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Summary of Commission Programs
1972
The Commission's programs began with three Arizona artists working
to serve one school
district in the Arts Commission’s Arts Education
(now Arts Learning)
program.
Today, the Artists in Residence
and other education programs provide opportunities for more than
200 artists reaching over 1,500 schools. Many of the
artists who worked in the early years of the program now
rank among
Arizona’s most successful practicing artists and their former
students are found in today’s arts audiences; some have
even
followed their mentors to become working artists.
1974
The Commission’s Expansion Arts program, serving Arizona’s ethnic
populations, was the first state program of its kind in the nation. The program
encourages the presentation and preservation of Arizona’s rich ethnic
traditions.
1976
In response to
Arizona towns' desire for quality performing arts events in their
communities, the Commission initiates the Art in Arizona Towns program. Performing artists visit communities for three to six days, giving
performances and workshops.
In partnership with social service organizations, the
Commission begins the Ticket Discount program to help people with disabilities
and elderly citizens attend performing arts events. (The program is active for 15
years.)
1978
The National Endowment for the Arts awards a Challenge Grant of $480,000 to
the Arts Commission for distribution among eight major cultural institutions.
This special three-year grant requires the institutions to match each federal
dollar with at least three dollars of new and increased giving. The institutions
actually match the grant with seven dollars of private donations to one
federal dollar. This same year general operating support grants are awarded to
large institutions. The Challenge Grant and Basic Aid demonstrate the commitment
of the Arts Commission to contribute to the continued artistic development of
our statewide cultural treasures.
The Artist Fellowship program begins awarding
fellowships in the visual arts followed in subsequent years by awards in the performing arts and creative writing. The
program underscores one of the Commission’s primary goals: recognition and
support for Arizona’s artists. Fellowship awards provide individual artists the
opportunity for research and development. (The program continues for 24 years.)
When Governor Bruce Babbitt commissions works of art by
Arizona artists for two new buildings in the Capitol Mall, the Commission
designs and implements an Art in Public Places program that assists local communities in
selecting, commissioning and funding art for public spaces.
With the support of a National Endowment for
the Arts fellowship grant to Executive Director Louise Tester, the Commission
begins a pilot project of cultural exchange with Mexico. This program,
called the International Exchange program (now International Arts Exchange),
provides assistance for Arizona artists to tour Mexico and other countries and
for international artists to tour Arizona.
1980
The Governor’s Arts Awards program begins with
Governor Bruce Babbitt presenting the first awards to recognize excellence in individual and corporate
support to the arts. The Governor’s Arts Awards program continues as a joint
project of the Governor’s Office, Arizonans for Cultural Development (now
Arizona Citizens/Action for the Arts) and the
Arizona Commission on the Arts.
The Commission designs the Organization Development Program (ODP)
as a specialized training program to give technical assistance to the boards and staffs of Arizona’s developing arts organizations. Today the
program, now known as General Operating Support (GOS) provides funding and technical support to more than 140 Arizona arts
organizations which produce ongoing public programs.
1981
The Commission initiates the Design program to offer technical assistance to communities
and nonprofit organizations in graphic design and the planning of cultural
facilities: performing arts centers, galleries, museums, cultural parks and
artists’ spaces.
1982
As a result of a positive performance review conducted of state agencies by
the Arizona Auditor General’s office, Governor Bruce Babbitt signs enabling
legislation continuing the agency to July 1, 1992, and officially changing its
name from Arizona Commission on the Arts and Humanities to Arizona Commission on the Arts.
1984
Arizona becomes a partner with Meet the Composer, Inc., the national service
organization which promotes the music of living American composers, encourages
the commissioning of new music and develops audiences for the music of our time.
1987
The Arts Commission celebrates its twentieth anniversary with the completion
of a major research project resulting in a statewide arts plan, Arizona: The
Arts in Partnership, 1987 - 1990. The plan gives visibility to Arizona’s model
arts programs and shows how the arts can serve as partners with other sectors
in promoting Arizona’s artistic resources.
1988
The Arizona Commission on the Arts joins six other state arts agencies in a
national consortium which receives a three-year Challenge Grant from the
National Endowment for the Arts to support individual artists.
