Greetings!

I’m thrilled to welcome you to 4A Arts.

“Thrilled” might seem hyperbolic, but it’s no exaggeration.

I firmly believe that American arts and culture can rebuild our tattered republic.

I firmly believe that the 4As’ mission can help build a membership of millions that will help our country see its own humanity instead of its divisions.

Yes, I think 4As, along with the arts organizations with which we will work, are the key to saving our democracy, our economy, our society and our planet.

In the midst of our modern-day noise, art helps us slow down, ground ourselves, listen, and re-connect.

And if we haven’t already made clear, for 4As, art isn’t just about paintings and dance. It’s about quilters and potters and beaders and low-rider painters and interior designers and bar tenders who go the extra mile with a garnish. Art is in all of us. We are all artists. And we are, of course, all audience members.

So welcome to 4A Arts. You play two roles – as artist and audience.

But your most important role is saving the soul of America.

Thank you for joining us.

Artfully yours,

Gavin Lodge

P.S. – Because I can’t help but share over and over the statistics that drive our mission, here’s some extra food for thought about how we are ALL artists:128 million Americans – nearly half the country’s population – reported creating art in 2018, according to the NEA, including singing, photography, printmaking, creative writing, dancing, playing a musical instrument, and more. But when a 2019 survey by Ipsos expanded the definition to include “creative hobbies,” that number skyrocketed from half to 75%. And in 2021, after a year of lockdowns and social distancing, American attitudes towards the arts, the number of respondents who answered positively to “How important are arts or culture organizations to you, personally?” rose by over 20%. And yet, the U.S. spends less on the arts than any other comparable country – just 0.000007% of its GDP – and Americans spend only about 55 cents a year on government funding for the arts. This is despite the fact that the arts and culture industry is the third largest in the country, bringing in $877 billion in added revenue to the country every year, more than any other industry except for retail and construction. What could we, as a country, do if we invested in such a powerful, revitalizing force?

That is our goal: to answer that question of what will we do when we invest in this powerful, revitalizing force.