A group of community leaders in Grand Forks, North Dakota are creating a public art program using the development of 42nd Street as a catalyst. The proposed commission of arts and culture, which includes representatives from the city’s Urban Development department, the Grand Forks Park District, North Valley Arts Council, North Dakota Museum of Art, the Chamber of Grand Forks and East Grand Forks, an architect, and three local artists, is looking into the long-term future to make polices for public art and to review current artworks located in public spaces.

On Tuesday, March 25, 2014, Americans for the Arts President & CEO, Robert Lynch, was re-appointed by Commerce Secretary Penny Pritzker to serve a second two-year term on the U.S. Travel & Tourism Advisory Board. The Board, with 32 members, serves as the advisory body to the Secretary of Commerce and its members represent a broad cross-section of the industry, including transportation services, financial services, and hotels and restaurants, as well as a mix of other small and large firms from across the country.

Enghien-les-Bains (France) and Sapporo (Japan) have been designated UNESCO Cities of Media Arts, and Paducah, Kentucky (United States of America) is the most recent City of Crafts and Folk Arts.

On Tuesday, November 19, The Arts and Business Council of New York (ABC/NY), a division of Americans for the Arts, presented testimony at a New York City Council hearing on a proposed bill that calls for the city to develop and impleme

The Crystal Bridges Museum of Contemporary Art opened in 2011 with a vision: to make contemporary art accessible, both physically and intellectually, for the people of Bentonville, Ark. and the surrounding area. The museum’s president, Don Bacigalupi, and his curator for special projects, Chad Alligood, are currently midway through a cross-country road trip, visiting 400 studios and 40 cities over the past six months to witness firsthand what’s actually going on in contemporary American art.

Young artists are finding a new place to call home in Jackson, Mississippi - a small town eager for big fish. Sandwiched between the music havens of New Orleans and Memphis, Jackson hasn't historically attracted a ton of young grads and budding artists, but in the last few years young people have been moving and returning to Fondren. This post industrial neighborhood a few blocks away from Midtown is a cheerful, gentrified part of Jackson that has welcomed artsy types for 15 years.

Americans for the Arts is partnering again with Destination Marketing Association International (DMAI), a professional organization representing destination marketing organizations and convention and visitor bureaus worldwide.

Jane Golden, artist and Executive Director of Philadelphia's Mural Arts Program, recently talked to Metro Atlanta LINK, the planning agency for the 10 county Atlanta metropolitan region, to show how the arts can help address an urban area’s most intractable problems and bring creative energy to a city’s streets and its walls. Philadelphia's Mural Arts Program was first implemented in 1986.

Council Members Stephen Levin and Jimmy Van Bramer have introduced legislation at the New York City Council that would require the City to have a cultural plan. The plan calls for the city to go out to neighborhoods in the five boroughs to learn what each community wants and needs in a cultural plan, and incorporate those findings into their plan. This bill was the result of New York City being behind the curve in terms of creating a systematic cultural plan based on what the city residents want.

"In more than a decade, the Lee’s Summit Arts Council has helped shape the community’s direction in entertainment and cultural offerings, complimenting fast growth of housing and shopping centers, all the pieces which made Lee’s Summit one of the region’s booming cities.

The city now has a community symphony and theater group, building on longtime support for arts programs in schools.

Northside Workshop in St. Louis has won the Viewers'€™ Choice award in the inaugural innOVATION Grant Program! The group won a $15,000 grant for its "€œCommunity Build the Arts"€ initiative, which is spurring community revitalization and engagement. 

On August 8-10, Americans for the Arts partnered with the Aspen Institute Arts Program to convene the sixth annual Americans for the Arts Aspen Seminar for Leadership in the Arts. Every year, the seminar brings together a select group of 25-30 artists, philanthropists, corporate and foundation leaders, and arts practitioners in an engaged dialogue that explores how we can create a more vibrant role for arts and culture in American society.