South Dakota: Governor’s Award for Supporting the Arts in Tribal Communities
This year, there is a new category of the biennial South Dakota Governor’s Awards in the Arts—presented by the South Dakota Arts Council and Arts South Dakota—that honors efforts to support tribal communities. The Outstanding Support of the Arts to Native Nations with Lands in South Dakota Award recognizes an individual, organization or business that […]
California: Gathering of Poets Laureate
This fall, California Poet Laureate Dana Gioia—who served as the chair of the National Endowment for the Arts from 2003 to 2008—completed his term of literary public service to the state by organizing and hosting the first large-scale gathering of California’s poets laureate past and present. The event, which was designed not only to celebrate […]
Iowa: Creative Aging in Rural Libraries
In Iowa, where three-quarters of the state’s 544 public libraries serve communities with fewer than 2,500 residents, there is a new initiative to support creative aging in rural areas. Iowa Arts Learning in Libraries is a collaborative effort of the State Library of Iowa and the Iowa Arts Council (IAC) to offer free arts classes […]
New Jersey: Arts Leadership Internship
The New Jersey State Council on the Arts (NJSCA) is the first-ever state partner in the Diversity in Arts Leadership (DIAL) internship program. Created by Americans for the Arts (AFTA), this national program, which began in New York City, strives to strengthen and advance diversity in the arts management field and help foster the next […]
Alaska: ARTShops
ARTShops is a collaborative effort of the Alaska State Council on the Arts (ASCA) and The CIRI Foundation—with support from the Alaska Arts and Culture Foundation—to catalyze Alaska Native artists’ creative leadership and community development throughout rural Alaska. Every year since the pilot program launched in 2016, a jury-selected cohort of four artists participates in […]
Tennessee: Music & Memory Tennessee
With a $1 million Civil Monetary Penalty grant from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services and the Tennessee Department of Health, the Tennessee Arts Commission (TAC) is implementing Music & Memory Tennessee, a model therapeutic-music program that will serve at least 2,200 patients in 147 nursing homes over the next three years. Music & […]
Florida: Arts & Wellbeing Indicators and Toolkits
One of the ways the Florida Division of Cultural Affairs (DCA) has realized the vision of its 2015-2020 strategic plan to foster vibrant, thriving and healthy communities is to partner with the University of Florida Center for Arts in Medicine in support of its Florida Arts & Wellbeing Indicators initiative. DCA funded the three-year effort to develop […]
Nevada: Shaken & Stirred: An Arts & Humanities Mixer
Shaken & Stirred: An Arts & Humanities Mixer is a new event series that the Nevada Arts Council (NAC) and Nevada Humanities developed in effort to commingle creative ideas and people and to enable chance encounters between them. At the events, launched in October in celebration of National Arts & Humanities Month, arts and humanities […]
Maryland: Public Art across Maryland
Public art—which celebrates the uniqueness of place, creates memorable experiences and cultivates community pride—is the focus of a special year-long initiative the Maryland State Arts Council (MSAC) launched in honor of its 50th anniversary. Through its Public Art across Maryland program, MSAC awarded matching grants of $5,000 to 12 counties across the state to fund […]
Texas: Young Masters Program
The Young Masters Program is a joint effort of the Texas Commission on the Arts (TCA) and the Texas Cultural Trust designed to advance the state’s creative economy by investing directly in the education of young artists and, indirectly, in the future of the state’s cultural ecosystem. Through the program, TCA awards grants of $5,000 […]