Arts Midwest
Encyclopedia
Arts Midwest, headquartered in Minneapolis
, Minnesota
, is one of six not-for-profit
regional arts organization
s created to “encourage development of the arts and to support arts programs on a regional basis.” Arts Midwest's mission is to "promote creativity, nurture cultural leadership, and engage people in meaningful arts experiences, bringing vitality to Midwest communities and enriching people’s lives.” Arts Midwest is primarily funded by the National Endowment for the Arts
(NEA), and is charged with supporting artists and arts organizations, and providing assistance to its nine member states of Illinois
, Indiana
, Iowa
, Michigan
, Minnesota
, North Dakota
, Ohio
, South Dakota
, and Wisconsin
.
The legislation creating RAOs was introduced by Public Law 93-133. Since 1973, the United States Congress
has set aside a specific appropriation within the NEA budget for the states and their regional organizations. The RAOs, which include Arts Midwest, Mid-America Arts Alliance
, Mid Atlantic Arts Foundation
, the New England Foundation for the Arts
, South Arts
, and the Western States Arts Federation
, use this funding to coordinate the touring and presenting of visual and performing arts programs in the United States.
Arts Midwest was formed in 1985 through the merger of two RAOs, the Affiliated State Arts Agencies of the Upper Midwest and the Great Lakes Arts Alliance. It is supported by the NEA’s appropriation, as well as private support in the forms of individual gifts, corporate and foundation grants, and dues paid by member State Arts Agencies.
The Performing Arts Fund supports the inter-state touring of professional performing artists specializing in dance, theater, music, youth and family entertainment. Through this fund, Arts Midwest provides grants to presenting organizations to conduct public performances and educational activities to audiences in the Arts Midwest region.
The annual Midwest Arts Conference is a booking and educational conference for the performing arts in the U.S. The Conference is managed by Arts Midwest and serves the 15 states represented by Arts Midwest and Mid-America Arts Alliance.
ArtsLab is a learning and technical assistance program that aims strengthen to smaller arts organizations in Minnesota. ArtsLab is supported by a consortium of Twin Cities funders consisting of the Bush Foundation, F.R. Bigelow Foundation, Mardag Foundation, The McKnight Foundation, and The Saint Paul Foundation.
Arts Learning Xchange is a program that supports learning events and networking among Twin Cities
metro area arts organizations. It is funded by the Wallace Foundation in collaboration with Minnesota Community Foundation.
Arts Midwest manages several national initiatives for the National Endowment for the Arts:
Arts Midwest partnered with the Ohio Arts Council
and the Columbus Museum of Art
in 2000 to tour Illusions of Eden: Visions of the American Heartland. This exhibition focused on the American Midwest and included approximately 100 paintings and photographs created during the period between World War I
and World War II
. These works surrounded four large-scale sculptural projects created by contemporary artists Maya Lin
, Mary Lucier
, Kerry James Marshall
, and Malcolm Cochran. Illusions of Eden was organized around the themes of garden, home, work, word, and journey.
In 2002, Arts Midwest partnered with the Ludwig Museum in Budapest on The View from Here: Recent Pictures from Central Europe and the American Midwest, an exhibition that explored regional identity as envisioned by artists from the American Midwest and Central Europe
. Four themes shaped The View from Here: natural landscape, built or constructed environments, social commentaries gleaned through the artists’ observations and experiences, and reflections on cultural values.
Arts Midwest partnered with The Decorative Arts Center of Ohio in 2006 on the exhibition Russel Wright: Living with Good Design. The exhibition featured American designer Russel Wright’s
designs for housewares, furniture, appliances, and fabrics from the 1930s to the late 1950s.
In 2009, Arts Midwest and the Columbus Museum of Art organized Stories of the Somali Diaspora: Photographs by Abdi Roble. This exhibition consists of 55 black and white images documenting Somali
immigrants as they adjust to living in the United States. The exhibition is part of The Somali Documentary Project, a larger documentary initiative by the artist.
