There is nothing like art to bring people together and heal, even in the face of human tragedy on a massive scale.

With more than 4 million Syrians having fled their country to build new lives, local St. Louis artist and muralist Chelsea Ritter-Soronen, wanted to build awareness about the struggles they are facing. "When we look at images of warfare through a screen, it’s very easy to become immune to those images," she says. "I wanted to take the images from the media, take them away from a screen and put them into a real world setting." 

Americans for the Arts wants you to elect art professionals from the field to serve on one of four network advisory councils: Arts Education, Emerging Leaders, Private Sector, and

Americans for the Arts invites all Americans to celebrate October as National Arts & Humanities Month (NAHM). Towns and communities across the country are hosting special events that capture the spirit that the arts and humanities bring to everyday life. 

The Veterans Curation Program (VCP) is a paid training and employment opportunity that provides veterans with tangible work skills and experience through the rehabilitation of archaeological collections owned by the US Army Corps of Engineers.  The Veterans Curation Program is seeking OEF and OIF veterans, veterans with service-connected disabilities, and other recently separated veterans for a paid training program to work as archaeological laboratory technicians at facilities in Alexandria, VA, Augusta, GA, and St. Louis, MO for the upcoming session, scheduled to begin in early November 2015.

In Missouri, Rep. Kathy Swan (R-Cape Girardeau) is championing House Bill 803 (HB 803) to breathe new life into the state’s film tax credit program, which ended in 2013.

In this month’s Smithsonian.com magazine you will find their top picks for amazing small towns across the United States. These towns all have populations under 20,000, and were selected because of their number of cultural and historic attractions, food and drink destinations, and nature opportunities. The article states: “Think of this list not as a ranking but as a menu, with something for every taste—whether it’s country bluegrass, Florida’s white beaches, or Alaska’s blue mountains.”

Register today for the 2015 Annual Convention, taking place June 12–14, 2015 in Chicago!

The conference will take place at the Chicago Sheraton, with more than 40 breakouts, three keynotes, three preconferences, two Workshop Intensives, a dozen ARTventure Tours, and an opening reception at the Museum of Contemporary Art! 

Get the conversation about encouraging creativity and ensuring arts education in your community with a new series of videos by Americans for the Arts. These videos convey the stories behind importance of arts education, as told by children whose lives have been postiviely impacted by the arts. 

In September, we held a call for nominations for our Network Councils. Now it's time for you, our members, to cast your vote to determine which nominees will be elected to the following four Americans for the Arts' Network Councils.

The greatest month of the year is upon us - National Arts & Humanities Month!

It's that time again: Americans for the Arts is seeking at least 200 partners to make this Arts and Economic Prosperity Study larger and more comprehensive than ever before--and we invite YOU to be a part of it!

Dance studio owners received notices from the Missouri Department of Revenue informing them that they owed years of back taxes to the state. Missouri charges sales tax on places of recreation and entertainment, which the department stated now included dance studios.

Today the U.S. Senate confirmed Dr. Jane Chu as chair of the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA). Chu is currently the president and CEO of the Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts in Kansas City, Mo. She fills a chair position left vacant at the NEA since Rocco Landesman stepped down in 2012.

WASHINGTON - Today the U.S. Senate confirmed Dr. Jane Chu as chair of the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA). Chu is currently the president and CEO of the Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts in Kansas City, Mo. She fills a chair position left vacant at the NEA since Rocco Landesman stepped down in 2012.

Americans for the Arts is pleased to announce the 2014 BCA 10: Best Businesses Partnering with the Arts in America, which recognizes 10 businesses of all sizes for their exceptional involvement with the arts. The awards will be celebrated on October 1, 2014 at a gala presentation and dinner in New York City, which will highlight the ways in which today’s businesses are using the arts to inspire employees, stimulate innovation, and foster creative collaboration all across the country.

Consumers spend nearly $150 billion annually on entertainment and the arts. How does this breakdown to spending on the arts in your individual community?

On Wednesday, May 14, U.S. Senators serving on the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee voted to advance the nomination of Dr. Jane Chu to chair the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA). Her nomination will now advance to the full U.S. Senate for an anticipated speedy confirmation vote. 

Museum champions in the U.S. House and U.S. Senate are circulating bipartisan letters in support of “robust” funding for OMS in the coming fiscal year. In the House, the letter is led by Reps. Paul Tonko (D-NY), Michael Grimm (R-NY), and Arts Caucus co-Chairs Reps. Louise Slaughter (D-NY) and Leonard Lance (R-NJ). In the Senate, it is led by Sens. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) and Roy Blunt (R-MO).

With 2013 ending, we at Americans for the Arts find ourselves grateful for so many great arts achievements this year. There are so many partners doing amazing work in towns, cities, and states across the country--and in reflecting on this work, we wanted to especially thank the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) and its staff for serving as the national lynchpin for the whole US arts field.

"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.

Join our first ever Local Arts Agency Blog Salon December 5-9 on ARTSblog as leaders in the field tackle questions about emerging trends, surviving the economic downturn, local collaboration, model programs, and more.

The following guest bloggers are generating and leading the discussion:

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. 

The national winners of The Art Institutes and Americans for the Arts Poster Design Competition 2013 traveled to Washington, D.C. on Wednesday, June 19 to accept their scholarship awards at a Congressional Reception on Capitol Hill. Whitney Lanier of Statesboro, GA, was the grand prize winner in the high school senior category of the competition. She earned a full tuition scholarship to The Art Institute of Atlanta. Morgan Stevens of Athens, IL, was selected as the grand prize winner in the high school graduate category. She earned a $10,000 tuition scholarship to The Art Institute of St.