News Room
Read the latest arts news
- 58
The Alene Valkanas State Arts Advocacy Award honors an individual at the state level whose arts advocacy efforts have dramatically affected the political landscape. Crystal Young is the Executive Director of the Utah Cultural Alliance and is motivated by an intense desire to leave the world better than she found it.
- 58
The American Express Emerging Leader Award recognizes visionary leadership by an individual who is a new and/or young arts leader who demonstrates an ability to engage and impact their community. Adriane Jefferson is currently the Director of Cultural Affairs for the City of New Haven and the Executive Director of New Haven Festivals Inc., where she is leading the city on cultural equity and anti-racism initiatives.
- 58
The Selina Roberts Ottum Award for Arts Leadership recognizes an individual working in arts management who has made a meaningful contribution to their local community and who exemplifies extraordinary leadership qualities. Julie Garreau (Lakota name Wičhaȟpi Epatȟaŋ Wiŋ) is an enrolled member of the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe, and is the executive director of the nonprofit Cheyenne River Youth Project (CRYP) in Eagle Butte, South Dakota.
- 58
Americans for the Arts leadership and staff are saddened to learn of the passing of longtime partner, patron, and friend William (Bill) J. Lehr Jr. His legacy of support for arts advocacy, both nationally and in his home state of Pennsylvania, will live on in the many nonprofits, public-private organizations, government entities, and the lives of individual artists that he impacted during his decades long leadership and support in the arts sector.
- 61
On Thursday, April 28, 2022, Congresswoman Barbara Lee (D-CA-13) introduced the Equity Through the Arts and Humanities Act (H.R. 7627), which would create a grant program to support arts and humanities projects that work to dismantle systemic racism through the arts and humanities.
- 60
Americans for the Arts today announced its May 18–20 Annual Convention, bringing the creative field together in person for the first time since 2019. Through 22 sessions held in D.C.’s historic Omni Shoreham Hotel, participants will celebrate the transformative, collective strength of creative workers and cultural organizations across the United States; listen to and learn from creative leaders offering wisdom on the way forward; and better understand how the nonprofit arts field can build an equitable arts, culture, and creative economy together as we reemerge and rebuild from the pandemic.
- 60
Americans for the Arts Action Fund is pleased to announce the addition of four new members to its board of directors: Nolen V. Bivens, president and CEO of Americans for the Arts; Patrick Brien, executive director of the Riverside Arts Council; Colleen Jennings-Roggensack, vice president for cultural affairs for Arizona State University and executive director of ASU Gammage; and Felix Sanchez, chairman and co-founder of the National Hispanic Foundation for the Arts.
- 60
Centering Equity and Inclusion, Americans for the Arts Launches ‘Arts & Economic Prosperity 6’ Study
Americans for the Arts is pleased to announce the launch of Arts & Economic Prosperity 6 (AEP6), the sixth national study of the economic impact of the nonprofit arts and culture industry. Building on its 25-year legacy, AEP6 will examine the economic power that the arts and culture wield in 387 participating communities representing all 50 states and the District of Columbia. Each community will receive a customized economic impact report about the number of jobs supported, government revenue generated, and economic activity of its nonprofit arts and culture sector.
- 59
Can art improve roadway safety? A new report examines the impact of art in the streetscape by comparing historical crash rates and real-time behavior of motorists and pedestrians at 22 “asphalt art” sites before and after the projects were installed, with illuminating results.
- 60
Americans for the Arts is pleased to announce the addition of five new members to its board of directors: Torrie Allen, president and CEO of Arts Midwest; Christopher Cutler, CFA, founder and president of Manager Analysis Services, LLC; Marc D. Folk, president and CEO of The Arts Commission of Greater Toledo; Kristina Newman-Scott, executive director of The Jerome L. Greene Performance Space at New York Public Radio; and Ravi S. Rajan, president of the California Institute of the Arts. These new members will start June 1 and join at a critical time to help further the transformative and mission-focused work of the board and organization in support of the arts and culture sector and field.
