Our new website launched in December 2013. This exceptional foundation made possible some of our most robust technological projects that all aim to connect peers, leaders, and administrators to share information, success stories, and possible solutions to common problems.
National Cultural Districts Exchange
In December 2014, Americans for the Arts launched the National Cultural Districts Exchange, a new web-based resource produced in part with the generous support of the National Endowment for the Arts. The Exchange includes a host of tools and resources specific to cultural districts, and hopes to serve as a “one-stop shop” for information about cultural districts. Cultural districts play an important role in helping to strengthen local economies, create an enhanced sense of place, and deepen local cultural capacity. Available on the site are in-depth essays about financing mechanisms, marketing strategies, and other core topics specific to managing cultural districts, along with detailed how-to guides and sample organizing documents.
Listen to Americans for the Arts President and CEO Robert L. Lynch introduce the Cultural Districts Exchange
Public Art Network Year in Review Database
In summer 2014, Americans for the Arts launched the Public Art Network (PAN) Year in Review Database, enabling users to search and find details about recognized past works. The database currently includes works from 2006 - 2013, and is soon to include works from 2000 - 2005 as well. This search tool was designed to inspire and inform other public art projects across the country, and provides invaluable data to assist in promoting talented artists and public art initiatives. The PAN Year in Review was created in 2000 to bring greater visibility and appreciation to public artists and the communities they serve, and each year hundreds of project applications are received, reviewed, and compiled, with the best being presented during the Americans for the Arts Annual Convention.
NIAHM Network & Directory
Americans for the Arts began creating the first directory of organizations and individuals across the country who are actively working to promote awareness of the arts in health, healing, and healthcare for military service members. We asked artists and local arts organizations that work to support the military to join the directory. The directory is currently posted on our website in PDF form and submissions are accepted on a rolling basis. This free service is part of the National Initiative for Arts and Health in the Military (NIAHM), which was created by Americans for the Arts in collaboration with the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, Veterans Health Administration, American Legion Auxiliary, and We Are Veterans/PBS Stories of Service.
Policy Roundtable on Arts & Technology
The Arts Leadership Roundtable took place from June 26-28 in Sun Valley, ID. The roundtable, which collectively convenes a group of artists, philanthropists, and thought leaders in lively dialogues that explore how we can create a more vibrant role for arts and culture, partnered this year with a collective group of artists and community leaders, rather than just one institution. The focus of the roundtable was the role of technology in the arts, and the connection between the two that can be utilized to ensure the prosperity of arts. Americans for the Arts President and CEO Robert L. Lynch reflected on the selection of Sun Valley as the location of the roundtable, “It attracts artists and it attracts business leaders and patron leaders, individual leaders. It attracts them here because of the natural beauty but also because that synergy of artists being here and people who appreciate the arts being here continues to build on itself and created more and more of an arts community.”