February 8, 2017

Arizona: Next50 Initiative

The Arizona Commission on the Arts (ACA) is marking its 50th anniversary by launching Next50, a program celebrating the creativity of Arizonans and Arizona communities by empowering them to identify their creative potential and to cocreate the ideas that will guide ACA’s next half-century of service to residents. A primary aim of this new cooperative planning initiative is to foster broad understanding of creativity as one of Arizona’s most valuable resources, along with the state’s other “5 Cs” (cattle, citrus, copper, cotton and climate). ACA will listen to citizens’ stories, learn about their talents, aspirations and challenges, and, ultimately, leverage its resources to help them capitalize on opportunities and realize their goals. Next50 will unfold through a number of activities, including research, community collaborations, grant making, professional development and cross-sector partnerships. The first activity, Creative Spark, is mapping Arizona’s cultural assets by soliciting and featuring on ACA’s website examples of what Arizonans create as well as personal testimonials of why the arts are important to them. For more information, contact ACA Communications Director Steve Wilcox.