Throughout the summer of 2017, the Americans for the Arts Private Sector Initiatives department solicited responses to the FY2016 United Arts Fund Campaign Survey. In FY 2016, the 37 participating UAFs reported aggregate campaign revenue of $85.5 million during their campaigns that ended during 2016. These findings suggest that the united arts fundraising sector is continuing its recovery from the Great Recession. 

On Monday, February 22, the National Association of Counties (NACo) approved an arts resolution at their annual Legislative Conference in Washington. The resolution supports the promotion of the arts and culture in America’s counties, and allows NACo to lobby and advocate for arts-related issues on Capitol Hill. It is evident that NACo is in strong support of increased funding for federal arts organizations.

Vans and Americans for the Arts envision a country where every child has access to—and takes part in—high quality learning experiences in the arts, both in school and in the community. As such, the two organizations partnered to create the Custom Culture Grant Program to promote awareness and support arts education in public schools. Today the partners announced that eight schools across the country that have been awarded a $2,500 grant for the 2015-2016 school year. 

The NABE Foundation, a partner of Americans for the Arts and the charitable arm of the National Association for Business Economics (NABE) is awarding its eighth annual Americans for the Arts scholarship to encourage the integration of the arts into the economic education process.

Earlier this year, Texans for the Arts successfully executed the legislative strategy that secured a new appropriation of $5 million from the 84th Texas Legislative Session for the Texas Commission on the Arts (TCA), with support from and in partnership with the Texas Cultural Trust. The new funding was dedicated to TCA’s Cultural and Fine Arts Districts program, Arts Respond Cultural District Project, for the 2016-2017 biennium.

Lilly Endowment announced last Tuesday a game-changing $100 million in grants that will be used to support 14 arts and cultural organizations throughout Indiana.

The grants range from $5 million to $10 million to support museums, performing arts organizations and cultural institutions. The Children's Museum of Indianapolis, the Indianapolis Museum of Art, the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra and the Indianapolis Zoological Society each will receive $10 million.

On November 3, voters in Cuyahoga County in Ohio will be presented with Issue 8—a ballot initiative which will seek to renew a penny-and-a-half sales tax on cigarette sales that directly benefits local arts organizations for an additional 10 years. If not renewed, the levy will expire on January 21, 2017. Originally approved by voters in 2006, the sales tax created the Cuyahoga Arts & Culture which has since distributed more than $125 million to 300 arts and culture organizations throughout Cuyahoga County.

As part of its recently released Blueprint for Collective Action for the Arts initiative, Cincinnati-based United Arts Fund, ArtsWave, has announced its’ new strategy will allocate funding based on five community goals.

Illinois is entering its second month without a passed budget after Governor Rauner vetoed the Legislature’s proposed Fiscal Year 2016 budget—the Legislature did not support the governor’s reforms and surpassed state revenues by $3 billion. To cut down on government expenses due to the budget stalemate, Gov. Rauner ordered the closure of state facilities which include five state museums.

Congressional Arts Caucus co-Chairs Louise Slaughter (D-NY) and Leonard Lance (R-NJ) led a bipartisan letter requesting $154.466 million for the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) in FY 2016. A record-breaking 134 House members joined them in that request!

The letter especially highlights the economic impact of the arts and the NEA/Walter Reed Healing Arts Partnership.

The signed letter is available for download here.

On March 18, the House Interior Appropriations Subcommittee held its Public and Outside Witness hearing to receive testimony on programs funded by the subcommittee, including the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA).

Apply now for Colorado Creates, the Colorado Creative Industries' largest grant program. Grants are awarded to support nonprofit cultural organizations and communities for arts and cultural activities. Last year,150 grants totaling $1,125,000 were awarded across Colorado. The funding period for projects is Oct. 1, 2015 - Sept. 30, 2016, and the deadline for receipt of online applications is 4 p.m. on Thursday, June 11, 2015.

Grant deadline alert!  Did you know that funds are available for arts projects in and about the National Park System?  

July 23 is the deadline for “Imagine Your Parks,” a funding collaboration of the National Endowment for the Arts and the National Park Service to support projects that use the arts to engage people with memorable places and landscapes of the National Park System. This NEA/NPS collaboration celebrates the NEA’s 50th anniversary in 2015 and the National Park Service’s centennial in 2016.  

Today, the U.S. House of Representatives Interior Appropriations Subcommittee approved legislation on a voice vote to fund the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) and other cultural institutions like the National Endowment for the Humanities and the Smithsonian Institution.

The NEA is proposed at level funding - $146 million for FY 2016. If approved by Congress, this would be the 5^th year of level funding for the NEA. All the cultural institutions also are proposed at level funding.

United Performing Arts Fund (UPAF) recently held its 35^th annual Ride for the Arts in the city of Milwaukee. The event, which supports UPAF's United Arts Fund campaign, has become one of the largest one-day recreational bike rides, with major sponsors like MillerCoors. This year, over 5,000 riders raised more than $550,000 as part of the United Performing Arts Fund campaign.