Be An #ArtsHero and Counterpoint have partnered to create a series of political cartoons highlighting the value of the arts industry and the jeopardy it faces in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. Check out them out in a gallery below.
“In a movement forged at the intersection of art and politics, who better than political cartoonists to illuminate the plight of the arts and culture sector?,� says Be An #ArtsHero co-founders Carson Elrod, Jenny Grace Makholm, Brooke Ishibashi and Matthew-Lee Erlbach. “Political cartoonists are valuable arts workers who, with razor sharp wit and incredible artistry, help shape the political discourse, expose hypocrisy and change minds.�
Participating artists in the project include Nick Anderson (co-founder and executive director of Counterpoint), Nathan Archer, Robert Ariail, Juan Astasio, Richard Bartholomew, Chris Britt, Michael Egan, Warren “Wee� Elliott, Tom Falco, Mike Lester, Mark Lynch, Steve McGinn, Deb Milbrath, Pedro X Molina, Paul Pinderski, Peter Reiss, Ali Solomon, Scott Stantis, Joe Sutliff, Tom Toro, and Mark Wilke.
“Counterpoint is proud to team up with Be An #ArtsHero to campaign for more awareness about the massive economic contribution of America's arts workers � while at the same time � being uniquely vulnerable to ruinous consequences during economic downturns. It's about time that arts workers made their voices heard,� said Anderson, a Pulitzer Prize-winning cartoonist and executive director and co-founder of Counterpoint.
The grassroots cohort launched a �100 Days of Art & Activism� campaign January 20, kicking off with , asking the new leadership to support the arts industry. The letters hailed primarily from theatre authors—playwrights, composers, librettists; while some of their pleas for funding are answered in the new stimulus, other calls to action included cabinet-level representation and nationwide revitalization initiatives akin to the Federal Theatre Project of the 1930s.
On March 11, the President signed , allocating $135 million each to the National Endowment for the Arts and National Endowment for the Humanities, with additional funding and assistance also established to help struggling theatres.
Check out a video of Scott Stantis of Counterpoint drawing a cartoon below.
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