Americans for the Arts is the nation's leading nonprofit organization for advancing the arts in America. With 45 years of service, we are dedicated to representing and serving local communities and creating opportunities for every American to participate in and appreciate all forms of the arts.
With offices in Washington, DC and New York, and more than 5,000 organizational and individual members and stakeholders across the country, we are focused on three primary goals:
- Foster an environment in which the arts can thrive and contribute to the creation of more livable communities.
- Generate more public- and private-sector resources for the arts and arts education.
- Build individual appreciation of the value of the arts.
To achieve our goals, we partner with local, state, and national arts organizations; government agencies; business leaders; individual philanthropists; educators; and funders throughout the country. We provide extensive arts industry research, and information and professional development opportunities for community arts leaders via specialized programs and services, including a content-rich website and an annual national convention.
Local arts agencies throughout the United States comprise our core constituency. A variety of unique stakeholder groups with particular interests like public art, united arts fundraising, rural and small communities, state arts agencies, and emerging arts leaders are also supported. Through national visibility and local outreach, we strive to motivate and mobilize opinion leaders and decision-makers who can make the arts thrive in America.
Americans for the Arts produces annual events that heighten national visibility for the arts, including Arts Advocacy Day in Washington, DC; the Nancy Hanks Lecture on Arts and Public Policy; the National Arts Awards; and the Public Leadership in the Arts Awards (in cooperation with the U.S. Conference of Mayors). Local arts organizations in communities throughout the country benefit from special national projects such as the Animating Democracy project, the YouthARTS Resource Initiative, and the National Arts Education Public Advertising Campaign with the Ad Council.
Americans for the Arts was created in 1996 as a result of the merger between the National Assembly of Local Arts Agencies (NALAA) and the American Council for the Arts (ACA)—one of a small number of successful unions between two national nonprofit groups. Americans for the Arts President and CEO Robert L. Lynch has led our organization since the merger, growing Americans for the Arts' annual budget from $2.7 million in 1996 to $9 million in 2003.
- 2006 Annual Report (pdf, 1.7MB)
- Strategic Plan 2004-2008—Highlights (pdf, 177KB)
Americans for the Arts and Arts & Business Council Inc. Merge
In February, 2005, Americans for the Arts and Arts & Business Council Inc. merged their operations, allowing the organization to increase its efforts to secure increased funding for the arts from the private sector. Arts & Business Council Inc. was founded in 1965 and is devoted to stimulating partnerships between the arts and business in order to benefit both sectors, as well as the communities they serve. A&BC is the oldest arts and business partnership association of its kind in the world. Its major national programs include Business Volunteers for the Arts®, the National Arts Marketing Project sponsored by American Express, and the MetLife Foundation National Arts Issue Forum Series.
The combined resources and programming initiatives of both organizations will stimulate increased support for the arts from individuals, corporations, and foundations through the development of innovative programming and the recruitment of national partners. This will happen not only by formal design, but also as a direct result of uniting the constituencies of Americans for the Arts and Arts & Business Council Inc. Among these stakeholders are some 4,000 local arts agencies and united arts funds (Americans for the Arts) and affiliates and national program partners (Arts & Business Council Inc.) that together will have improved tools to advance support for the arts. For additional information about the merger read the press release.