The Local Arts Agencies project begins to assist
new and developing local arts agencies with program planning and with administrative and
organizational skills. The project increases awareness and accessibility of the
arts in each participating community.
The Arts Commission, with the Arizona
Department of Education, completed the first Statewide Survey on the Status of
Arts Education in Arizona Public Schools, 1988. Educators, arts administrators and
community leaders attend a retreat to assess the survey information and issue a consensus statement,
The Oak Creek Accord, detailing a
five-year plan for the future growth and direction of arts education in Arizona.
1989
To support individual artists in all disciplines for specific projects, the
Commission creates the Artist Projects program. The program supports and
encourages artists’ ideas, dreams and needs, encouraging collaborations and interdisciplinary projects.
The State Legislature establishes the Arizona Arts Trust Fund, by adding fifteen dollars to the annual corporate filing fee.
The program
increases general operating support for arts organizations and requires participating
organizations to document a plan to include representatives of racial and
ethnic minorities on their boards.
The Commission's Arts Education (now Arts Learning) projects assist schools and
arts education organizations with projects and help make the arts basic to
education. Strong emphasis is placed on collaborations among arts disciplines
and use of community resources in the arts.
1990
In an innovative partnership
between artists, private enterprise, prosecutors, law enforcement and
educators, the Anti-Drug A.P.P.L.E. Corps places artists in after
school programs to help youth, family and community to reject drugs. The
program is supported with RICO funds from the Maricopa County Attorney’s Office.
The Arizona Arts Congress, in conjunction with Arizonans for
Cultural Development (now Arizona Citizens/Action for the Arts) and Arizona Alliance for Arts Education,
brings over 300
people to the Arizona Capitol to hear legislators speak about the arts and to
attend a luncheon with their legislators.
Arizona Dance on Tour increases the audiences for
high quality dance presentations. National touring artists present concerts and
residencies with local dance companies and communities.
Tribal Museum program (now Tribal Museum Assessment)
provides technical assistance to established and emerging tribal museums and
cultural centers. The Commission surveyed more than 25 Arizona tribes to identify
needs of tribal museums and their communities. Technical assistance includes
on-site consultants and salary assistance.
1991
The Commission's Rural Assistance program provides technical assistance to rural sponsors for
exhibition development. A series of workshops, held in Bisbee, Flagstaff,
Globe and Sacaton provides training in audience development, education programs,
care and preservation of artwork, working with historic buildings and developing
exhibition seasons. (The program is active for two years.)
The Arts Commission joined the Arizona Department of
Education and the fine arts departments of the three state universities in a
collaborative effort to make the arts a part of basic education. The Directory of Arizona Exemplary Fine Arts Sites, K - 8,
Arizona Arts Education Research Institute and Artist/Teacher Institutes
are the results of this joint effort.
1992
As a part of a national campaign, Arizona Save Outdoor Sculpture! locates and
inventories publicly accessible outdoor sculpture while increasing public awareness of
the value of outdoor sculpture and the need to care for it. Arizona SOS! joins
with 35 other states in the effort sponsored by the National Institute for the
Conservation of Cultural Property and the National Museum of American Art,
Smithsonian Institution. (The program is active for two years.)
Funded by the National Endowment for the Arts, the Collaborative Initiatives program focuses on
collaborative artistic projects that help organizations involve and reach new
communities. The Commission gives priority to projects that show a sincere sharing of talents
and specific efforts to understand different cultures. (The program is active for one year.)
In a collaborative project between the Arts Commission,
the Arizona Department of Education and the fine arts colleges of the three
state universities, Arizona Arts Education Research Institute (AAERI) funds
research studies which examine programs in the arts to determine their impact on
learning.
1993
The Border Arts project supports arts programs reflective of the cultural
heritage of the people in the border counties of Yuma, Santa Cruz and Cochise.
(This program is active for two years.)
Supported through the Western States Arts Federation, Tumblewords: Writers Rolling Around the West places
Arizona poets and writers in underserved communities for outreach activities and
public community readings. (This program is active for 10 years.)
