Dates to Remember
March 1: Visual Images Registry applications due
March 2: Fiscal Year 2010 applications and interim reports due
March 5: Poetry Out Loud
April 2: Finding the Gold – 2009 Governor’s Tourism conference
The Joint Finance Committee of the Delaware General Assembly will be reviewing the Department of State (including Division of the Arts) budget on Wednesday, February 25 at 1:30 p.m. in the Senate Chambers (Legislative Hall). This is a public hearing, and members of the community are permitted to speak during the public comment period.
You Are Invited! Poetry Out Loud State Finals to be held on March 5
The public is invited to Delaware's State Finals of Poetry Out Loud, the 4th annual national poetry recitation contest to be held at 7 p.m. on Thursday, March 5 at the Smyrna Opera House. Students from thirteen schools throughout the state will compete. The winner will go on to compete in the national finals in Washington DC in late April. Admission is free. For more information, visit www.artsdel.org/poetryoutloud/
Public Value of the Arts
At a time when very difficult decisions are being made about public support for a host of critical needs, presenting the public value of the arts is even more important. Simply talking about the great programming that you are doing is not enough. Public support is predicated upon the assumption of public value.
How does your arts programming contribute to:
- Economic activity in your community (jobs, consumer spending, etc.)
- Increased state and local revenue (taxes)
- Attracting new and retaining existing businesses
- Education initiatives of schools and community organizations
- Civic engagement (broad-based participation)
- Enhanced quality of life for individuals and communities
- Collaborative initiatives with partner organization
If you can convey your programming in these terms, then you are demonstrating the public value of the arts that you create and present.
Visit our advocacy web page (www.artsdel.org/advocacy) for a wealth of research, resources, and tips to help your organization make the case for the public value of the arts.
Remember, advocacy is everyone’s responsibility: board members, staff members, audience members, and patrons.
Design Delaware: Strategic Planning for the Division of the Arts
Strategic planning is valuable, even in unpredictable times. Examining the present and visioning the future provide guidance, direction, and purpose for what we do.
The Division of the Arts is engaged in a multi-pronged strategic planning process to gather input from constituents, evaluate its programs and services, and develop a plan for the future. Through individual interviews, focus groups, online surveys, and public meetings, the Division’s goal is to create a plan that is comprehensive, adaptable to a changing environment, and responsive to the needs of its constituents.
Coming up in mid-February, Division staff will be meeting with representatives of arts and community-based organizations presently receiving public funding. Subsequent focus groups will be scheduled to hear from individual artists, educators, and general patrons. The Division is also developing targeted online surveys to solicit additional input during the planning process.
At any time, you are welcome to submit comments, questions, and concerns to the Division through: http://www.artsdel.org/feedback/feedback.shtml.
Finally, the Division will be hosting public meetings to review and comment on the goals and objectives that culminate from this process, goals to move the Division forward in its efforts to nurture and support the arts "to enhance the quality of life for all Delawareans."
Kennedy Center Launches Initiative to Help Struggling Arts Groups
The Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., has announced a new initiative designed to help nonprofit arts organizations that are struggling to stay afloat during the current recession, the Washington Post reports.
The program, Arts in Crisis: A Kennedy Center Initiative, is a high-tech support service through which arts administrators can have confidential discussions with the center's executive staff about issues such as shrinking income sources, fundraising, budgeting, marketing, the use of technology, and other areas pertinent to maintaining a vital performing arts organization in a troubled economy. Any nonprofit arts group may sign up to receive assistance, which will be provided via e-mail, phone, Web chats, and/or site visits.
Visual Images Registry
The Visual Images Registry (VIR) contains images and information about Delaware visual artists for use by anyone interested in artists’ work. Artists in the VIR are also reviewed for exhibitions in the Division's Mezzanine Gallery. Professionals in the visual arts who are Delaware residents, at least 18 years of age, and not enrolled in a degree-granting educational program, may establish a file in the VIR.
Applications for the Visual Images Registry are due by March 1, 2009 for Mezzanine Gallery consideration. Note: All 2009 Fellowship applicants have current VIR files.
Individual Artists Recognized
Ten individual artists have been awarded fellowships from the Delaware Division of the Arts for 2009 in the areas of the visual arts, literature, and music. Congratulations to: Ronald Brignac, Robert Davis, Liz Dolan, Eileen Grycky, Ramona Long, Ronald Longsdorf, Abby Millager, Christiaan Taggert, Stephen Ruszkowski, and Nancy Carol Willis. Click here for more information.
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