This week, we invite you to join a virtual roundtable conversation with three leaders at local arts agencies across the country, who look back at the process of creating (or in one case, evolving) their agencies and offer insights for other leaders who might one day want to form an agency in their community. We’re also making plans for some virtual celebrations of the arts, and we opened registration for the online version of our National Arts Action Summit—because even a pandemic can’t cancel the need for arts advocacy! 

ARTSblog

Local Arts Agency Roundtable: A Conversation with Erick Deshaun Dorris
About two years ago, I walked into a meeting in Galesburg, Illinois, and said, “Joliet wants to start a local arts agency,” and the resounding response was “Okay, how can we help!” I have found that people in these roles want to help you and are looking for opportunities to connect with you. Reach out, be humble, and ask questions.

It’s the Arts. Troubling News Yet Still Room for Optimism by Randy Cohen
The coronavirus toll is heavy, but the arts can be our greatest asset in recovering from the crisis socially and economically. This is why doing everything in our power to bolster the arts now will make our nation stronger later.

Local Arts Agency Roundtable: A Conversation with Nicole Mullet
ArtsNow was created through a collaborative and community-driven process. That remains our organization’s hallmark; collaboration is core to the work we do. We allow the community to drive collaboration and convening and bring people together around opportunities and needs identified by our partners.

Local Arts Agency Roundtable: A Conversation with Kristin Sakoda
In a county as ethnically and culturally diverse and geographically sprawling as Los Angeles, the Department for Arts and Culture seeks to ensure that all the benefits of, and opportunities provided by, the arts are available and accessible to all residents, no matter who they are or where they live.

News Room

National Arts Action Summit Goes Digital – Register Now!
Americans for the Arts presents a brand-new experience for arts advocates to engage virtually at the first ever National Arts Action Digital Summit with three plenary and ten issue-specific webinars live April 27 to May 1, 2020.

‘Office Hours with Nina’ on the CARES Act
Nina Ozlu Tunceli is available on a drop-in basis on Zoom Monday through Friday between 11:00 a.m. and 12:00 p.m. ET to answer questions—whether broad or specific to your situation—about funding opportunities and deadlines related to the $3.2 trillion federal aid package.

Join Americans for the Arts in Celebrating International Sculpture Day
As many parts of the U.S. and others around the world continue to be sequestered indoors due to the coronavirus pandemic, we plan to take some time to celebrate the work of artists and their outdoor creations during International Sculpture Day on April 25, 2020.

Student Organization Launches ‘Worldwide Day of Gratitude’ to Honor COVID-19 Heroes Through the Arts
For Worldwide Day of Gratitude on April 30, 2020, teachers and students of all ages, as well as the general public, are invited to learn and share the iconic Bill Withers song “Lean on Me,” which has emerged as a rallying cry for the COVID-19 pandemic.

ArtsU

The DIAL Labs: Contextualizing Power and Creating Change That Can Last
Part two of the DIAL Labs series features Anthony Meyers, an experienced arts leader and Founding Director of Leading ChangeMakers, exploring the concepts of individual and collective power and how they manifest in institutions, as well as conditions for creating change within organizational systems through a lens of equity, diversity, and inclusion.