Through its Summer Youth Employment in the Arts Program (SYEA), the Illinois Arts Council Agency (IACA) symbiotically realizes its goals to increase and enrich arts education opportunities, to support cultural organizations, and to demonstrate how the arts benefit communities and local economies. IACA grants up to $6,000 to eligible Illinois nonprofit arts organizations to underwrite…
The Alaska State Council on the Arts (ASCA) is leveraging the exposure, networking and community building of its upcoming statewide meeting, Latitude: 2014 Arts Convergence, to offer two professional-development opportunities to the state’s creative class. Storm Sessions for Alaska Musicians is a seminar for helping independent Alaskan musicians expand their careers. The training will address…
The Mississippi Arts Commission (MAC) has taken its commitment to strengthening the state’s creative economy, places and communities to the next level with the recent launch of its Creative Mississippi Institute (CMI). Building off MAC’s 2011 Mississippi’s Creative Economy study, the new CMI is an on-line and broadcast-radio clearinghouse of technical assistance for creative economic…
The commitment of the Georgia Council for the Arts (GCA) to helping Georgia’s nonprofit arts groups realize their goals and best serve their audiences has led to an interesting partnership and funding opportunity. Through GCA’s Momentum for the Arts, 20 Georgia arts organizations will receive free capacity-building assistance over the course of two years. The…
Recognizing that older people can constitute an underserved population in the arts, the Maine Arts Commission (MAC) is developing a new Creative Aging program. Beginning with the premise that the arts can enhance quality of life for adults aged 55 and above, MAC is soliciting input on how it can design programs that encourage community…
With the conclusion of the Arts Participation Leadership Initiative (APLI), a four-year experiment to bolster audience engagement and arts participation conducted by the Washington State Arts Commission (ArtsWA) and The Wallace Foundation, ArtsWA remains committed to sharing the knowledge the project created and to growing a learning community around it. ArtsWA’s APLI web portal now…
The Missouri Arts Council (MAC) has announced a new grant program replacing its former Capacity Building grant. The new Accelerate program not only awards financial support, but also strengthens organizational capacity through a three-step process: assess, act and accelerate. First, boards and senior staff of participating organizations evaluate their programming, operations, fund-raising and leadership using…
In addition to incorporating diversity into their own policies and programming, state arts agencies can encourage their grantees and other stakeholders to commit to practices that foster cultural awareness and inclusiveness. A recent example of this can be found in the Mississippi Arts Commission’s (MAC) Diversity Toolkit, which offers guidance on how grantees can make…
Part of the Kentucky Arts Council’s (KAC) effort to foster the state’s cultural assets is to train citizens how to document, interpret and share their community’s cultural heritage. Through its Community Scholars Program, KAC empowers local communities to preserve and celebrate Kentucky’s art and culture. KAC holds training sessions throughout the state twice a year…
This fall, the Indiana Arts Commission (IAC) collaborated with Ball State University’s Building Better Communities office to offer a two-day colloquium on creating dynamic, attractive and economically productive communities. Creating Vibrant Communities through the Arts featured sessions on creating artist live-work communities, establishing cultural districts and developing community arts education centers. In addition to showcasing…
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