Priority Issue: Community Development through the Fine Arts
Did You Know?
"America’s Nonprofit Arts Industry Generates $135.2 Billion in Economic Activity and Supports 4.1 Million Jobs According to Americans for the Arts’ Arts & Economic Prosperity IV™ Study" - Americans for the Arts Press Release, 06/08/12
http://www.artsusa.org/news/press/2012/2012_05_31.asp
Successful Programming Examples
"Tracy, Minnesota, with a stable population of 2,128, is an agricultural community in Southwestern Minnesota...The arts are remarkably strong in this small community...Why is Tracy, Minnesota such an active center for arts and culture, when other small rural communities struggle to preserve artistic or cultural expression?" - from Thriving Arts: Thriving Small Communities
The report, Thriving Arts: Thriving Small Communities, by Sharon Rodning Bash, the Metropolitan Regional Arts Council's Director of Management Training and Services, shares the findings of a year-long study funded by the Bush Foundation that sought to discover whether there were critical ingredients or common themes necessary to build long-term viability for the arts in rural and exurban communities.
On the web at http://www.mrac.org/resources/index.html
Colquitt, GA - Swamp Gravy presentation at the 2012 Brushy Fork Institute held at Berea College, KY. Details here.