Minneapolis, Minnesota
Minneapolis , nicknamed "City of Lakes" and the "Mill City," is the county seat of Hennepin County, the largest city in the U.S. state of Minnesota, and the 48th largest in the United States...
, Minnesota
Minnesota
Minnesota is a U.S. state located in the Midwestern United States. The twelfth largest state of the U.S., it is the twenty-first most populous, with 5.3 million residents. Minnesota was carved out of the eastern half of the Minnesota Territory and admitted to the Union as the thirty-second state...
, is one of six not-for-profit
Non-profit organization
Nonprofit organization is neither a legal nor technical definition but generally refers to an organization that uses surplus revenues to achieve its goals, rather than distributing them as profit or dividends...
regional arts organization
Regional arts council (RAO)
The US Regional Arts Organizations are six not-for-profit entities created to encourage development of the arts and to support arts programs on a regional basis...
s created to “encourage development of the arts and to support arts programs on a regional basis.” Arts Midwest's mission is to "promote creativity, nurture cultural leadership, and engage people in meaningful arts experiences, bringing vitality to Midwest communities and enriching people’s lives.” Arts Midwest is primarily funded by the National Endowment for the Arts
National Endowment for the Arts
The National Endowment for the Arts is an independent agency of the United States federal government that offers support and funding for projects exhibiting artistic excellence. It was created by an act of the U.S. Congress in 1965 as an independent agency of the federal government. Its current...
(NEA), and is charged with supporting artists and arts organizations, and providing assistance to its nine member states of Illinois
Illinois
Illinois is the fifth-most populous state of the United States of America, and is often noted for being a microcosm of the entire country. With Chicago in the northeast, small industrial cities and great agricultural productivity in central and northern Illinois, and natural resources like coal,...
, Indiana
Indiana
Indiana is a US state, admitted to the United States as the 19th on December 11, 1816. It is located in the Midwestern United States and Great Lakes Region. With 6,483,802 residents, the state is ranked 15th in population and 16th in population density. Indiana is ranked 38th in land area and is...
, Iowa
Iowa
Iowa is a state located in the Midwestern United States, an area often referred to as the "American Heartland". It derives its name from the Ioway people, one of the many American Indian tribes that occupied the state at the time of European exploration. Iowa was a part of the French colony of New...
, Michigan
Michigan
Michigan is a U.S. state located in the Great Lakes Region of the United States of America. The name Michigan is the French form of the Ojibwa word mishigamaa, meaning "large water" or "large lake"....
, Minnesota
Minnesota
Minnesota is a U.S. state located in the Midwestern United States. The twelfth largest state of the U.S., it is the twenty-first most populous, with 5.3 million residents. Minnesota was carved out of the eastern half of the Minnesota Territory and admitted to the Union as the thirty-second state...
, North Dakota
North Dakota
North Dakota is a state located in the Midwestern region of the United States of America, along the Canadian border. The state is bordered by Canada to the north, Minnesota to the east, South Dakota to the south and Montana to the west. North Dakota is the 19th-largest state by area in the U.S....
, Ohio
Ohio
Ohio is a Midwestern state in the United States. The 34th largest state by area in the U.S.,it is the 7th‑most populous with over 11.5 million residents, containing several major American cities and seven metropolitan areas with populations of 500,000 or more.The state's capital is Columbus...
, South Dakota
South Dakota
South Dakota is a state located in the Midwestern region of the United States. It is named after the Lakota and Dakota Sioux American Indian tribes. Once a part of Dakota Territory, South Dakota became a state on November 2, 1889. The state has an area of and an estimated population of just over...
, and Wisconsin
Wisconsin
Wisconsin is a U.S. state located in the north-central United States and is part of the Midwest. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake Michigan to the east, Michigan to the northeast, and Lake Superior to the north. Wisconsin's capital is...
.
