Through its participation in the National Park Service and Amtrak’s Trails & Rails Program, the North Dakota Council on the Arts (NDCA) cultivates audiences and opportunities for local performing artists while simultaneously introducing travelers to the state’s cultural and geographic diversity. The national Trails & Rails Program, which began in 2002, aims to connect Amtrak…
Arizona Art Tank is a new Arizona Commission on the Arts (ACA) initiative that harnesses the spirit of crowdsourcing to make strategic investments in arts based entrepreneurial ventures. Through the program, funded by a portion of ACA’s one-time additional budget allocation of $1 million, applicants were invited to pitch, at public and participatory Art Tank…
New York’s Regional Economic Development Council (REDC) program, which began in 2011, is a “community-based, bottom up” effort to create jobs and grow the economy. Through the program, the state government provides funding in 10 regions through 26 programs run by various state agencies, including the New York State Council on the Arts (NYSCA). Last…
This fall, the Oregon Arts Commission (OAC) kicks off its new Connecting Students to the World of Work grant program. Through the program, OAC awards grants to organizations that introduce underserved students, grades 6–12, to the artistic and creative job market through internships, externships, mentorships, job shadowing and professionals in residence. The program builds on…
To bolster the state’s creative economy, the Iowa Arts Council (IAC) directly invests in the creation of new jobs critical to cultural vitality. Through its Job Creation Grants program, IAC provides one-year awards, ranging from $1,000 to $10,000, to help cover the salaries, wages and benefits of newly created positions with organizations in the cultural…
The Mississippi Blues Trail Curriculum is a new initiative of the Mississippi Arts Commission (MAC) that integrates the history, culture and art of Mississippi blues music into the state’s classrooms. The curriculum has 18 lessons, three each for six subject areas—music, meaning, cotton, transportation, civil rights and media. While the curriculum was developed for 4th-grade…
Rhode Island Governor Lincoln Chafee and the state’s Senate president and speaker of the House joined the Rhode Island State Council on the Arts (RISCA) and other partners to convene last month at the Rhode Island Arts Charrette, with a focus on economic development. RISCA and the state leaders organized the event to catalyze a…
The Kansas Creative Arts Industries Commission (KCAIC) has launched a new set of grant and incentive programs. KCAIC is the state agency within the Department of Commerce that replaced the Kansas Arts Commission (KAC) following the KAC’s year-long hiatus precipitated by Governor Sam Brownback’s veto of its budget in 2012. Within its new department, KCAIC…
In December, the Texas Cultural Trust published a report quantifying the economic impact of the state’s creative sector, its arts and culture industries, and its cultural tourism. Update 2012: The Impact of Arts and Culture Industries on the Texas Economy is the latest addition to a suite of materials—shared with state arts agencies at an…
Breaking into Business is a two-day artist training workshop offered by the Vermont Arts Council (VAC). The goal of the program is to help artists develop business and/or marketing plans to capitalize on their creative practices. In addition to sharing planning techniques, the workshops emphasize practical business management skills such as budgeting, hiring and use…
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