State arts agencies play a pivotal role in providing support and opportunities for individual artists, using a variety of strategies to do so. Often, state arts agencies support individual artists directly through grants that encourage the development of new works or advance artists’ careers. Investments in individual artist grants have significantly increased over the past…
The Kentucky Arts Council (KAC) recently accepted 28 new artists into its prestigious Kentucky Crafted program, an initiative that helps visual and craft artists to grow their creative enterprises. Among the goals of the program are: encouraging the production of superb art and craft products handmade in Kentucky; helping Kentucky visual and craft artists sell…
In 2023 and 2024, the Indiana Arts Commission (IAC) conducted an Artist Needs Assessment. This participatory action research project invited feedback from Indiana artists to inform and improve the agency’s services to the state’s creative workforce. Along the way, the agency also created opportunities for local artists to network and exchange information with one another.…
In 2023, the Illinois Arts Council (IAC) began to reevaluate its grant-making program, policies and procedures. As part of this process, IAC partnered with NASAA to conduct a qualitative and quantitative assessment of IAC’s grant making to identify funding gaps and recommend strategies that IAC can pursue to reduce barriers to arts support. These findings,…
In summer 2024, the Maine Arts Commission mounted a special exhibition in partnership with the Maine Department of Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry’s Bureau of Agriculture, Food & Rural Resources offices. The agencies collaborated to use the bureau’s Deering Building as an exhibit space to promote the work of Maine artists and lend a creative spark…
Partnering with an organization that is both trusted and highly networked in the Native community can help to facilitate access to state resources. This strategy is exemplified by a partnership between the North Dakota Council on the Arts (NDCA) and Sacred Pipe Resource Center. A custom star quilt made by Eternal Bloom Blankets. Photo courtesy…
State arts agencies (SAAs) and regional arts organizations (RAOs) have a strong desire to support the creative lives and occupations of their constituents as well as the health of any given creative industry. Programming and grants across Kansas and Wyoming, and a national jazz initiative led by South Arts, showcase the variety of strategies used…
Creators are the foundation of a healthy creative economy. They serve as the originators and producers of creative goods and services. As small businesses, artists and artisans generate economic opportunity while also shaping and facilitating civic engagement. The Pennsylvania Council on the Arts (PCA) is fueling this component of the creative economy through its Creative…
Helping the folk and traditional arts to thrive is an important part of what state arts agencies do. Using a mixture of federal and state funds, state arts agencies provide a wide variety of programs and partnerships that help culture bearers and communities to celebrate, preserve, share and dynamically grow their cherished traditions. Mississippi, Nevada…
New Mexico Arts recently announced the 2023 New Mexico Arts Artist Residency program awardees. The project will hold two artist residencies at the Bosque Redondo Memorial Historical Site. The Bosque Redondo Memorial Historic Site, located in Fort Sumner, New Mexico, is a historically significant venue. The site is dedicated to preserving the history of the…
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