1994
Arts Education Through Distance Learning allows two teams to conduct
distance learning experiments using communications technology with K-12 arts
curricula. The University of Arizona designs music and visual art lessons; Arizona State University
focuses on dance and drama. (This program is active for three years.)
1996
The Arizona Legislature and Governor Fife Symington create the Arizona Arts Endowment Fund (Arizona ArtShare), a public/private
partnership. This long-term funding mechanism will, through interest income from permanent endowment
funds, support the stabilization efforts of Arizona arts organizations, and arts
education.
1997
The State Board of Education adopts Arts Standards with the
expectation that students demonstrate competency in music, visual art, dance and
theater by eighth grade and proficiency in one art form by graduation. The
Commission works with the Department of Education and the Arizona Alliance for
Arts Education to develop strategies to help local schools make the arts an
integral part of the curriculum.
1998
The Arizona Commission on the Arts enters into a unique
collaboration called Arizona ArtsPlace with the Phoenix Arts Commission
(now Phoenix Office of Arts and Culture), Business Volunteers for the
Arts (now Arts and Business Council of Greater Phoenix), the Tucson/Pima Arts Council, Arizona State University, and the Western
States Arts Federation (WESTAF). This collaboration provides grants, technical
assistance, hardware and software, and training to Arizona’s non-profit arts
organizations to develop and maximize their online capabilities. (This
program is active for six years.)
ArtistsRegister.com/Arizona is an online
register of Arizona’s visual artists which eliminates multiple slide submissions
for artists and provides easy-to-access notices of public art projects and
competitions. The online register connects people interested in visual arts with
Arizona artists and their work. ArtistsRegister.com/Arizona is a collaborative
project with the Chandler Arts Commission, City of Glendale, City of Yuma,
Greater Oro Valley Arts Council, Phoenix Arts Commission (now Phoenix Office of
Arts and Culture), Scottsdale Cultural Council, Tempe Cultural Services,
Tucson/Pima Arts Council and the Western States Arts Federation. The program has
added a performing arts register and a literary arts register as well.
1999
A federally funded program, School-To-Work brings businesses
and schools together to create meaningful work experiences for students. The
Arizona Commission on the Arts became the fiscal agent for a unique arts and
humanities partnership that introduces students to the wide variety of careers
available in the arts. (The program is active for three years.)
ARTability: Accessing Arizona’s Arts is a
consortium of 30-plus organizations which combine resources in order to hire a
full-time Accessibility Coordinator. This Coordinator provides technical advice
to arts and cultural organizations wishing to develop accessible programs and
spaces; distributes information about accessible arts programs and facilities to
the disability community; organizes, promotes and coordinates Audio Description,
American Sign Language interpretation and other accessibility services.
ARTability also promotes Universal Design in architecture, provides information
on accessibility-related issues and promotes community awareness of
disability-related issues.
The Commission’s Artist Teacher Institutes
support two or three-day professional development institutes for teachers and
administrators on-site in rural school districts throughout Arizona. Presented
by Arts Commission staff and Arizona teaching artists, the Institutes help
teachers in rural schools learn skills to teach using the arts and implement the
Arizona arts standards.
2000
In a public and private partnership with the Arizona Community
Foundation, the Arizona Humanities Council and the Arizona Department of
Commerce, the Arts and Culture Build Communities supports planning and
implementation of projects with ethnic or rural arts/cultural or heritage
organizations that support a community’s cultural resources through economic and
tourism development strategies and supported by interest income from private
contributions to Arizona ArtShare. The program is now called The Arts Link to
Tourism and the Economy.
2001
The agency participates in a nine-month Sunset Audit by the
Auditor General. Legislation is introduced and passes in the 2002 session,
reauthorizing the agency for 10 more years.
2002
The Wallace-Reader’s Digest Funds (now The Wallace Foundation)
selects Arizona as one of 13 states to participate in a national research
project, exploring new strategies in building public participation in the arts.
The Commission designs the Understanding Participation project (UP) as a
learning opportunity between the state arts agency, consultants in the areas of
arts participation, and Arizona’s arts organizations, communities and artists.
