funding has leveraged millions in city, federal, private and individual dollars. And in so doing, New York State soon became what I'm sure Governor Rockefeller and the Agency's other founders and early supporters envisioned: the Arts Capital of the World. This, in turn, has made New York State a powerful center for creativity, ingenuity and entrepreneurialism.

Throughout it's incredible history, the New York State Council on the Arts has funded arts and cultural institutions large and small -- institutions that have moved their respective forms forward. Not only has NYSCA funding contributed to the productions of 16 Pulitzer Prize winning plays, but it has fed dozens of plays and musicals into the repertoire of the nation's regional theatres, Broadway, Broadway tours and summer stock.

NYSCA funding has nurtured hundreds of artists, from Meryl Streep to Savion Glover.

From Golda's Balcony on Broadway, to Queens Theater in the Park, up to The Albright Knox Museum and Geva Theatre, to the Arts Center of the Capital Region and Proctor s Theater and into the Northern Adirondacks, the arts are a vital part our great State.

Arts Organizations of all stripes convene audiences, patrons and artists, often with limited resources. They work with those in education, social services, juvenile corrections, preservation and other sectors. The root of all their work however, is to give the arts a home, provide a place and time for people to simply come together to celebrate, to learn, to look, to see. And NYSCA funds LIVE VENUES for the arts. I make movies and shoot TV but my heart thrives in LIVE THEATRE for it is only there that we experience the irreplaceable exchange of human energy, connected one to the other.

I fly home to NYC today to do the ONLY March 9th, 2004 performance of GOLDA'S BALCONY tonight. Whether I like it or not, it will unique and unrepeatable 9even though it is my 305th performance, it will have its own DNA.

We live in an ever-changing world, where technology has transformed our lives, and affected the way we receive our entertainment. Unless you perservere with your passion, vision and commitment, Councilors, the LIVE ARTS as we know it will be overrun by mass media: where we will not be together in a room to experience each other¹s humanity, but rather receiving information alone thru an electronic impulse from a computer screen. We artists count on you. Make your appropriation this year to the New York State Council on the Arts not just an expression of who you are, but a celebration so that every citizen in this State across class lines and in the public sector will have access and opportunity to participate in the Arts, the incubator of new thought. Your funding will realize fantastic and multi-fold return, not just economically, but spiritually and intellectually - in cities large and small across our great Empire state. LIVE Art keeps a heart passionate, a mind creating, a spirit soaring and a human being connected to others.

Thank you for what you've done, and will continue to do.

As George Bernard Shaw said, "I am of the opinion that our lives belong to the community, and it is our privilege to do for it whatever we can as long as we shall live. I want to be thoroughly used up when I die, for the harder I work, the more I live. Life is no brief candle to me, it is a splendid torch which I've got hold of for just one moment in time, and I want to make it burn as brightly as possible before handing it on to future generations."

Thank you for lighting the way, and as we say in the theatre before we step on the stage to perform and in hopes of transforming a life: BREAK A LEG!

The Alliance of New York State Arts Organizations has a long history as New York's primary service association for community based arts and cultural organizations. The Alliance provides leadership and vision, and delivers services, resources and tools that strengthen community cultural organizations. The Alliance monitors, informs and mobilizes the field on statewide and national issues affecting the arts and assists local arts agencies in building community support and developing effective grassroots public policy.ing community support and developing effective grassroots public policy.

245 Love Lane, P.O. Box 96
Mattituck, NY 11952-0096
Phone (631) 298-1234 / Fax (631) 298-1101