As state governments seek to leverage the economic power of the arts, multiple state arts agencies (SAAs) have been selected to assist in leading strategic plans for their states’ creative economies. State policymakers are seeking to capitalize on the outsize role the creative economy plays in both economic value added and jobs created, with arts…
On the heels of the COVID-19 pandemic, as the Oregon Arts Commission was developing its new strategic plan, the agency heard a recurring refrain from artists, arts organizations, civic leaders and elected officials across the state: strengthen and secure dependable funding for the creative sector. This became the first goal of the agency’s new Strategic…
The Maryland State Arts Council (MSAC) consulted with tribal leaders and the administrator of the Maryland Commission on Indian Affairs for the MSAC Land Acknowledgement Project, which was administered by Maryland Traditions, MSAC’s traditional arts program. The project provides resources for learning about the precolonial history of lands claimed by the State of Maryland. At…
Mass Cultural Council has just published its first-ever Racial Equity Plan, which outlines the goals and actions needed to create a more racially equitable cultural sector in Massachusetts. The plan builds on Mass Cultural Council’s previous 2017 Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion plan and aligns with the governor’s Executive Order 592, which commits state agencies to…
County and municipal support for the arts are critical ingredients in public-sector support for the arts. To incentivize local investment, the Virginia Commission for the Arts (VCA) offers Creative Communities Partnership Grants. This program challenges Virginia’s county, city and township governments to allocate local tax dollars to arts and cultural projects. VCA will match up…
Recognizing the increasing diversity of Massachusetts as a civic, cultural and economic asset, the Massachusetts Cultural Council (MCC) adopted a comprehensive Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) Plan. The plan guides MCC’s ongoing efforts to honor many dimensions of diversity: age, ability, ethnicity, race, religion, political beliefs, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, nationality, geographic origin,…
The Alaska State Council on the Arts (ASCA) recently adopted a resolution advocating that all domestic ivory bans exclude the legal use of domestic ivory by Alaska Native artists. The resolution is a response to new laws in California and New Jersey and pending legislation in several other states that, as ASCA chairman Ben Brown…
For the first time, Georgia has benchmark data about the availability, accessibility and quality of K-12 arts education in the state, as well as a set of recommendations for how to foster arts education and arts integration to improve students’ overall academic achievement. The Georgia Arts Learning Task Force, created by a June 2014 executive…
The Junior Leadership Team met for the first time in February 2015. Photo courtesy of ASCA Visual Arts Program Manager Elliot Knight In 2013, the Alabama State Council on the Arts (ASCA) partnered with the Alabama Department of Education to launch the Alabama Arts Education Leadership Team. This task force works…
The Tennessee Arts Commission has launched a new agency brand reflecting what it learned from constituents through its most recent strategic planning process. While developing its 2015 – 2019 plan, Cultivating the Arts in Tennessee, the Commission heard from artists, arts organizations and other stakeholders that it is paramount both to demonstrate the public value…
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