History
Regional arts programs first emerged in the late 1960s in response to a need for greater access to performing arts touring in areas isolated from major cultural centers. The development of RAOs was encouraged in 1973 by the NEA House reauthorizing committee, which stated its belief that:- Cooperation among states in their activities to support the arts can significantly serve the purposes of this act… It is felt that the regional approach would better serve the cultural needs of the people in many areas by allowing the full utilization of the resources of several states to be brought to bear where special needs exist.
The legislation creating RAOs was introduced by Public Law 93-133. Since 1973, the United States Congress
United States Congress
The United States Congress is the bicameral legislature of the federal government of the United States, consisting of the Senate and the House of Representatives. The Congress meets in the United States Capitol in Washington, D.C....
has set aside a specific appropriation within the NEA budget for the states and their regional organizations. The RAOs, which include Arts Midwest, Mid-America Arts Alliance
Mid-America Arts Alliance
The Mid-America Arts Alliance , headquartered in Kansas City, Missouri, is one of six not-for-profit regional arts organizations funded by the National Endowment for the Arts...
, Mid Atlantic Arts Foundation
Mid Atlantic Arts Foundation
The Mid Atlantic Arts Foundation , headquartered in Baltimore, Maryland, is one of six not-for-profit regional arts organizations funded by the National Endowment for the Arts . Founded in 1979, MAAF works to "promote and support multi-state arts programming"...
, the New England Foundation for the Arts
New England Foundation for the Arts
The New England Foundation for the Arts , headquartered in Boston, Massachusetts, is one of six not-for-profit regional arts organizations funded by the National Endowment for the Arts and by private foundations, corporations and individuals...
, South Arts
Southern Arts Federation
South Arts, formerly the Southern Arts Federation, headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, is one of six not-for-profit regional arts organizations funded by the National Endowment for the Arts...
, and the Western States Arts Federation
Western States Arts Federation
The Western States Arts Federation , headquartered in Denver, Colorado, is one of six not-for-profit regional arts organizations funded by the National Endowment for the Arts . Founded in 1974, WESTAF fulfills its mission to strengthen the financial, organizational and policy infrastructure of the...
, use this funding to coordinate the touring and presenting of visual and performing arts programs in the United States.
Arts Midwest was formed in 1985 through the merger of two RAOs, the Affiliated State Arts Agencies of the Upper Midwest and the Great Lakes Arts Alliance. It is supported by the NEA’s appropriation, as well as private support in the forms of individual gifts, corporate and foundation grants, and dues paid by member State Arts Agencies.
Programs
Arts Midwest World Fest identifies and tours global music ensembles to small and rural Midwest communities to conduct week-long residencies. Residencies include public performances; workshops and concerts with K – 12 students; and community outreach activities.The Performing Arts Fund supports the inter-state touring of professional performing artists specializing in dance, theater, music, youth and family entertainment. Through this fund, Arts Midwest provides grants to presenting organizations to conduct public performances and educational activities to audiences in the Arts Midwest region.
The annual Midwest Arts Conference is a booking and educational conference for the performing arts in the U.S. The Conference is managed by Arts Midwest and serves the 15 states represented by Arts Midwest and Mid-America Arts Alliance.
ArtsLab is a learning and technical assistance program that aims strengthen to smaller arts organizations in Minnesota. ArtsLab is supported by a consortium of Twin Cities funders consisting of the Bush Foundation, F.R. Bigelow Foundation, Mardag Foundation, The McKnight Foundation, and The Saint Paul Foundation.
Arts Learning Xchange is a program that supports learning events and networking among Twin Cities
Twin cities
Twin cities are a special case of two cities or urban centres which are founded in close geographic proximity and then grow into each other over time...
metro area arts organizations. It is funded by the Wallace Foundation in collaboration with Minnesota Community Foundation.
