I don’t remember who was on the ballot the first time I voted, but I remember the challenge of finding my polling place – a community meeting room in the basement of an apartment building – on a rainy night in New York City.
The room was lit with flickering fluorescent bulbs and the floor was covered with gray linoleum tile. It took the poll volunteer who sat on a metal folding chair behind a metal folding table a long time to find me in a very large register. [Read more…] about First Vote: A Letter from MANY’s Erika Sanger
In the coming weeks, our elected officials at both the state and federal levels will work on legislation that will directly impact our museums. In Albany, legislators are working on budget priorities. In Washington, Congress is shaping the next COVID-19 relief package and gathering support for 2022 appropriations.
We are fortunate that New York State is represented in the US Congress by members of the House of Representatives and Senate whose steadfast support of our museum sector has historically helped sustain our federal funding agencies.
I hope all who are reading this are well, that your families are well, and that you are taking precautionary measures to remain healthy and safe.
Monday I attended two meetings where state support for museums in New York was discussed. The first was a strategic planning workshop for the New York State Council on the Arts and the second was the Cultural Education Committee meeting of NYSED’s Board of Regents. 
Last week we were in Washington, D.C. for Museums Advocacy Day sponsored by the American Alliance for Museums. We learned some important things about New York’s Museums that made us proud to speak up for our sector.
On Tuesday, February 6, Sheila Healy, the Museum Association of New York’s government relations consultant, and I had the opportunity to attend the Assembly’s Education Committee meeting chaired by Assembly member Catherine Nolan.