Rhode Island: Artists Open Studios Tour Grants
Through its Artists Open Studios Tour (AOST) program, the Rhode Island State Council on the Arts(RISCA) helps local artists gain public exposure, develop their audience and sell their work. AOST grants provide $500 to municipalities that facilitate or otherwise support tours of artists’ studios, which foster cultural vibrancy and, as a result, are an effective strategy for creative […]
Delaware: Creative Aging Workshop
This past December, the Delaware Division of the Arts (DDA) held its first-ever Creative Aging Workshop, convening artists, arts organizations, community groups and members of the aging-services community to learn how to engage meaningfully with older adults through the arts. The workshop—presented in collaboration with the National Center for Creative Aging (NCCA) and cosponsored by the Delaware […]
Massachusetts: Celebrating Centennial of JFK’s Birth
This year is not only the 50th anniversary of the Massachusetts Cultural Council (MCC), but also the centennial of the birth of President John F. Kennedy, a native son of Massachusetts. To honor the importance of the arts and humanities to a vibrant democracy—which was a touchstone for President Kennedy—MCC and the John F. Kennedy […]
Louisiana: Music-Infused Creative Placemaking Pilot
The Louisiana Division of the Arts (LDOA) has a new creative placemaking pilot using music to enhance the vibrancy of its cultural districts and influence the “meaning” of place. Sound Places—a partnership between LDOA, Chamber Music America and Project for Public Spaces and funded by a National Endowment for the Arts grant—is supporting residencies of […]
Arizona: Next50 Initiative
The Arizona Commission on the Arts (ACA) is marking its 50th anniversary by launching Next50, a program celebrating the creativity of Arizonans and Arizona communities by empowering them to identify their creative potential and to cocreate the ideas that will guide ACA’s next half-century of service to residents. A primary aim of this new cooperative […]
Alaska: Resolution Protecting Native Artists from State Ivory Bans
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 […]
West Virginia: Fast-Track Funding for Natural Disaster Recovery
As too many artists, arts patrons and arts leaders around the country know, natural disasters and severe weather can decimate cultural and community resources. The West Virginia Commission on the Arts (WVCA) recognizes that these threats are often unforeseen and is prepared to help arts organizations rebound in short order from devastating events like floods […]
California: Arts & Public Media Grant
Recognizing the importance of nonprofit media to the state’s cultural ecosystem, the California Arts Council (CAC) is launching this year a new $200,000 Arts and Public Media Program. Through the program, CAC will award grants to nonprofit media organizations for the production and programming of multiplatform media projects that engage Californians with authentic local stories and experiences centered on the […]
Oklahoma: Arts in Alternative Education Grant
The Oklahoma Arts Council (OAC) supports arts programming in alternative high schools in an effort to help at-risk youth engage with their creativity and overcome the challenges they face. Through its Arts in Alternative Education Program—which had been dormant for several years due to budget constraints and was reactivated with funding from the Oklahoma State […]
Connecticut: Human-Centered Design Yields New Strategic Plan and Diversity Statement
The Connecticut Office of the Arts (COA) recently adopted its new 2017-2021 Strategic Plan, which it developed through human-centered design, an approach often used by architects and other designers that is based on understanding people’s needs, hopes and abilities. COA began its strategic planning process by recognizing the limitations of quantifying the arts, for some […]