Livability.com has just identified the top 10 best downtowns in America. Here is the list:
1.Pittsburgh, PA
2.Minneapolis, MN
3.Indianapolis, IN
4.Greenville, SC
5.Salt Lake City, UT
6.Alexandria, VA
7.Fargo, ND
8.Lincoln, NE
9.Somerville, MA
10.Evanston, IL
In developing the list Livability.com used the following criteria:
Leonard Nimoy, actor, film director, poet, singer, photographer, and valued member of the Americans for the Arts Artists Committee passed away on February 27, 2015.
Americans for the Arts, the nation’s leading nonprofit organization for advancing the arts and arts education in America, announced today that it has been awarded a $100,000 Art Works: Arts Education grant from the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) to support the State Policy Pilot Program, a three-year program aiming to strengthen the focus and attention being put on arts education through advancing state-level education policy.
Americans for the Arts, the nation’s leading nonprofit organization for advancing the arts and arts education, announced today the appointment of Shelagh Mahoney, CEO and owner of Eastern Salt Company,Inc., Eastern Minerals Inc., and Atlantic Salt, Inc., to its Business Committee for the Arts (BCA) Executive Board.
To celebrate and thank our more than 550 advocates who are on the Hill today, and to recognize the invaluable support of our friends in Congress, Americans for the Arts placed full page ads running today in The Hill, Politico, and Roll Call. The ad highlights the more than 200 members of the Congressional Arts Caucus, the Senate Cultural Caucus, and the Congressional STEAM Caucus for their support of the arts and arts education in America. View the ad.
Americans for the Arts is gearing up for the Nancy Hanks Lecture on Arts and Public Policy and Arts Advocacy Day—part of the National Arts Action Summit—held on March 23-24. Now in their 28th year, the events are presented by Americans for the Arts and co-sponsored by more than 85 national organizations representing hundreds of thousands of arts, culture, business, civic, and education institutions and individuals nationwide.
Boston mayor Martin J. Walsh is making good on a campaign promise to increase focus on culture and the arts in the city. Walsh will reveal details of an 18-month initiative, spearheaded by new chief of arts and culture Julie Burros, which will bring city officials into the streets to meet with artists and cultural professionals. Through the initiative, called “Boston Creates,” information will be collected and analyzed for the city to then formulate a plan of action to address the issues cultural leaders and artists are facing.
The Massachusetts Senate has approved a $38 billion budget for FY 2016, which includes $14 million for the Massachusetts Cultural Council, as well as $6 million for regional tourist councils. This proposed 16% increase is especially significant since the Senate Ways and Means Committee initially recommended the arts council to be funded at $12 million, which was the same funding level as FY 2015.
On May 20, 2015, the third annual Battle of the Biotech Bands, hosted by the Arts & Business Council of Boston took place at Boston’s Royale Nightclub. Described as a fun, community-driven, networking event, Battle of the Biotech Bands features bands associated with Boston-based biotech companies. The bands compete to raise money for a charitable foundation of their choosing.
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.”
In February, USA Today asked the public to vote for their favorite art and cultural districts based on a set of hand-picked districts and neighborhoods within the U.S. and the results are in.
The winners in the 'Best Art District' contest category for USA TODAY 10Best Readers' Choice are as follows:
KRIS Wine and Americans for the Arts are proud to announce that Pete Beeman, creator of the Hampline Exploration Stations in Memphis, Tennessee, is the grand prize winner of the KRIS Wine “Art of Giving” contest.
In early March 2015, Massachusetts Governor Charlie Baker proposed in his state budget to eliminate the state's film tax credit program. With the elimination of the film tax credit program, the governor would divert the funds to double the state's Earned Income Tax Credit for low-income working families with three or more children.
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.
This week the Massachusetts Cultural Council (MCC) launched the first state initiative in the U.S. to bring music education to underserved youth through programs inspired by El Sistema.
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.
