WHEREAS, Americans for the Arts, in partnership with the Advertising Council, first launched the – Art. Ask for More. – national public awareness campaign in January of 2002 and will launch the second phase of the campaign in 2006, designed to motivate parents across the United States to get more involved in ensuring their children receive a comprehensive arts education and opportunity to experience the arts; and

WHEREAS, Americans for the Arts secured more than 315 local, state, and national partners, during the first phase of the campaign including The United States Conference of Mayors, to help promote the campaign in media markets across the country; and

WHEREAS, Americans for the Arts and The Advertising Council in the past secured media distribution relationships with numerous networks and media outlets including -- CBS, NBC, ABC, FOX, BRAVO, VH1 as well as with The New York Times, USA Today, Conde Nast publications and many other local, regional and national media companies and will seek to duplicate and increase those relationships during the second phase of the campaign; and

WHEREAS, this multi-year public awareness campaign will again develop advertising materials for television, radio, newspapers, magazines, internet, and billboards with the – Art. Ask for More. – message; and

WHEREAS, Art. Ask for More. PSAs generated more than $100 million in donated media during the first phase of the campaign; and

WHEREAS, Art. Ask for More. PSA materials will be distributed to thousands of television stations, radio stations, newspapers, and magazines; and

WHEREAS, the goal of the multi-media campaign is to increase the public's awareness and action that participation in the arts is essential to the development of every child, and to spur the integration of the arts more completely into homes, schools and communities; and

WHEREAS, the United States Conference of Mayors unanimously passed a resolution in 2001 endorsing the development of a public awareness campaign to promote arts education; and

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, that The United States Conference of Mayors specifically endorses the second phase of the – Art. Ask for More. – public awareness campaign.

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that The United States Conference of Mayors urges the nation’s local arts agencies to actively participate in the campaign at the local level, and also to motivate parents and other citizens to take action on children’s behalf to ensure the return of a comprehensive arts education in schools.