Vans invites high school art students throughout the country to join in the eighth annual Vans Custom Culture art competition to embrace youth creativity and support arts education. Starting today, high school art teachers can register their classes to compete for the grand prize of $50,000 towards their art program by creating their most artistic and inventive designs using blank Vans shoes as their canvas.

As Congress and the Trump Administration prepare the federal budget for Fiscal Year 2018, Americans for the Arts is working to remind our elected officials about the economic importance of federal funding for the arts, specifically through the National Endowment for the Arts. This morning, ads appeared in the New York Post and The Hill newspapers with the bold headline “The Arts Put America to Work.”

IDEAS xLab, based in Lousiville, KY, announced the receipt of a planning grant from the Health Impact Project, a collaboration of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and The Pew Charitable Trusts.

Americans for the Arts wants you to elect art professionals from the field to serve on one of four network advisory councils: Arts Education, Emerging Leaders, Private Sector, and

Americans for the Arts invites all Americans to celebrate October as National Arts & Humanities Month (NAHM). Towns and communities across the country are hosting special events that capture the spirit that the arts and humanities bring to everyday life. 

On the 10th anniversary of one of our country's worst natural disasters, New Orleans makes room to process the events of Hurricane Katrina, celebrate what has been accomplished so far, and highlight the rebuilding that still needs to be done. 

The Ogden Museum of Southern Art is one of many cultural institutions hosting a special interactive exhibit for visitors and city residents. The basement walls of the museum are covered with neatly printed cards of stories from survivors. 

Several bills are making headway in the Louisiana House and Senate to reform the state’s film tax credit program. The current film tax credit program covers 30 to 35 percent of filmmakers’ costs when they choose to film in Louisiana. Last year, the program cost the state $226 million with independent analysts reporting that the state only made 20 cents in tax revenue for every dollar invested in tax credits.

This morning, First Lady Michelle Obama joined the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) Acting Director Maura Marx to present the 2015 National Medal for Museum and Library Service. Ten institutions from across the country attended the White House Ceremony to be recognized for outstanding service to their communities. These organizations demonstrate significant impact and high quality of programs, services, and partnerships, and were selected among thirty finalists. Robert Lynch, CEO of Americans for the Arts, attended the ceremony today. 

In this month’s Smithsonian.com magazine you will find their top picks for amazing small towns across the United States. These towns all have populations under 20,000, and were selected because of their number of cultural and historic attractions, food and drink destinations, and nature opportunities. The article states: “Think of this list not as a ranking but as a menu, with something for every taste—whether it’s country bluegrass, Florida’s white beaches, or Alaska’s blue mountains.”

The winter meeting of the United States Urban Arts Federation (USUAF) took place in New Orleans, LA on January 21-23, 2015 at the InterContinental New Orleans. The USUAF was updated on Americans for the Arts current programs and initiatives for 2015, and many conversations were had over the weekend around central themes of arts and diversity, creative equity, placemaking, and more.

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! 

Artist Mary Ellen Carroll unveiled her work Public Utility 2.0 as part of “Prospect.3: Notes for Now,” an international art biennial taking place in New Orleans until January 25^th. The project “aspires to nothing less than a reshaping of the policies and technology we use for wireless communication” by exploring the use of empty bandwidth dubbed by the Federal Communications Commission as Super Wi-Fi.

In September, we held a call for nominations for our Network Councils. Now it's time for you, our members, to cast your vote to determine which nominees will be elected to the following four Americans for the Arts' Network Councils.

The greatest month of the year is upon us - National Arts & Humanities Month!