NEA Study on Individual Artists

The National Endowment for the Arts just released "Artists in the Workforce: 1990-2005," the first nationwide look at artists' demographic and employment patterns in the 21st century." Artists in the Workforce" analyzes working artist trends, gathering new statistics from the U.S. Census Bureau to provide a comprehensive overview of this workforce segment, its maturation over the past 30 years, along with detailed information on specific artist occupations.

As a leader among artist-centered organizations, the Alliance is thrilled to have this much-needed data to provide important benchmarks on how we as a field are supporting today's artists. more >>

It's All Connected: The Context of Place

How often has an artist at a residency felt that their work was deeply informed by and related to the ecology of that place? How about the local economy (such as it is)? How about the local cultural community (such as it is)?

Beyond that, how many artists have felt that they are bringing their home community (if they call one home) with them to inform their work or to relate to the work of the residency?
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Visions from the New California

The Visions from the New California Award seeks to celebrate, support and promote the work of outstanding California visual artists from geographically and ethnically diverse communities. more >>

MacDowell Time

To the outsider’s eye, the day at MacDowell appears to be quite regimented: the breakfast bell, the dinner bell, the surreptitious yet punctual arrival of one’s lunch basket. Yet if life at MacDowell is ostensibly shaped around meals (the comradely quiet of breakfast, the solitary lunch, the often animated dinner), the days themselves, the hours around and between those meals, have a weird exhilarating elasticity. And time can, and does, stop at MacDowell: One morning in April of 1986, a small group of us sat at the breakfast table eating oranges and toast while huge clumps of spring snow fell outside, and we all swore it was 8:40 for about 20 minutes. more >>

Alliance Announces New Executive Director

The Alliance of Artists Communities’ Board of Trustees is pleased to announce the appointment of Caitlin Strokosch as the Alliance’s new Executive Director.

Strokosch was selected after a year-long strategic evaluation process led by the Executive Committee of the Board. She has worked for the Alliance since 2002, most recently as Program and Communications Director, and will begin as Executive Director on February 1.

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Ohio Arts Council Receives Creative Leadership Award

The Board of Trustees of the Alliance of Artists Communities voted unanimously to award the Ohio Arts Council (OAC) with a Creative Leadership Award. The award honors the OAC’s long-standing support of individual artists and artists’ residencies. The Ohio Arts Council is a state agency that funds and supports quality arts experiences to strengthen Ohio communities culturally, educationally and economically. 

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Alpert Residency Prizes Expand

The Herb Alpert Foundation is once again partnering with artist residency programs to provide residencies to artists across disciplines, believing that recognition and financial support are complemented by the nurturing environment of artists’ communities.

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MacDowell Colony to Keep Tax Exemption

After a lengthy legal battle for its property tax-exempt status, The MacDowell Colony is "ecstatic and relieved to report that the New Hampshire court ruled today in favor of The MacDowell Colony in a 22-page decision.

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"Making the Case" Advocacy Report Released

The Alliance of Artists Communities conducted a series of individual interviews in 2005 with a broad group representing opinion leaders, funders, policy-makers, artists, media and others, on current perceptions and awareness of artists' residencies, and to solicit feedback on how the Alliance and the field can better communicate their value and increase their visibility to others.

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Gulf Coast Artists Relief Efforts

Read about the Alliance’s Gulf Coast Artists Hurricane Relief Program, funded by the James Irvine Foundation, other efforts by its members to assist artists affected by the Gulf Coast hurricanes, and for information on A Studio in the Woods’ Restoration Residencies.

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