Museums for All is a cooperative initiative between the Association of Children’s Museums (ACM) and the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) to offer a signature access program that encourages families of all backgrounds to visit museums regularly and build lifelong museum habits. Museums for All is a way to broaden a museum’s visitor base and reach out to underserved communities. The following program evaluation gathered information from participating Museums for All organizations about how their participation
in the initiative influenced their access programs, internal processes, partnerships, and visitors.
State Arts Agency Revenues
Twice yearly, the National Assembly of State Arts Agencies (NASAA) reports revenue information for state arts agencies (SAAs). This report provides information on financial support for the arts and places individual SAAs’ funding within the context of national trends. Appropriations for the arts will fluctuate throughout the year as legislatures reconsider state budgets in light of shifting revenue projections. Figures included in this report reflect enacted funding levels for fiscal year 2019 (which began in July 2018 for most states) as well as revised FY2018 budgets. NASAA monitors appropriations changes, and will report updates in summer 2019.
This research presents detailed information on state arts agency revenues. While appropriations from state legislatures are the primary revenue source for most agencies, NASAA’s revenues survey also tracks information on funding that state arts agencies receive from the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA), supplemental state revenue streams, and private and miscellaneous sources of support. Included in the analysis are state-by-state comparisons of funding levels, per capita rankings and line item information, as well as discussions of the SAA revenue outlook in the context of state budgets and inflation. Explore our interactive visualizations for a more in-depth look at SAA revenues.
State arts agencies use their funds to support a wide variety of programs and services that make the arts more accessible to the public. They stimulate the marketplace for cultural activities, spur local and private
investment in the work of artists and arts organizations across the country, and help states and jurisdictions achieve their economic development, education and community enhancement goals. To learn more about how state arts agencies use the funds they receive, visit nasaa-arts.org.
Re-Tool: Racial Equity in the Panel Process
Valuing racial equity requires examining how our organizational practices can
support equitable outcomes by assessing/addressing racial disparities and
inequity. The panel process involves a system of often unquestioned activities–assumed to be inherently impartial-that directly impact funding outcomes.
To address racial equity in the panel process, we must actively investigate
who has access to opportunities and who doesn’t. Put another way, anti-racist grantmakers must design and implement systems and protocols that increase access and decrease barriers for historically under-resourced groups. We must ask ourselves: Who submits applications? Who do we award? How do we train panel moderators, panelists, and facilitators? In what ways can we interrupt racial bias and contribute to systemic change?
By interrogating every step of the process from applicant pool, to the selection and training of panelists, to the panel experience and outcomes, as well as our communication with grant-seeking artists and organizations every step of the way, we can apply a racial equity lens to grantmaking and move from being part of the problem to being part of the solution.
Art Museum Staff Demographic Survey
Ithaka S+R, The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, the Association of Art Museum Directors (AAMD), and the American Alliance of Museums (AAM) set out to quantify with demographic data an issue that has been of increasing concern within and beyond the arts community: the lack of representative diversity in professional museum roles. Our analysis found there were structural barriers to entry in these positions for people of color.
Creative Placemaking on Vacant Properties: Lessons Learned from Four Cities
In this report, we explore how four cities use creative placemaking on vacant
properties: Kalamazoo, Michigan; Wilkinsburg, Pennsylvania; Newburgh, New York; and Macon, Georgia. We will highlight their work, the impacts of their efforts, challenges they faced and lessons learned about how local governments, community organizations, and artists can use arts- and culture-based approaches to arrest the decline of neighborhoods affected by vacant properties.
Community Progress engaged Metris Arts Consulting, a firm that provides
planning, research, and evaluation services to reveal arts’ impacts and help
communities equitably improve cultural vitality. Metris brought to the project its deep knowledge of arts and culture, particularly as they intersect with community planning and engagement. Metris’ prior work on creative placemaking in communities across the country greatly informs our efforts on this project.
This report is not intended to be an exhaustive review of prior studies and
literature on this topic, but a slice of real-world experience from four communities grappling with high rates of vacancy and using creative means to mitigate the problems it causes. This report does, however, integrate findings from Metris’ and Community Progress’ related past work and existing knowledge of creative placemaking and vacant property revitalization.
Creative Placemaking and Expansion of Opportunity
Kresge has defined creative placemaking as the integration of arts, culture, and community-engaged design strategies into community development and urban planning. The paper Creative Placemaking and Expansion of Opportunity: Observations and Reflections offers ideas and critical needs as the field continues to develop through leaders, practitioners, philanthropy, and community members interested in building healthy, equitable communities.
A clear understanding of the sources and consequences of urban inequality, including its historic roots, and reframing the rule of arts, culture, and design in vulnerable communities, are among the field’s needs identified in the paper written by Maria Rosario Jackson, senior advisor with Kresge’s Arts & Culture Program.
