Utah: Arts and Culture Business Alliance

Thanks to the Utah legislature, the Utah Division of Arts and Museums has a new mechanism and source of funding to foster arts development throughout the state. Recently enacted legislation creates the Arts and Culture Business Alliance, which will support the construction or improvement of arts facilities, encourage the professional development of artists, and increase public knowledge of and access to cultural experiences. To these ends, the Alliance will award grants, offer policy advice to the Division and undertake other arts leadership activities. The Alliance’s enabling legislation also established a $75,000 restricted account in the state’s general fund to underwrite its grant making. The account may be replenished by future appropriations, private donations and, from 2016 through 2019, a sales tax set-aside. Housed within the Division, the Alliance will consist of six governor-appointed members serving four-year terms plus the director of the Utah Department of Heritage & Arts, the Division’s parent agency. The Division’s staff will support the work of the Alliance, starting by designing its grant-making process. To learn more, contact Division Director Lynnette Hiskey.