Massachusetts, Delaware, Rhode Island: Sustaining Public Engagement during COVID-19
Cultural participation is a crucial ingredient for maintaining social cohesion, bolstering community resiliency and finding hope during times of crisis. To help artists and arts organizations facilitate arts engagement despite widespread COVID-19 lockdowns and stay-at-home orders, many state arts agencies are promoting virtual arts events that allow individuals and families to experience the arts online. […]
Kentucky, Maryland, North Carolina: Virtual Marketplaces and COVID-19
The COVID-19 pandemic is placing severe restrictions on public gatherings and physical interactions. Those limits in turn curtail opportunities for traditional face-to-face commerce. To help the arts sector address this new reality, state arts agencies are establishing virtual marketplaces and helping artists develop new platforms for online retail. Kentucky, Maryland and North Carolina all offer […]
Utah, California: COVID-19 State Impact Research
While a variety of national surveys are attempting to assess the effects of COVID-19 on the arts, many state arts agencies are conducting state level research to get an early read on the economic impact of the pandemic. Such surveys are being used to inform policy dialogues with state elected officials as well as to […]
Maine, Arizona, Colorado: COVID-19 Grant Adaptations
State arts agencies are making rapid changes to their grant programs to help the arts field adjust to unforeseen circumstances stemming from COVID-19. These tactics include accelerating grant payments, extending deadlines, waiving matching requirements, converting project awards to operating support, and revising budget parameters to allow more flexibility in how award dollars are used. Some […]
Virgin Islands: Made in the USVI Pop-Up Store
The Virgin Islands Council on the Arts (VICA) and the Virgin Islands Enterprise Zone Commission, an entity of the U.S. Virgin Islands Economic Development Authority (VIEDA), have collaborated to sponsor a Made in the USVI Pop-Up Store. The initiative provides business development opportunities for artists, engenders creative collaborations and encourages residents and visitors to “buy […]
California: Innovations + Intersections
The California Arts Council (CAC) recently announced a new Innovations + Intersections pilot program. This unique grant program offers funding for arts organizations to fuse technology or wellness into arts projects addressing society’s most urgent challenges. The initiative aims to use the arts to find groundbreaking and imaginative solutions for complex issues such as homelessness, […]
Virginia: Leveraging Local Investment
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 […]
Pennsylvania: Creative Communities Program
The Pennsylvania Council on the Arts (PCA) is using a new Pennsylvania Creative Communities program to spur community-driven, arts based projects that inspire livability, economic development, and community connectedness. Among the initiative’s goals are to build strong and resilient Pennsylvania communities; to foster local partnerships; and to advance community responsiveness through the arts as part […]
North Dakota: Creative Placemaking: Joining ND’s Eight Regions
“Creative Placemaking: Joining the State’s Eight Regions” is a new initiative of the North Dakota Council on the Arts (NDCA). This multiyear effort will use public art as a vehicle for rural community development. North Dakota is comprised of eight geographic regions. While each contains an anchor city or town, the regions are predominantly rural. […]
Arkansas: Veterans Arts Grant
The Arkansas Arts Council recently launched a new grant initiative to increase access to the arts for Arkansas’s military veterans. Among more than 21 million veterans who live in the United States, about 237,000 live in Arkansas, and the majority of them have served in Vietnam and Gulf wars, according to recent U.S. Census Bureau […]