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Baltimore's First-Ever Mayoral Forum on Arts & Culture!

Executive Director's Letter
March 1, 2016

Baltimore’s first-ever mayoral forum on arts and culture takes place on Monday, March 7 from 6:00 to 7:30 pm. Will you be there? The forum will be hosted by Maryland Institute College of Art and organized by Citizen Artist Baltimore, a partnership between the Greater Baltimore Cultural Alliance, Maryland Citizens for the Arts and theRobert W. Deutsch Foundation.

RSVP here and make a Pledge to participate in the upcoming election.

As important as it is to pack the hall on Monday, it is essential that you register and vote in the April primary election. Why? Because of the historically low turnout in city elections, your vote can make a difference. As reported by Tom Hall on WYPR, “In 2011, in the last Democratic Mayoral Primary, about 75,000 people voted, and more than 217,000 people who could have voted, didn't. Not involved, one way or the other. The winner of that primary, Stephanie Rawlings-Blake, won it with just under 39,000 votes.”

History should not repeat itself. Regardless of which candidate you back, this is your opportunity (and responsibility) to influence the future of the city.

By clicking here to make a pledge, you are making it possible to count the number of individuals being mobilized by CAB and let the candidates know we are a civically engaged constituency that votes. It will also allow help make the CAB campaign to continue beyond the election.

CAB has just published the results of its citywide listening sessions and the priorities that emerged from the community. From this information, a questionnaire has been circulated to mayoral candidates so that they may share their positions on arts and culture. The response to the questionnaire will be published on the CAB website and is being used as a basis for questions at the forum.

Baltimore is home to thousands of voters who are also artists, theater, concert, and museum-goers, and creative workers. They care about core civic issues like public safety and education but our votes will also be strongly influenced by candidates’ positions on arts and culture. If that’s you, you can get involved today. Attend the forum, take the pledge, and vote. Citizen Artist Baltimore is a nonpartisan advocacy effort helping to mobilize thousands of voters within Baltimore City’s creative communities. Funding for this effort comes from the Nancy Haragan Fund at GBCA and the Robert W. Deutsch Foundation.

See you on Monday and at the polls!

Warmest Regards,

Jeannie

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