Creative Forces: NEA Military Healing Arts Network
With Americans for the Arts as the administrator of the cooperative agreement, the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) has expanded the number of sites participating in the Creative Forces project. New sites include Camp Pendleton, CA; Fort Carson, CO; Fort Hood, TX; Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, AK; Joint Base Lewis-McChord, WA; Camp Lejeune, NC, Fort Campbell, KY, as well as a VA medical center in Tampa and VA Telehealth project in Gainesville, FL.
Americans for the Arts is assisting the NEA in recruiting and contracting with arts and music therapists at new sites and working with state arts agencies to support the community engagement strategy complementing the clinical work at each location. The first expansion phase will run through December 2017; the second public announcement of the new sites is scheduled for March 28.
Animating Democracy receives two-year $100,000 grant from Hemera Foundation
Animating Democracy, through a grant from the Hemera Foundation, released its new evaluation framework, Aesthetic Perspectives: Attributes of Excellence in Arts for Change in April 2017. The framework offers 11 aesthetic attributes defined by artists and designed to enhance understanding and evaluation of Arts for Change — projects at the intersection of artistic creation and civic engagement, community development, and justice.
National Association of Counties Holds Arts & Culture Commission Mtg.
Americans for the Arts continues to have an active role at the National Association of Counties (NACO) national meetings. NACO held its legislative conference in D.C. with approximately 3,000 attendees. Americans for the Arts was the main speaker at their Arts & Culture Commission meeting giving a federal update and discussing our arts in the military work.
Further, the Arts & Cultural Commission arranged for multiple 2x3 foot posters on the economics of the arts for all attendees to see. Lastly, the Arts & Cultural Commission sponsored the Armed Forces Color Guard and U.S. Army Band which opened the first full day’s general session. Through 2017, Americans for the Arts published monthly NACO blog posts and wrote six articles in NACO’s print newspaper, County News.
Three-Year Initiative with NEA: State Policy Pilot Program
Thanks to a generous grant from the National Endowment for the Arts, Americans for the Arts hosted the State Policy Pilot Program (SP3) Summit — The Findings and Future of State Arts Education Policy and Advocacy on November 3. We shared the findings of SP3's three-year initiative and engaged education, arts, and other stakeholders to begin the dissemination process. The results of SP3 include numerous reports, case studies, and a network of state leaders ready to share their stories of enacting policy change and their advocacy experiences in advancing arts education across the nation.
Americans for the Arts Releases Arts Deployed: An Action Guide to Community Arts & Military Programming
On behalf of the Local Arts Advancement team, Animating Democracy collaborated with The National Initiative for Arts and Health in the Military to create a guide for artists and local arts agencies who are interested in implementing creative arts programming for their local service members, Veterans, and their families. Arts Deployed: An Action Guide to Community Arts & Military Programming helps local arts organizations and artists understand their unique roles in serving military members and Veterans and lays the groundwork for how arts organizations and artists can build their own local creative arts and military initiative.