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In 1965, Congress passed legislation establishing the National Endowment for the Arts and the National Endowment for the Humanities. Among the declaration of purposes in that act were these words: "While no government can call a great artist or scholar into existence, it is necessary and appropriate for the federal government to help create and sustain not only a climate encouraging freedom of thought, imagination and inquiry, but also the material conditions facilitating the release of this creative talent."

Michigan's "Arts & Humanities...adding balance to our lives!" campaign kit materials are easily available for use by organizations throughout the state.

By 1990, many of these material conditions had been achieved through the joint efforts of the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) and the state and local arts agencies, whose funding catalyzed a tremendous growth in the number of performing and visual arts centers, and other nonprofit cultural organizations across the country. Yet despite this abundance of cultural riches, the misperception of the arts and humanities as removed from most people's lives still held sway in the minds of many Americans. To change this, nine national arts and humanities organizations took action and initiated "The Campaign for the Arts and Humanities," an unprecedented, multiyear, national public awareness campaign. Print, radio and television ads were developed to foster the understanding that the arts and humanities belong to everyone, and to encourage participation in cultural activities.

Collaboration Yields New Strategies

Among the legacies of this effort has been a sea-change in the idea of access. Although public arts agencies had catalyzed an increase in the number of cultural organizations, this was not enough. Arts and humanities organizations discovered the importance of marketing quality artistic products and opportunities to experience them. Another significant change was the formation of new alliances between arts and humanities agencies such as the Michigan Council for Arts & Cultural Affairs (MCACA) and the Michigan Humanities Council (MHC). Their partnership began when they collaborated on the National Arts and Humanities Month campaign, held each October since 1993.

Last year, this partnership undertook a statewide promotion with the slogan "Arts & Humanities . . . adding balance to our lives!." Its focus was to break down the barriers of perception that the "arts and humanities are isolated, special occasion or singular activities for special audiences," says Betty Boone, MCACA executive director. Campaign images had ballet shoes side-by-side with sneakers, and clarinets were paired with taxicab horns to underscore the message that "the arts and humanities reach everyone, every day, in our seemingly mundane routines and in sublime and extraordinary moments," adds Rick Knupfer, MHC executive director.

The two agencies designed a package of materials and public service announcements that was offered to arts organizations throughout the state. The package was flexible enough so that each organization could personalize it with their own brand identity. The campaign slogan eventually became part of Governor Engler's 1999 National Arts and Humanities Month proclamation. The entire campaign kit is available online, making it even easier for arts and humanities organizations throughout the state to order materials and download useful information about how to implement the campaign in their communities.

To showcase the marketing campaign and other activities of this partnership, the agencies created Michigan Culture Link. Self-described as "an arts and humanities virtual center," this online resource provides directories of the state's arts organizations and funding agencies, as well as an interactive arts and humanities event calendar. For an artist or arts organization seeking a venue at which to perform, the site provides a searchable database of sponsors. For sponsors, another database of performers and "informers" (humanities interpreters) is a click away.

Another link on the site is the Arts and Humanities Radio Project, which transports visitors and radio listeners to exhibits at Michigan museums, to the homes of artists and thinkers, and to other places around the state where culture is taking place. Together, these resources provide an array of marketing strategies that not only raise awareness of Michigan's artists and organizations, but also represent vehicles for delivering the arts and humanities to people's doorsteps.

This focus on the consumer of culture has brought about other unusual ways for people to enjoy the arts and humanities. The Arts and Humanities Steering Committee—comprised of members from both councils—oversaw the development of another joint program to reach a particular type of consumer, the cultural heritage traveler. The Great Outdoors Culture Tour provides interpretive services for visitors to state parks, national forests and national parks during the height of the tourist season in the rural Upper Peninsula. Working primarily with local, state and federal recreation area managers, as well as small rural museums and community centers in the region, the program supports touring artists, who entertain audiences with the adventures of mariners, voyageurs and fur traders who traveled the Great Lakes, and the lives and customs of settlers and Native American people of Michigan's northwoods. "The arts and humanities promotional campaign has created historic cross-organizational collaboration and has changed the perception of the arts within Michigan's communities by demonstrating the many connections to their daily lives," says Judith Rapanos, former chair of MCACA. "As we look to the future, we see many more opportunities for new and creative collaborations with the humanities council."

A 1990 amendment to the National Endowment for the Arts statute reads, "The arts and humanities belong to all the people of the United States." In Michigan, this idea has come to life.

For More Information

Nancy Mathews
Michigan Humanities Council
Phone: 517/372-7770

Writer/Editor: Kimber Craine
Associate Editor: Jill Hauser
Design: Benson Design
Sources: Michigan Council for Arts & Cultural Affairs, Michigan Humanities Council

The work of NASAA and of state arts agencies is supported and strengthened in many ways through partnership with the National Endowment for the Arts.

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