Arts Midwest manages several national initiatives for the National Endowment for the Arts:
- The Big Read is an initiative of the NEA in partnership with Arts Midwest and the Institute of Museum and Library ServicesInstitute of Museum and Library ServicesThe Institute of Museum and Library Services is an independent agency of the United States federal government established in 1996. It is the main source of federal support for libraries and museums within the United States, having the mission to "create strong libraries and museums that connect...
. It was created in response to Reading at Risk: A Survey of Literary Reading in America, a report issued in July 2004 by the NEA that identified issues facing literary reading. The mission of the Big Read is “to bring together partners across the country to encourage citizens to read for pleasure and enlightenment.”
- Since 2008, Arts Midwest has coordinated an international component of this program, The Big Read Egypt/U.S. The Big Read Egypt/U.S. is a Global Cultural Initiative project of the U.S. Department of State and the NEA in partnership with Arts Midwest, the U.S. Embassy in Cairo, and the Institute of Museum and Library Services. The program has introduced communities in Egypt to American literature: Fahrenheit 451Fahrenheit 451Fahrenheit 451 is a 1953 dystopian novel by Ray Bradbury. The novel presents a future American society where reading is outlawed and firemen start fires to burn books...
(Ray BradburyRay BradburyRay Douglas Bradbury is an American fantasy, horror, science fiction, and mystery writer. Best known for his dystopian novel Fahrenheit 451 and for the science fiction stories gathered together as The Martian Chronicles and The Illustrated Man , Bradbury is one of the most celebrated among 20th...
),To Kill A MockingbirdTo Kill a MockingbirdTo Kill a Mockingbird is a novel by Harper Lee published in 1960. It was instantly successful, winning the Pulitzer Prize, and has become a classic of modern American literature...
(Harper LeeHarper LeeNelle Harper Lee is an American author known for her 1960 Pulitzer-Prize-winning novel To Kill a Mockingbird, which deals with the issues of racism that were observed by the author as a child in her hometown of Monroeville, Alabama...
), and The Grapes of WrathThe Grapes of WrathThe Grapes of Wrath is a novel published in 1939 and written by John Steinbeck, who was awarded the Pulitzer Prize in 1940 and the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1962....
(John SteinbeckJohn SteinbeckJohn Ernst Steinbeck, Jr. was an American writer. He is widely known for the Pulitzer Prize-winning novel The Grapes of Wrath and East of Eden and the novella Of Mice and Men...
), and has exposed US communities to Egyptian author Naguib Mahfouz’sNaguib MahfouzNaguib Mahfouz was an Egyptian writer who won the 1988 Nobel Prize for Literature. He is regarded as one of the first contemporary writers of Arabic literature, along with Tawfiq el-Hakim, to explore themes of existentialism. He published over 50 novels, over 350 short stories, dozens of movie...
The Thief and the DogsThe Thief and the DogsThe Thief and the Dogs is one of the Egyptian author Naguib Mahfouz's most celebrated works. He further developed his theme of existentialism using stream-of-consciousness and surrealist techniques...
.
- Shakespeare in American Communities supports professional theatrical productions of William ShakespeareWilliam ShakespeareWilliam Shakespeare was an English poet and playwright, widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's national poet and the "Bard of Avon"...
for middle and high school students by annually providing grants to professional theater companies.
- NEA Jazz Masters Live supports programs that feature and honor NEA Jazz MastersNEA Jazz MastersThe National Endowment for the Arts , every year honors up to seven jazz musicians with Jazz Master Awards. The National Endowment for the Arts Jazz Masters Fellowships are the highest honors that the United States bestows upon jazz musicians...
. The initiative aims to introduce audiences to the genre of American JazzJazzJazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...
and its musicians.
