The American Express Emerging Leader Award is presented as part of Americans for the Arts’ Annual Convention and 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. The 2021 honoree is Christine Her, Executive Director of ArtForce Iowa.

The Arts Education Award is presented as part of Americans for the Arts’ Annual Convention and recognizes transformational leadership in arts education through strategic planning, strong programming, and the engagement of partners to achieve community goals. The 2021 honoree is Jean Tokuda Irwin, Arts Education Program Manager for the Utah Division of Arts and Museums. 

The Selina Roberts Ottum Award is presented as part of Americans for the Arts’ Annual Convention and recognizes an individual working in arts management who has made a meaningful contribution to their local community and who exemplifies extraordinary leadership qualities. The 2021 honoree is Hoong Yee Lee Krakauer, Executive Director of the Queens Council on the Arts. 

The Alene Valkanas State Arts Advocacy Award is presented as part of Americans for the Arts’ Annual Convention and honors an individual at the state level whose arts advocacy efforts have dramatically affected the political landscape. The 2021 awardee is Julie Baker, Executive Director, Californians for the Arts and California Arts Advocates (Sacramento). 

The Michael Newton Award is presented as part of Americans for the Arts’ Annual Convention and recognizes an individual for their innovation in developing arts and business partnerships for the arts and/or long-term achievement in effective and creative techniques to engage the private sector. The 2021 honoree is Alma Robinson, Executive Director of California Lawyers for the Arts. 

Americans for the Arts will host its virtual Annual Convention June 8-11, 2021. Through 24 sessions, over 800 participants will gather to 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. The Annual Convention is an opportunity for the field to explore how to put creative workers and cultural organizations to work as part of a collective recovery.

This week: case studies and new learning especially for arts organizations, inspiration for artists looking to promote equity and collaborate with communities, a reversal on executive orders related to public art, and extended scholarships to attend the 2021 Annual Convention.

The arts and culture field continues to be affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. In response, Americans for the Arts expanded access to the Annual Convention through extended scholarship opportunities. Submit a request by Friday, June 4.

This week: we launched registration and opened scholarships to the 2021 Annual Convention, dove into arts policy and issues at the state and local levels, explored the importance of intersectionality in anti-racism work, reminded ourselves why creative employees make the best employees, and shined the spotlight on one of our dedicated members.

The theme of this week is the Annual Convention + Public Art & Civic Design Conference! More than 850 of you attended our first-ever virtual convening June 23-25, which featured 100 panelists speaking in 50 breakout sessions and four keynotes, plus presentations of our Annual Leadership Awards and the announcement of a brand-new public art prize.

Americans for the Arts has announced Red Door Project’s Evolve, a live performance experience based in Portland, Oregon, as the 2020 recipient of The Robert E. Gard Award. The award recognizes exemplary projects from the last year led by individuals or organizations who demonstrate a commitment to intersecting the arts with other sectors of community life in meaningful and measurable ways.

Rick Lowe is a Houston-based artist and professor of art at the University of Houston, best known for his Project Row Houses community-based art project that he started in Houston in 1993. President Barack Obama appointed Rick to the National Council on the Arts in 2013; in 2014 he was named a MacArthur Fellow. 

Christen Boone is the President & CEO of the Fund for the Arts in Louisville, Kentucky, one of the country’s largest privately funded regional arts agencies. She has developed thousands of unique partnerships between the creative and private sectors, driving workplace culture, client cultivation, project innovation, DEI initiatives, and social impact. 

Ann S. Graham brings a strong set of leadership skills to her work as the Executive Director of Texans for the Arts and she has demonstrated a deep passion for the arts and the role that they play in building and strengthening our communities. 

This week: As we pause today to celebrate and reflect on the history of Juneteenth, read the next entry in our ARTSblog series on the incredible musicians who were finalists for this year's Johnson Fellowship. We’re also looking forward to the first-ever virtual Annual Convention and Public Art & Civic Design conference, including the Nancy Hanks Lecture.

Helen Eaton has served as Settlement Music School’s CEO since 2010. One of the largest community schools of the arts in the country, Settlement has a 112-year history of arts education without barriers, providing over $2.6 million in financial aid every year to its students. 

The 33rd Annual Nancy Hanks Lecture on Arts & Public Policy will be presented live as the opening keynote presentation of the Americans for the Arts Annual Convention and Public Art & Civic Design Conference on Tuesday, June 23, 2020 at 11:30 a.m. ET. Americans for the Arts is pleased to welcome as its speaker Vijay Gupta, acclaimed violinist, social justice advocate, 2018 MacArthur Fellow, and Americans for the Arts board member. The lecture is free and attendees can register online. Gupta will be introduced by the Honorable Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives, Nancy Pelosi.

Janet T. Langsam is the CEO of ArtsWestchester, an organization that financially and promotionally supports all of the arts in Westchester County through  government, corporate and institutional partnerships. She has helped grow the organization to a $4.9 million agency and has made the arts more visible, diverse, and accessible for residents.  

Gina Rodríguez-Drix (she/hers) is the Cultural Affairs Manager for the City of Providence Department of Art, Culture + Tourism. Gina’s professional and creative practices are rooted in her fervent passion for social, environmental and reproductive justice and a commitment to her hometown. 

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.

It's been an exceptionally difficult week. Americans for the Arts believes Black Lives Matter, and shares in the outrage people across the country are feeling. In programming news, this week we launched two professional development opportunities with a particular focus toward individuals who are traditionally underrepresented in the arts field.

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. 

Americans for the Arts has extended the deadline for voting on the 2020 Robert E. Gard Award top 10 finalist projects through Friday, May 29. All Americans for the Arts members are eligible to review the 10 finalists on our website and vote.

The 2021 Annual Convention is our opportunity to gather and reimagine our creative field and communities. Registration is now open to attend the virtual conference happening June 8-11, 2021.

This week: Like much of the country, we're keeping an eye on Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19), monitoring responses and preparations, and have gathered information to assist the field. We also announced applications for this year's Arts & Culture Leaders of Color Fellowship, and released a new resource examining cultural equity in the public art field.

Americans for the Arts is accepting nominations of arts leaders for the 2020 Annual Leadership Awards, recognizing the achievements of individuals, organizations, or programs committed to enriching their communities through the arts. Nominations close March 11, 2020. 

Americans for the Arts is pleased to offer a number of full ride and partial reimbursement scholarships to members interested in attending the 2020 Annual Convention and Public Art & Civic Design Conference in Washington, D.C. Deadline to apply is February 24, 2020.