Live the Arts in Iowa!

It's a new visibility campaign for the arts in Iowa, and its success depends on how many places we can get it out there! A simple concept, really: if you present or exhibit or produce the arts in Iowa -- IN ANY WAY -- download this Live the Arts in Iowa image and show it proudly at your venue.

When you attend arts events -- ask them if they're part of Live the Arts in Iowa, and encourage the presenters to show this image proudly.

Take a picture when you see Live the Arts in Iowa displayed somewhere, and share it on our Facebook page (see link on this page).

The more places we see this image in Iowa, the more we'll be sending a message that the arts can be found all over our state, in communities large and small, and impacting people of all ages. That's great!

From one Blog to Another

I recently ran across a blog published by Springboard for the Arts, a Minnesota nonprofit organization that's all about helping artists and arts organizations with the business side of what they do. I was surprised & happy to see a post all about Iowa! Springboard's director, Laura Zabel, had been to Cedar Rapids in August to work with folks from the Iowa Cultural Corridor Alliance. She was full of great things to say about Cedar Rapids and the folks she worked with and saw there, including a great young blues pianist, Chase Garrett.

Check it out!

Budget Cuts

As you likely have heard, Governor Culver has implemented a 10% across-the-board reduction in state agency funding. Agencies are working hard this week to develop plans for addressing this reduction. For the Iowa Arts Council, 10% is $113,746.

While there's little to report at this stage about how this cut will impact the IAC, you should know two things: 1) there will indeed be an impact, and 2) the IAC will not go away -- we will still be here working as creatively as we can to support all the arts in Iowa, through grants, communications, networking, and technical assistance.

In addition, we know that all of YOU will still be here. In good funding times and bad, the creative work of Iowa artists and arts organizations is plentiful and astounding. Keep doing it. Don't quit. We all need it.

From the mouth of our nation's First Lady

First Lady Michelle Obama hosted a concert on September 28 at the Pittsburgh Creative & Performing Arts School for its students and the spouses of international leaders deliberating at the G-20 economic summit. Her address preceded performances by guests Sara Bareilles, Yo-Yo Ma and Trisha Yearwood. Here is just one quotable moment from her speech, from a transcript issued by the White House:
"Both individually and collectively, we all have a stake in the arts, every single one of us. And you don't need to be rich or powerful to lift your voice in song or get out of your seat and shake your groove thing. You don't need to be a Van Gogh to paint a picture, or a Maya Angelou to write a poem. You don't need a Grammy or an Oscar or an Emmy to make your work on the cultural life of your community or your country a valuable one.
"And ... people who might not speak a single word of the same language, who might not have a single shared experience, might still be drawn together when their hearts are lifted by the notes of a song, or their souls are stirred by a vision on a canvas.
"That is the power of the arts -- to remind us of what we each have to offer, and what we all have in common; to help us understand our history and imagine our future; to give us hope in the moments of struggle; and to bring us together when nothing else will."

Stabilizing our Cultural Organizations -- for the Long Haul!

The Iowa Cultural Trust exists to affirm that if Iowa's cultural organizations are going to be real contributors to cultural vitality, they need to have their basics in line: they need to know how to manage their money, plan and spend with a long future in mind, and make use of the best resources available to help them do that.

With that in mind, the Cultural Trust has announced its first grant program: Cultural Trust Stability Grants. These small grants (up to $2,500) will help Iowa cultural organizations reach goals of fiscal stability and institute best practices in organizational strategic planning and management.

Stability Grants are intended to make measurable changes in the ability of cultural organizations to be financially stable and sustainable. Applicants may request up to $2,500, but no more than 50% of the total project cost. All requests must show a dollar-for-dollar cash match. Applications are due to the Cultural Trust by 4:30 p.m. Nov. 16, 2009 for projects occurring between Jan. 1 and Dec. 31, 2010. The web page has more details.

Here's some help: We're offering one-hour webinar training sessions for the new grant. These will be:
Thursday, Oct. 8 at 2 p.m. and
Friday, Oct. 9 at 9 a.m.
Register for the webinar by e-mailing staci.nevinski@iowa.gov. She'll send you instructions for connecting to a session. Make sure to specify which session you wish to attend. You must have both a phone and internet connection to participate.

Big Issues - Big Discussion - Your Voice

This is exciting. Barry's Blog, a feature of the Western States Arts Federation, (WESTAF) is about to launch a nationwide online conversation about the role of the National Endowment for the Arts, and national arts and culture policy in general. All of us can follow it, and all of us can participate.

Here's the deal: Every Tuesday for six weeks, begining September 15, WESTAF leaders will frame a new set of questions for a new panel of arts leaders to consider. It will all occur online, within Barry's Blog. Each panel will represent a different group of stakeholders: artists, arts education, former NEA leaders, funders, etc. Panelists will chew on the questions by commenting online, and the rest of us can join in with our own thoughts -- or just follow along with the conversation online. In week 7, WESTAF will publish a synopsis of the themes and topics that came up over the course of the conversation.

Voices from the Midwest are important in this conversation, and Iowa has a lot to contribute. I encourage you - don't be left out!

Coming together

There was a remarkable gathering in the Quad Cities earlier this week. The Quad Cities Convention & Visitors Bureau, with support & collaboration from Quad City Arts, managed to pull together a first-ever gathering of about 100 representatives from 60-some arts & culture organizations (with a smattering of other CVBs, economic developers, funders, and other interested parties). They were all there to talk about how they can work better together than separately on things like marketing their region's fantastic cultural opportunities, collecting data on the impact of what they all do, and just breaking down the walls built by city or county boundaries, and that big river that flows through their region.

Healthy conversation occurred - the critical first step. What's the benefit of working together? How have other places done this? If we want a formalized connection, who should be in charge of making it happen, how much will it cost, and what exactly will happen? How important are measurable goals, as opposed to just starting with some networking? Who pays for what, and when?

Folks from the Iowa Cultural Corridor Alliance were there to lend neighborly support and examples -- and a vision of what (maybe) could be.

This is good work. Kudos to the good start that was made in the Quad Cities. For the good ideas and good discussions to move forward as real action, it's going to require somebody to put some skin in the game -- work time, work space, plain old initiative. We're rooting for you all, and really hopeful that this is the right time, and you've got the right people to make great things happen.