Politics might feel like an undrainable swamp of hopelessness. But every so often something good happens. Earlier in this year’s legislative session, the governor’s budget proposed diverting $100,000 from the Nevada Arts Council and putting it toward a cultural tourism program. Arts lovers mobilized to save the organization’s budget, which works to increase “public access to Nevada’s art and culture.” Across the state, Nevadans enacted campaigns on all fronts, like through the Nevada Arts Postcard Project, which aimed to send 1,000 postcards to Carson City. Those efforts worked: On April 21, a legislative subcommittee spared the Nevada Arts Council’s budget (room taxes are being tapped to keep both projects funded). How did that winning moment feel? “I had tears coming out of my eyes,” says Sarah O’Connell, managing editor for website Eat More Art! Vegas. “I was so proud and grateful to all of Nevada for investing in arts and culture.”