A cultural event happens every nine minutes in the Greater Boston area, serving about 21 million people a year—nearly four times more people than attend Red Sox, Patriots, Bruins, and Celtics games combined. Along with bringing in people to events, the arts industry contributes $2 billion annually to the local economy.

Research from The Boston Foundation and Barr Foundation has shown that Boston, MA, needs to further prioritize investment in an arts ecosystem in order to elevate new perspectives, encourage diversity, and make communities more inclusive and vibrant in an era of increasing demographic change. 

Hundreds of high school students at LaGuardia High School of Music & Art and Performing Arts staged a sit-in protest in favor of retaining LaGuardia’s historically arts focused curriculum rather than shifting towards stricter academic requirements.

Americans for the Arts is pleased to announce that Director of Local Arts Services Ruby Lopez Harper was selected as one of seven Practices for Change Fellows at the National Accelerator for Cultural Innovation at Arizona State University. The fellowship is funded in part by an Our Town/Knowledge Building Grant from the National Endowment for the Arts and supports individuals with experience using arts, culture, and design within other sectors such as health, transportation, planning, justice, and the environment in order to build stronger, more equitable communities.

In addition to overseeing the state and regional portfolios and maintaining his work overseeing international activities of the Endowment, Orlove will also take over grantmaking portfolios related to local arts agencies.

Americans for the Arts is pleased to announce the release of the 2018 Profile of Local Arts Agencies, its latest research on the local arts agency field tracking budget trends, sources of revenues, partnerships, community impact programs, policies, programs, and more.

Americans for the Arts announces today that theater artist and cultural organizer Mark Valdez is the recipient of the 2019 Johnson Fellowship for Artists Transforming Communities. The $65,000 award will support him in advancing his work in community-based theater during the fellowship year. 

From December 2 to 8, 2018, the initiative encourages the creative field to join together in communities across the country to promote the sales of the work of local artists, and to promote to all consumers that art—including tickets to events and organization memberships—makes great holiday gifts.

You asked, and we listened: Our online Arts Services Directory has expanded to include searchable, topic-driven sub-directories. The new and improved directories will allow you to quickly find all types of arts organizations throughout the United States, as well as narrow your search to specific interest areas.

Americans for the Arts reported that more than 800 celebrations were held in communities across the nation for the 8th annual National Arts in Education Week, September 9-15 – a significant uptick compared with 428 in 2017. The celebrations ranged from block parties to city hall meetings to online visibility campaigns. 

Americans for the Arts will join NCCP as a Regional Partner to provide input on content; local insight to the Maryland, District of Columbia and Northern Virginia area; marketing support; and funding connections for the upcoming summit Oct. 5-7 in College Park, Maryland. 

On February 20, 2017, a 51-year-old man named Thomas Leeper set off to complete a public art-centric passion project: covering every linear mile of Detroit on bike, while also photographing and geo-tagging every piece of public art or graffiti he encountered along the way. Almost a year and a half later, Leeper is about at the halfway point, having biked through 2,200 of the 4,000 linear miles of the Detroit streets.

The resolution cites the potential of creative arts therapies and artist directed programs to positively impact the healthcare spending concerns, quality of care issues, and healthcare needs of active military and veteran populations.

The Institute of Contemporary Art (ICA) in Boston, one of the city’s major museums, recently expanded beyond its main gallery in the South Boston Seaport District. The new Watershed building represents a turning point in Boston’s history as East Boston’s first major arts destination.

Americans for the Arts and the National Association of Counties awarded Hillsborough County Board of County Commissioners of Tampa, Florida the Public Leadership in the Arts Award for County Arts Leadership at NACo’s annual conference in Nashville, Tennessee. The award honors an elected county board or individual leader who has significantly advanced the arts in the communities they serve.

Americans for the Arts today honored 49 outstanding public arts projects created in 2017 through the Public Art Network Year in Review program, the only national program that specifically recognizes the most compelling public art. Chosen by public art experts, the roster of selected projects was unveiled this morning at Americans for the Arts’ Annual Convention in Denver. This is the 17th year that Americans for the Arts has recognized public art works.

Americans for the Arts announced today the recipients of the 2018 Americans for the Arts Leadership Awards. Given annually, these awards recognize the achievements of individuals and organizations committed to enriching their communities through the arts.

Americans for the Arts mourns the passing of Bill Bulick, architect of the Regional Arts & Culture Council, who spent more than 30 years helping to shape the potential of cultural development and planning to build prosperous, livable, vital communities. 

Focusing on the Western part of Pennsylvania, the second Cohort of this program will participate in an intensive two-year curriculum that provides all participants the opportunity to build new skills in arts marketing and audience engagement. Applications for the 2018-2020 program are open through April 27, 2018.