Americans for the Arts will host its first-ever virtual Annual Convention and Public Art & Civic Design Conference, which will take place June 23-25, 2020. Through more than 40 sessions, participants will gather to better understand how the arts field is responding to the COVID-19 crisis, how the field can move toward recovery, and the role of the arts in healing during and after crises.

As the country continues to reckon with the murder of George Floyd, artists are responding and considering how to create lasting change across the sector and in their cities and towns. And as the COVID crisis continues, our newly launched Arts Agency Action Kit provides research and strategies for arts organizations to make the case for preserving their agency.

Americans for the Arts has developed the Arts Agency scholarship to support the professional development of arts agencies that are facing financial strain due to the COVID-19 crisis. This scholarship will provide one complimentary registration to the virtual convening of the Annual Convention and Public Art & Civic Design Conference. Apply by June 10, 2020.

This week: it's time to register for the 2020 Annual Convention and Public Art & Civic Design Conference! Plus, we're diving into COVID response and recovery from various angles, including PPP loan forgiveness, innovative audience engagement, planning for beneficial artist-municipal partnerships, and more. 

Registration is now open for the 2020 Annual Convention and Public Art & Civic Design Conference! This newly virtual convening, happening June 23-25 from the comfort of your home, is the chance for arts leaders across the country to gather virtually and better understand the current health crisis, how we are responding to it, and how the arts field can move toward recovery. 

This week, we hosted the latest in our Supporting Individual Artists monthly "coffee chat" series on ArtsU, a project supported in part by the Emily Hall Tremaine Foundation; explored the challenges of fundraising amid the COVID-19 pandemic; and extended two online engagement opportunities.

It's been a busy week! Catch up on the week's research news, including two survey results and a new one you can participate in. Plus: blogs reflecting on the COVID pandemic, a powerful story on cultural organizing, a webinar exploring how to navigate conversations on cultural equity, and much more.

This week, we invited you to join a virtual roundtable conversation with three local arts agency leaders, made plans for virtual celebrations of the arts, and opened registration for the online version of our National Arts Action Summit—because even a pandemic can’t cancel the need for the arts! 

Americans for the Arts presents a brand-new experience for arts advocates to engage virtually at the first ever National Arts Action Digital Summit with three plenary and ten issue-specific webinars live April 27 to May 1, 2020. 

This week, COVID-related losses and challenges continue to dominate many stories about the arts and culture sector, but we're also focusing on hopeful opportunities for leadership and community engagement. Our three-part DIAL Labs series began on ArtsU; the free professional development webinars are for early- and mid-career arts leaders who want to hone skills for navigating the field. We also republished a conversation with a California arts champion who's using her dance studio and its deep community roots to keep youth and families safe and informed during the COVID-19 crisis.

On April 8, 2020, Americans for the Arts hosted a webinar titled “How the CARES Act Supports the Arts Sector” to discuss the recent COVID-19 relief package passed by Congress at the end of March. Americans for the Arts Government Affairs staff and valued guest speakers discussed the various pieces of the legislation that pertained to the arts sector.

This week, we explored the CARES Act stimulus relief package and which parts of the law relate to the arts and culture sector, creative pricing strategies for artists (becoming ever more important in the current economy), and a new resource to help artists and municipal governments partner on community-minded projects. 

The application deadline for the 2020 Fellowship cohort has been extended until July 5, 2020, and the full-time job eligibility requirement for the program has been waived in order to expand access to those whose employment has been affected by the economy due to the COVID-19 pandemic. 

This week, all eyes have been on Capitol Hill as Congress proposed, debated, revised, and voted on the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act, which would provide two trillion dollars in relief funds to the nation. As we all work to adjust to this new reality, we’re pleased to share perspectives and ideas to stay connected and creative while social distancing, practical measures to keep your work moving forward, and our annual “top ten” list of reasons to support the arts.