Past Programs
In 2009, Arts Midwest worked in collaboration with its partner RAOs on Global Positioning Strategy for the Arts: Recommitting America to International Cultural Exchange, a report that outlines a set of policy recommendations for the Obama Administration on increasing investment in and capacity for international cultural exchange.Arts Midwest partnered with the Ohio Arts Council
Ohio Arts Council
The Ohio Arts Council is an agency serving the U.S. state of Ohio.Established in 1965, its mission is to "foster and encourage the development of the arts and assist the preservation of Ohio's cultural heritage." Each year it awards grants to arts organizations and individuals throughout the state...
and the Columbus Museum of Art
Columbus Museum of Art
The Columbus Museum of Art is an art museum located in downtown Columbus, Ohio. Formed in 1878 as the Columbus Gallery of Fine Arts, it was the first art museum to register its charter with the state of Ohio.-Building:...
in 2000 to tour Illusions of Eden: Visions of the American Heartland. This exhibition focused on the American Midwest and included approximately 100 paintings and photographs created during the period between World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
and World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
. These works surrounded four large-scale sculptural projects created by contemporary artists Maya Lin
Maya Lin
Maya Ying Lin is an American artist who is known for her work in sculpture and landscape art. She is the designer of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C.-Personal life:...
, Mary Lucier
Mary Lucier
Mary Lucier is an American artist who has worked in many mediums including sculpture, photography, and performance. Concentrating primarily on video and installation since 1973, she has produced numerous multiple- and single-channel pieces...
, Kerry James Marshall
Kerry James Marshall
Kerry James Marshall is an artist born in Birmingham, Alabama. He grew up in South Central Los Angeles and now lives in Chicago where he previously taught at the School of Art and Design at the University of Illinois at Chicago...
, and Malcolm Cochran. Illusions of Eden was organized around the themes of garden, home, work, word, and journey.
In 2002, Arts Midwest partnered with the Ludwig Museum in Budapest on The View from Here: Recent Pictures from Central Europe and the American Midwest, an exhibition that explored regional identity as envisioned by artists from the American Midwest and Central Europe
Central Europe
Central Europe or alternatively Middle Europe is a region of the European continent lying between the variously defined areas of Eastern and Western Europe...
. Four themes shaped The View from Here: natural landscape, built or constructed environments, social commentaries gleaned through the artists’ observations and experiences, and reflections on cultural values.
Arts Midwest partnered with The Decorative Arts Center of Ohio in 2006 on the exhibition Russel Wright: Living with Good Design. The exhibition featured American designer Russel Wright’s
Russel Wright
Russel Wright was an American Industrial designer during the 20th century. Beginning in the late 1920s through the 1960s, Russel Wright created a succession of artistically distinctive and commercially successful items that helped bring modern design to the general public.-Designer:Russel...
designs for housewares, furniture, appliances, and fabrics from the 1930s to the late 1950s.
In 2009, Arts Midwest and the Columbus Museum of Art organized Stories of the Somali Diaspora: Photographs by Abdi Roble. This exhibition consists of 55 black and white images documenting Somali
Somali people
Somalis are an ethnic group located in the Horn of Africa, also known as the Somali Peninsula. The overwhelming majority of Somalis speak the Somali language, which is part of the Cushitic branch of the Afro-Asiatic language family...
immigrants as they adjust to living in the United States. The exhibition is part of The Somali Documentary Project, a larger documentary initiative by the artist.
Partners
- Illinois Arts CouncilIllinois Arts CouncilThe Illinois Arts Council is a government agency of the state of Illinois formed to encourage development of the arts throughout Illinois. Founded in 1965 by the Illinois General Assembly, the Illinois Arts Council provides financial and technical assistance to artists, arts organizations, and...
- Indiana Arts Commission
- Iowa Arts Council
- Michigan Council for Arts and Cultural Affairs
- Minnesota State Arts Board
- North Dakota Council on the Arts
- Ohio Arts CouncilOhio Arts CouncilThe Ohio Arts Council is an agency serving the U.S. state of Ohio.Established in 1965, its mission is to "foster and encourage the development of the arts and assist the preservation of Ohio's cultural heritage." Each year it awards grants to arts organizations and individuals throughout the state...
- South Dakota Arts Council
- Wisconsin Arts Board