Register today for the 2015 Annual Convention, taking place June 12–14, 2015 in Chicago!

The conference will take place at the Chicago Sheraton, with more than 40 breakouts, three keynotes, three preconferences, two Workshop Intensives, a dozen ARTventure Tours, and an opening reception at the Museum of Contemporary Art! 

On behalf of our veteran community, Got Your Six united notables from film, military, medical, political, and television communities in an event held at the National Geographic Grosvenor Auditorium in DC on January 30.

On Martin Luther King Day, Floyd Green, Vice President of Community Relations & Urban Marketing at Aetna and member of the Americans for the Arts Board of Directors, received the National Action Network’s Merit Award for his efforts to expand healthy living to all communities

Longtime Arts supporter Stan Rosenberg was sworn in today as the President of the Massachusetts Senate.  Americans for the Arts wishes to convey our congratulations to the Senator on this great accomplishment.

He has been a constant supporter of the arts and culture over his decades of service to the people of Massachusetts. One of his greatest legislative accomplishments was the passage of the Massachusetts Cultural Facilities Fund that provides a source of funding to arts organizations for capital projects.   

Following the retirement of John Bryan this past fall, CultureWorks recently announced that Scott Garka will take the reins as the new President on January 20, 2015. Though Garka does not come from the arts field (he is currently the Senior Director for Consulting Services with Virginia Health Quality Center), he is very active in the arts community as a board member and treasurer for the Cultural Arts Center at Glen Allen.

Americans for the Arts is pleased to announce the newly elected leadership of its four National Network Advisory Councils.

The Innovation Collaborative and its national partners have joined together to create the Innovation Collaborative (IC), a new, national organization networking the Arts, Sciences, and Humanities in education to promote innovation thinking for students of all ages. IC focuses on the dissemination of research and effective practices in the intersections of art and design, science, humanities, and engineering, use of technology, and creativity, cognition, and learning in both Pre-K-12 and informal learning settings.

Throughout the course of each year, Americans for the Arts honors nearly 40 individuals and organizations who support the arts. These leaders and change-makers come from all sectors - business, philanthropy, the arts, and government. This year, we placed an ad in the inside front cover  of the November 20 issue of Chronicle of Philanthropy to highlight these amazing leaders, who we are truly thankful to work alongside.

In October, Americans for the Arts and The Conference Board collaborated on two events focused on how the arts can advance business and community goals. On October 6, Bob Lynch hosted forty corporate leaders from the Corporate Contributions Council I at his home in Washington, D.C. for a dinner and discussion on arts education policy. We shared with them recent work in arts education including the new National Core Arts Standards.

On November 20, Reps. Tulsi Gabbard (D-HI), Aaron Schock (R-IL), Cheri Bustos (D-IL), Rodney Davis (R-IL), Juan Vargas (D-CA), and Todd Young (R-IN) introduced a bipartisan congressional resolution (H.Res.761) in support of Giving Tuesday.

As Congress returned to session following the midterm elections, Americans for the Arts and Americans for the Arts' Action Fund joined more than 1,000 organizations from across the nonprofit sector in sending a letter to all 535 Members of Congress to advocate for permanent enactment of the charitable tax provisions within any year-end tax extenders work.

On Tuesday, December 2^nd, Americans for the Arts is participating in #GivingTuesday, when charities, families, businesses, community leaders, and students around the world will come together to celebrate generosity and to give.

At the Council on Foundations 2014 Fall Conference for Community Foundations in Cleveland this October, Robert Lynch was joined by Edgar Smith, a BCA Executive Board member and CEO of World Pac Paper; Jennifer Dowley, President of the Berkshire Taconic Community Foundation; and Carla Dirlikov, an opera singer and a member of the Americans for the Art

Americans for the Arts' congratulates and thanks Jonathan Katz for his 30 years of dedicated service to the global arts community through his leadership of the National Assembly of State Arts Agencies (NASAA). We celebrated his many achievements and long standing partnership with Americans for the Arts at a reception in our Washington, D.C. office on November 10. 

Americans for the Arts' Artist Committee member and American artist, Jeff Koons, helps push forward public charity in the arts world with his $4million dollar piece, auctioned off by Project Perpetual on Nov. 9. The piece, based on Picasso’s La Soupe and titled Gazing Ball (Charity), stands six feet tall and is slung with donated Hermès handbags. 

The results are in for this year’s “Art of Education” Campaign!  Congratulations to Cascade K-8 Community School of Shoreline, WA, recipient of the $5,000 grand prize.  Consumers, parents, and educators nationwide determined the grant winners by voting for their favorite K-12 public schools through the KRIS Facebook page.

Fifteen other schools around the country will receive additional grants totaling $20,000. They include: