#RestartArtsCA Awareness Campaign Toolkit Now Available for Download
We are pleased to announce that the toolkit for the Statewide Arts Awareness Campaign - #RestartArtsCA - taking place the week of December 7, is now live and available for you to download here.
ABOUT THE TOOLKIT
This toolkit contains sample press release, talking points, social media posts and graphics for you to use for the first phase of the #RestartArtsCA campaign, which is focused on storytelling and data as a means to drive home the necessity of obtaining state guidelines to reopen the arts and culture sector. Please share the content you see in this toolkit with your networks on social media channels, and feel free to adapt it to your particular voice, to spread awareness about the #ReStartArtsCA campaign.
CALL TO ACTION
Use the toolkit to reach out to your local press, write an op-ed, target your elected officials, and post on social media. Encourage your audiences to take action with us and #RestartArtsCA. Please post all content beginning Monday, December 7.
Together, we will take action to urge the Newsom administration to release guidelines and to see our sector as part of the solution, not the problem.
CAMPAIGN BACKGROUND
In the absence of direction from policymakers, a statewide coalition of artists, venue operators, and unions has mobilized to develop safe guidelines for reopening live events in light of COVID-19 and a statewide awareness campaign with the message to #RestartArtsCA starting the week of December 7.
Californians for the Arts, the Association of California Symphony Orchestras, California Presenters and the California Association of Museums, are co-hosting the statewide media campaign. We mobilized our efforts as we need to raise awareness about the dire needs of our sector, including the call to reopen arts safely with state-issued guidelines and how the arts can be a part of the solution to California’s recovery and to maintaining our collective mental health as we continue to live through the pandemic. The majority of California’s arts and cultural organizations have been closed for nine months and many are facing existential threats.Two-thirds of arts workers are unemployed. Now is the time to articulate the need collectively so policymakers, the media, and the public are aware of the impact and contributions of our sector.
An important note from the organizers: As coronavirus surges in California, we are not advocating to reopen arts until it is safe to do so and in accordance with public health. However we are advocating for state issued guidelines so the arts sector can prepare to open and have parity with other sectors such as restaurants, shopping malls, cultural ceremonies, fitness centers, and so on. We also want to be seen as part of the solution to the public health crisis offering an outlet for safe events and the mental health benefits of the arts. In addition, artists and culturally specific messaging will be integral to communicating the new behaviors we must adopt to get through this crisis. Wear a mask, stay safe, and stay home as much as possible. We are all in this together.