Since the 2010 launch of the Maine-New Brunswick Cultural Initiative, the Maine Arts Commission (MAC) has worked to foster its goals of increasing cross-border business, cultural tourism and cultural exchange. Notably, MAC has supported the initiative’s Cultural Exchange Task Force, which consists of arts professionals from both sides of the U.S.-Canada border and has undertaken…
The South Carolina Arts Commission (SCAC) has a new pilot program advancing rural development through the arts, culture and creative place making. With financial support from the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Rural Development Agency, The Art of Community: Rural S.C. will facilitate community-led planning and projects in six rural, underserved counties designated as a Promise…
The Vermont Creative Network is a new project of the Vermont Arts Council (VAC) that aims to cultivate Vermont’s creative sector and, as a result, to improve quality of life, boost local economies and strengthen the fiber of communities. Germinated in October 2014 and formally launched in November 2015 as part of VAC’s 50th anniversary,…
This summer, the Minnesota State Arts Board (MSAB) supported a series of eight evaluation workshops to help artists and arts leaders leverage the power of analysis in support of their creative and organizational goals. The workshops focused on evaluation methods and practices that artists and arts organizations can use independently of grantee-reporting requirements to reflect…
The Mississippi Arts Commission (MAC) has launched Mississippi Folklife, a digital magazine reviving a nearly 90-year old tradition of publishing documentary work investigating the state’s folklife and cultural heritage. The on-line publication is the latest iteration of what began in 1927 as the Mississippi Folklore Register, a peer-reviewed academic journal of the Mississippi Folklore Society…
With financial support from the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the New England Foundation for the Arts, the Rhode Island State Council on the Arts (RISCA) was able to enroll all 10 core participants of its 2015-16 Assets for Artists program from rural communities in Rhode Island. Halfway through the two-year program, the core artists…
Space to Create, Colorado is a state-driven effort to develop affordable housing and work space for artists and arts organizations. The brand new initiative—led by Colorado Creative Industries (CCI) in partnership with the Colorado Department of Local Affairs, History Colorado, the Boettcher Foundation and the consulting firm Artspace—will develop mixed-use buildings that merge affordable live/work…
The Gulf States Presenters Network (GSPN) is a collaborative effort of the Alabama State Council on the Arts, the Louisiana Division of the Arts and the Mississippi Arts Commission to cultivate performance opportunities—and the creative economy—for presenting artists and arts organizations. The three state arts agencies each offer grants to presenters in their own state…
Arts Build Communities is a year-long pilot program the Iowa Arts Council (IAC) is launching in July to support arts projects that uniquely address civic challenges and community issues. The catalyst of the pilot—which IAC is conducting in collaboration with the Iowa State University College of Design and the University of Iowa’s Office of Outreach…
Because the North Dakota Council on the Arts (NDCA) knows that STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) education enhanced by the integration of the arts is key to nurturing both sides of the brain and to preparing whole students for the 21st century, it supports STEAM education through financial assistance as well as professional development…
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