The project brings together national research and technical assistance combined
with local research and experiments to result in broadening, deepening and
diversifying participation in the arts.
2003
The Arts Commission closed its longest running program this year. The
Traveling Exhibitions Program brought artwork to a variety of locations
around the state, offering a number of easy-to-order gallery exhibitions. Over
time the agency noted the decline in usage as other options became available.
Arts organizations who used to exhibit Traveling Exhibitions began to curate
their own exhibitions and also obtain art work from other organizations. The
Traveling Exhibition was an extraordinarily successful program and we celebrate
its success. The agency played a leadership role with the creation of
Alliance for Audience/Showup.com. This new Valley-wide organization will
activate new audiences and provide instant online information about arts and
culture. Working with a graphic artist, the agency created a deck of playing
cards to promote the arts in the state. The deck of cards, titled 52
Reasons, contained information about Arizona arts organizations and
artists demonstrating the public value of the state’s investment. The national
printer donated the printing of the project and the cards were distributed at
the annual Governor's Arts Awards ceremony.
Arizona Arts Roster online
database.
2004
The Arts Commission closed its longest running program this year. The
Traveling Exhibitions Program brought artwork to a variety of locations around
the state, offering a number of easy-to-order gallery exhibitions. Over time the
agency noted the decline in usage as other options became available. Arts
organizations who used to exhibit Traveling Exhibitions began to curate their
own exhibitions and also obtain art work from other organizations. The Traveling
Exhibition was an extraordinarily successful program and we celebrate its
success. The agency played a leadership role with the creation of Alliance for
Audience/Showup.com. This new Valley-wide organization will activate new
audiences and provide instant online information about arts and culture. Working
with a graphic artist, the agency created a deck of playing cards to promote the
arts in the state. The deck of cards, titled 52 Reasons, contained
information about Arizona arts organizations and artists demonstrating the
public value of the state’s investment. The national printer donated the
printing of the project and the cards were distributed at the annual Governor's
Arts Awards ceremony.
Peer Consultants Roster Online.
Announcing the Commission’s new pilot program: Open Door Support. ODS is
year-round, flexible financial support for arts organizations working to
understand and build participation
2005
Conducts statewide Listening Tours in preparation for new strategic plan
2006-2010.
Artist Career Advancement Grants
Building Your Career Forum, held in conjunction with the
LEAD/Leadership Exchange in Arts and Disability Training Conference in October
2005. A forum for Arizona artists with disabilities, and those who work to
develop creative career opportunities for Arizonans. A professional development,
networking and solution-building conference for Arizona artists with
disabilities, arts managers, presenters, publishers and exhibitors in both the
commercial and nonprofit sectors, people in government and services who work
with artists and/or people with disabilities.
Initiates Folk Arts Apprenticeship Program with the Southwest Center at the
University of Arizona, funded by the National Endowment for the Arts.
Launches EGOR (Electronic Grants Online Resource) for
electronic submission of organization proposals, retrieval of information and
ability to analyze trends of the Arizona arts industry.
APPLE Corps ends.
2006
Creative Capital, American Masterpieces, AZ911
Memorial
National and Regional
Affiliations
The Arizona Commission on the Arts participates in the
programs of the Western States Arts Federation. Focused services include fee
support to presenters of the performing arts, the WESTAF Book Awards and
Tumblewords for writers, technical assistance and consultant services, and
promotion of the arts in and of the Western United States, including online
registers for visual, performing and literary artists.
The Arizona Commission on the Arts is also a member of
the National Assembly of State Arts Agencies, Americans for the Arts and The
Association of American Cultures.
Historical Summary
In its first year of existence, the Commission sponsored
32 events, serving a small arts constituency. Since that time, migration to the
Southwest has multiplied the population of Arizona by several times, increasing
the demand for the arts. Criss-crossing the state are hundreds of arts and
community organizations, dedicated to making their communities better places in
which to live, work and play. The organizations receiving Commission support
reach or touch more than eight million people annually.
The commitment to continued cultural development in
Arizona is a challenge shared by arts organizations, artists, audiences and the
Arizona Commission on the Arts.
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