what are action areas?

With the announcement of an extraordinary gift from Ruth Lilly in late 2002, Americans for the Arts began a strategic planning process which began by surveying our organizational members and stakeholders. Throughout 2003, our board of directors reviewed to the information gathered and used it to outline the direction that Americans for the Arts will take over the next five years.

With a vision of access to the arts for every American, Americans for the Arts has affirmed the following goals:

1. Foster an environment in which the arts can thrive and contribute to the creation of more livable communities.
2. Generate more public and private sector resources for the arts and arts education.
3. Build individual appreciation of the value of the arts.

While we will continue our longstanding focus on working with both organizational and individual leaders, we have also realized the need to increase the involvement of individual citizens in order for every American to have the opportunity to appreciate, value, and participate in all forms of the arts; therefore, we have added that emphasis in the third goal.

We concentrate our efforts in two major areas, increase the national clout of the arts, and then equally important, provide the local tools needed to advance the arts and arts education. We will expand our work in engaging and mobilizing leaders from the public sector and private sector, as well as arts organizations and those who are artists. To achieve our goals, Americans for the Arts will employ key strategies in five areas or what will be called "action areas."

• Policy and Advocacy
• Research and Information
• Professional Development
• Partnerships
• Visibility