Americans for the Arts knows that engaging business employees through volunteerism and the arts is key to fostering a desirable work environment, increasing efficiency and morale, and doing good in the community. For arts groups seeking to build deeper ties with the business community, offering to address the need to engage employees in their work can serve as a powerful tool and argument for why supporting the arts is a win-win for everyone—the company, its employees, your organization, and the entire community.

Americans for the Arts is pleased to announce the release of its fourth workbook in a series dedicated to helping nonprofits start arts-based employee volunteer and engagement programs, focused on Berea College's AIR Institute arts incubator program. To address the changing economy of both our nation and world, private companies, colleges and universities, and municipalities across America are offering business incubation programs, designed to give young businesses the tools they need to survive and thrive. The programs often don’t successfully map to the creative industries, so several organizations and local arts agencies have developed arts-specific incubator programs to help individual artists thrive and allow local businesses tap into creative work training programs. The Arts Incubators Employee Engagement Workbook follows AIR Institute's journey to create an arts incubator program to engage business employees, artists, and community members to learn, share, and work together.

If you’re trying to make the case to businesses in your area that using the arts can engage their employees, check out our one-pager advocacy tools, Six Ways to Use the Arts to Boost Employee Engagement and The Arts Boost Employee Engagement. Learn from practitioners who have taken the plunge, and work with us or on your own to do the same in your communities! Learn more.