With grant support, a temporary display of public art has been installed along the Yahara River in the city of Madision, Wisconsin. Five local artists were awarded compensation funds to develop artworks that respond to the Yahara River. Some of the artworks are more responsive to the history, such as Thomas Ferrella's “Black Hawk Yahara: A River of Tears”. As stated in the original article, people have come to the river walk to see the artworks and are excited by the visual impact of the exhibition.

Americans for the Arts, a leading partner in The National Coalition for Core Arts Standards (NCCAS), will launch in partnership with NCCAS the 2014 National Core Arts Standards in a streaming webinar on Wednesday, June 4, 1:00 to 3:00 p.m. Join arts education leaders from around the country to learn more about the new standards. The event will feature interviews with a broad spectrum of arts education providers, including certified educators, teaching artists, administrators, national/state policy makers, and arts education advocates.

The Congressional Arts Caucus, co-led by Reps. Louise Slaughter (D-NY) and Leonard Lance (R-NJ),  is one of the largest and most active on Capitol Hill, and is central to supporting the arts and arts education in the U.S. House of Representatives. Recently, 10 new members of Congress have signed up!

With 2013 ending, we at Americans for the Arts find ourselves grateful for so many great arts achievements this year. There are so many partners doing amazing work in towns, cities, and states across the country--and in reflecting on this work, we wanted to especially thank the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) and its staff for serving as the national lynchpin for the whole US arts field.

Jan Stevenson writes to the Post Gazette about the ways in which businesses help support the arts in the Fox Valley region. She sites one of Americans for the Arts' Business Committee for the Arts survey in stating cash and non-cash giving by businesses in support of arts programs between 2009 and 2012 has increased by 18 percent, which means they have returned to near 2006 levels.

Americans for the Arts, the nation’s leading nonprofit organization for advancing the arts and arts education, announced today that it is presenting the 2012 Arts Education Award to Arts @ Large, an innovative program that provides multidisciplinary arts experiences for Milwaukee Public Schools K-12 students. Presented annually by the Arts Education Council of Americans for the Arts since 2007, the award honors the best in arts education program design, execution and organizational leadership.

Americans for the Arts, the nation’s leading nonprofit organization for advancing the arts and arts education, in conjunction with The United States Conference of Mayors, will present the 2013 National Award for Congressional Arts Leadership to Senator Tom Harkin (D-IA).

Americans for the Arts and Arts Action Fund President and CEO Robert L. Lynch gave the following statement on the Election Day results:

"On behalf of Americans for the Arts and the Arts Action Fund, I wish to congratulate President Barack Obama and all of the national, state, and local elected leaders across the country who won their elections last night.

White House

Brunswick Acres Elementary School in Kendall Park, NJ was very dedicated to winning the third annual "€œArt of Education"€ contest sponsored by KRIS Wine and Americans for the Arts.