“Artists are able to tell stories and are able to move people in a way that other forms of communication can’t.”

WASHINGTON, DC — President of the Creative Coalition and American actor Tim Daly appeared before a luncheon meeting of The Ripon Society and Franklin Center for Global Policy Exchange last Friday afternoon to discuss the importance of the arts and how federal government support of this craft enhances the quality of life for every American.

Daly has served as the president of the Creative Coalition since 2008, guiding the advocacy group as it addresses matters that are of significant relevance to the arts and entertainment industry. These include topics such as First Amendment rights, government financing for the arts, and the provision of arts education within our public schools. In 2016, Tim created the successful The Right to Bear Arts campaign for the Creative Coalition. This campaign draws attention to the critical need for the arts and arts education in our country.

“One of the things that strikes me is, why now?” he said.  “Why are we here now talking about supporting arts at this moment in time when things seem so fraught, when there are so many problems, and so much strife?  It seems to me like we’re at a particularly difficult moment.”

To answer that question, Daly quoted the late Harry Belafonte.

“He said, ‘Artists are the gatekeepers of truth. We are civilization’s anchor. We are the compass for humanity’s conscious. It is the artist who reveals society to itself.’

“Artists are able to tell stories and we are able to move people in a way that other forms of communication can’t. It is vital that the Creative Coalition and the National Endowment for the Arts and any arts organization, especially any public arts organization, remember that they have the power to start dialogue, to change people’s minds, to give people a new perspective. And I also think beyond a shadow of a doubt, that the arts and especially the performing arts are the only thing that I can think of specifically at this moment that teaches empathy.”

Joining Daly at Friday’s lunch discussion were 13 other actors and Coalition members, including: Lauren Ash, Yetide Badaki, Diedrich Bader, Yvette Nicole Brown, David Cross, Jon Cryer, Midori Francis, Dulé Hill, Brendan Hunt, Joseph Lee, Jason Kravits, Keyla Monterroso Mejia, and Tramell Tillman.

To view Daly’s remarks before The Ripon Society and Franklin Center on Friday, please click the link below:

Founded in 1978, The Franklin Center for Global Policy Exchange is a non-partisan, non-profit 501(c)(3) organization committed to enhancing global understanding of important international issues. The Franklin Center brings together Members of the U.S. Congress and their international parliamentary counterparts as well as experts from the Diplomatic corps, foreign officials, senior private sector representatives, scholars, and other public policy experts. Through regular conferences and events where leading international opinion leaders share ideas, the Franklin Center promotes enlightened, balanced, and unbiased international policy discussion on major international issues.

The Ripon Society is a public policy organization that was founded in 1962 and takes its name from the town where the Republican Party was born in 1854 – Ripon, Wisconsin. One of the main goals of The Ripon Society is to promote the ideas and principles that have made America great and contributed to the GOP’s success. These ideas include keeping our nation secure, keeping taxes low and having a federal government that is smaller, smarter and more accountable to the people.