Last week, ArtsWave hosted the 2nd annual CincySings, a Cincinnati region-wide choral event that pits corporate choirs against one another in a friendly competition. For the second year in a row, Drew Lachey, a celebrity Cincinnati native and arts supporter, hosted the event. Lachey is best known for being a member of the pop group 98 Degrees and as the crowned champion of season two of Dancing with the Stars.

In December 2014, Ohio Governor John Kasich signed SB 84 into law, which created the post of Ohio Poet Laureate. Ohio joined forty-four other states, including the District of Columbia, that already have an official poet laureate.

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.”

ArtsWave, one of the longest running United Arts Funds (UAF) in the country, recently announced that it exceeded its 2015 campaign goal of $12.2 million to support arts organizations across Cincinnati and the region. A particular success of the campaign is the number of people in the region who support it–most contributions to the annual campaign are individual gifts in amounts less than $150. In 2015, ArtsWave added more than 7,660 new donors to the campaign.

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! 

The recently introduced Ohio House Bill 666 would provide Ohio artists an income tax credit on profits that they make from selling their work within a designated arts and entertainment district. “Movies are a form of art … be it the script, be it the act or the entire production,” Stinziano told The Lantern, referencing a tax credit that’s currently in place to incentivize film productions in Ohio.

At the Council on Foundations 2014 Fall Conference for Community Foundations in Cleveland this October, Robert Lynch was joined by Edgar Smith, a BCA Executive Board member and CEO of World Pac Paper; Jennifer Dowley, President of the Berkshire Taconic Community Foundation; and Carla Dirlikov, an opera singer and a member of the Americans for the Art

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!

In Youngstown, Ohio, the Power of Arts held a town hall meeting for arts supporters regarding new initiatives to raise more arts funding. Their most recent lobbying effort is to change a provision in the Ohio Revised Code which would allow counties with populations under 1.2 million to fund arts and cultural districts with a cigarette tax.

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

Americans for the Arts' Artists Committee member John Legend will perform a free concert at The Kennedy Center on Wednesday, May 28th at 7:30 PM.

Our President and CEO, Bob Lynch, will be in Columbus, Ohio this week to participate in a series of events, site visits, and meetings hosted by the Cultural Arts Center (CAC) and Greater Columbus Arts Council.

ArtsWave, one of the nation’s oldest united arts funds based in Cincinnati, announced that their recently completed 2014 campaign has been the most successful to date.

Since 1997, Americans for the Arts has partnered annually with The United States Conference of Mayors (USCM), the official nonpartisan organization of the 1,139 US cities with populations of 30,000 or more, to honor elected officials and artists for their outstanding public leadership in the advancement of the arts. Recipients were honored on Friday, Janurary 24 at The United States Conference of Mayors’ 82nd annual winter meeting in Washington, D.C.

WASHINGTON, D.C. —Americans for the Arts, the nation’s leading nonprofit organization for advancing the arts and arts education, in partnership with The United States Conference of Mayors (USCM) presented Akron Mayor Don Plusquellic with the 2014 Public Leadership in the Arts Award for Local Arts Leadership for cities with a population of 100,000 or more.  The award was presented today at the USCM Winter meeting in Washington, DC.

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.

WASHINGTON, D.C. - Americans for the Arts, the nation’s leading nonprofit organization for advancing the arts and arts education, in conjunction with The United States Conference of Mayors, presented the 2014 National Award for Congressional Arts Leadership to Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH) and Rep. James P. Moran (D-VA).

Americans for the Arts, the nation’s leading nonprofit organization for advancing the arts and arts education, in conjunction with the National Association of Counties (NACo) will present the 2012 National Award for County Arts Leadership to Montgomery County, OH’s Board of Commissioners. The board will receive its award today at NACo’s annual conference, which is being held this year in Pittsburgh.

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:

Americans for the Arts and Arts Action Fund President and CEO Robert L. Lynch gave the following statement on the Election Day results:

"On behalf of Americans for the Arts and the Arts Action Fund, I wish to congratulate President Barack Obama and all of the national, state, and local elected leaders across the country who won their elections last night.

White House