Thank you John and Amy and Kathy

I received this the other day.....

Congratulations! You have been nominated for a 2007 Governor’s Award for the Arts in Ohio.

The Governor’s Awards Selection Committee, comprised of Ohio Arts Council Board Members, will meet November 14, 2006 to decide award recipients in each category. Award winners will be announced by early December. To view your nomination and the other 2007 nominees, visit the event Web site at www.oac.state.oh.us/Events/Govawards.

As you may know, artists, patrons, legislators, and arts and business leaders attend the Governor’s Awards each year to celebrate the many artistic achievements in our state. The 2007 Governor’s Awards for the Arts in Ohio and Arts Day Luncheon will be held on Wednesday, March 21, 2007 at noon at the Columbus Athenaeum in downtown Columbus. Tickets to the event are $50 and include lunch and a dessert reception. I encourage you to visit our Web site at (www.oac.state.oh.us/events/GovAwards/Default.asp), for more information about this exciting event.

Please plan to celebrate Arts Day with Ohio Citizens for the Arts on Wednesday, March 21, 2007. Arts Day is an annual event demonstrating public value and support for the arts. The event will include:
• Arts Advocacy Briefing
• Arts Tradeshow
• Legislative Visits
• Statehouse Tours
• Student Exhibitions
For more information on Arts Day 2007,
visit www.OhioCitizensForTheArts.org
or call 614/221-4064.


Jodie Engle
Special Events Coordinator
Ohio Arts Council
727 East Main St.
Columbus, OH 43205
614/466-2613
jodie.engle@oac.state.oh.us

Tax Law Changes Affect Non-Profits

Federal: Tax Law Changes Affect Non-profit Organizations
Urge Your Senator to Support Arts-Friendly Revisions
Wrapped up in the massive pension reform bill finally enacted by Congress this summer are several provisions that would affect arts-related charities and donors. Unfortunately, the new law does NOT include a provision that would allow artists and creators to take a fair-market value tax deduction for works that they donate to arts and education institutions. It DOES include a “reform” provision that would discourage gifts to museums. Finally, and more positively, it also includes a provision that would allow older donors to more easily donate retirement funds to charities. With the enactment of the pension bill, our next chance to include the artist provision, and to repeal or alter the reform provision, comes with the next tax bills that the Congress might take up after the November 7 elections. To ask your Senator to support the artist provision and alter or repeal the “reform” provision -- please enter your zipcode in one of the designated boxes and click "go."

When artists give their own works away, they can write off only the cost of materials, such as paint and canvas, not the actual value of the work. Collectors, however, can deduct the fair market value. A bipartisan group of House members and Senators favor a provision that would end this inequitable treatment and would have the added positive effect of building collections for public use. The provision is important because most museums, libraries, and archives have limited acquisition funds; the only way to acquire new works is through donations. Living artists have little incentive to give their works to a nonprofit institution; instead, works of local, regional, and national significance are sold into private hands and may never come into the public domain.

The harmful “reform” provision will put a gigantic constriction on donors’ ability to stretch gifts out over time. This ability is important, because donors of important art works often run up against a cap on annual charitable deductions. The new provision both puts a strict time limit on such “partial” gifts and forces donors to use the lowest possible appraisal value in calculating their deduction. Needless to say, it will discourage gifts to museums and other collecting institutions, perhaps drastically. Therefore, we urge that it be repealed at the first opportunity.

The brightest spot in the pension bill is a provision allowing individuals aged 70-1/2 to roll funds from their retirement accounts to charities without first taking them as taxable income. The provision has been long-sought by the charitable community. Unfortunately, the measure that was enacted is temporary, expiring at the end of 2007. We have prepared a message for you to send to your Senators. Simply enter your zipcode in the designated box and click "go." http://capwiz.com/artsusa/issues/alert/?alertid=8258876&type=CO&azip=43081&bzip=0&show_alert=1



This information is provided for your interest. Does not necessarily reflect the views of Gallery202, Partners in Art, Inc. or it's governing board.

Arts Day 2007

Arts Day

Arts Day 2007 is planned for Wednesday, March 21, 2007. As always, arts advocacy is a year-round opportunity and obligation of citizens who have a public interest and value in the arts for their communities. But on March 21 arts advocates from around Ohio will converge on the capitol to demonstrate, through a united presence and voice, the need for and value of public funding for the arts in Ohio.

Arts Day includes an advocacy briefing, student performances, the Governor's Awards for the Arts & Arts Day Luncheon, legislative visits to every House and Senate office, and networking among Ohio's arts advocates. Arts Day serves as an event rich in education, information and communication.


In addition to Arts Day activities, students from 16 Ohio high schools will travel to Columbus to visit State Representatives and Senators. Throughout the morning they will visit offices in the Statehouse and Vern Riffe Center for Government and the Arts delivering their message of need for quality arts education programs in public schools. In addition to the student messages, legislators are provided with a packet of information including: a list of Ohio Arts Council grants by legislative district; arts education data and information; and an arts themed children's the book.

For more information about how you can advocate for the arts in your community contact Ohio Citizens for the Arts at 614/221-4064.


This information is provided for your interest. Does not necessarily reflect the views of Gallery202, Partners in Art, Inc. or it's governing board.