October 5, 2004
Arts, culture and
policy are focus of new student organization
Students at the LBJ School of Public Affairs have established a new organization called the Policy Coalition on Culture (PCOC) to advocate the arts in public affairs. A major objective of the group is to create a network of people from across the University and the Austin community who are interested in the intersection of culture and policy. PCOC’s long-term goal is to cultivate the next generation of arts and cultural policy leaders by providing students opportunities to engage in advocacy and professional networking.
This fall, PCOC (pronounced “peacock”) will continue to build its membership, raise funds and begin planning of a major symposium it will host on the 40th anniversary of the legislation that established the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA), which was signed by President Lyndon B. Johnson on September 5, 1965. The LBJ School cohosted a similar conference in 1975 to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the NEA.
As part of an effort to build support for the NEA symposium, PCOC will hold an event in February 2005 designed to raise awareness among local policymakers about the value of arts and culture.
“It is important for the arts community and policymakers to engage the public sector, private enterprise, and nonprofit organizations to help support arts and culture on a local and national basis,” said PCOC founder Erin Eisenberg.
“People need to recognize that policies for arts and culture can directly affect the work in other policy areas, such as education, economic development, international diplomacy, social policy, health care, intellectual property and the media,” she said.
In addition to Eisenberg, other PCOC leaders include LBJ School students Ellen Grantham, Naila Ahmed and Sara McCuistion. A core group of PCOC members are students of UT Austin’s Department of Theater and Dance Performance as Public Practice program. Other community members include Vincent Kitch, Cultural Arts Program Manager of the Economic Growth and Redevelopment Services Office of the City of Austin, and Celia Hughes (LBJ School Class of 1990), who serves as executive director of VSA Arts of Texas, an organization that supports access to the arts among people with disabilities. PCOC’s advisors are Courtney Brown, director of the LBJ School Office of Student and Alumni Programs; and Doug Dempster, associate dean of the College of Fine Arts.
“This group is open to all interested students at the University and we will continue reaching out to other departments,” said Eisenberg.
For additional information, contact Eisenberg at erinyc@mail.utexas.edu.
Related Links:
Performance as Public Practice Program, UT Department of Theatre and Dance
Cultural Arts Division, Economic Growth and Redevelopment Services Office of the City of Austin
© Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs
P.O. Box Y
Austin, TX 78713-8925
512-471-3200
5 October 2004
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