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HEARTLAND:
Illinois Arts Council News |
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in this edition (FY10-03)
The mission of the Illinois Arts Council is: "Building a strong, creative, and connected Illinois through the engagement of all Illinoisans in the pursuit of, participation in, and enjoyment of the arts."
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 Executive Director's Update
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Dear Friend of the Arts,
The Illinois Arts Council (IAC) has a long history of support for Illinois' individual artists. Until this year, the IAC Artist Fellowship Program had continuously provided fellowships to Illinois creative artists for more than 20 years. Illinois artists have also been supported through the Special Assistance, Ethnic & Folk Arts Master/Apprentice, and Governor's International Arts Exchange Programs. In addition, the Artstour Program and Arts-in-Education residencies have provided opportunities for artists to work as teaching artists and performers throughout Illinois. The IAC recognizes that individual artists are the keystone to the creation of art. The Council remains committed to individual artists despite diminishing resources.
Due to steep reductions in the IAC's operating budget for grants, several grant programs had to be suspended for FY2010 and others had to be greatly reduced. The limited funds available in FY2010 to provide direct support to individual artists forced the agency to suspend the Artists Fellowship and Ethnic and Folk Arts Master/Apprenticeship Programs and severely limit the availability of Special Assistance opportunities for artists. The Individual Artist Support (IAS) Initiative introduced below was developed to bridge the gap left by the suspension of these programs.
This initiative was created to help Illinois artists realize a career goal, take advantage of a professional opportunity, and/or produce a project or body of work for public viewing. IAS represents the Illinois Arts Council's commitment to continuing our support for the work of individual artists.
We are also inviting you to be advisors in redesigning our website; we want it to be more useful and user friendly for both the arts community and the general public. The Illinois Arts Council's website has been outdated both in its features and it usability for sometime, a fact that was recognized and addressed during the process by which the current agency strategic plan was developed. From the 2006 listening tour to fifteen different sites throughout the state, the online surveys, and the discussion groups, the need for a more useful website was a reoccurring topic. Consequently, the modernization of the website is specifically referenced in the plan.
As the state's financial tsunami continues to sweep over state funding for the arts, we have been steadily working to find ways of leveraging the ever ebbing dollars to provide the most effective resources to the arts community and the public its serves. With such current scarcity of financial resources and a seemingly bleak future for state arts funding in the foreseeable future, we are looking for ways to do more with less. We believe that a user friendly, easily accessible website with enhanced and expanded resources is one good approach for achieving that goal.
That being said, the ultimate test of a website's value is whether those who (or who might) try it find it easy to use and provides them with the information they are seeking directly or through links to other resources. Practically, it cannot provide everything all of us would like. We do, however, want it to reflect input from users, current and potential -- so please take a few minutes as soon as possible to help us better serve you and fill out the survey before it closes on January 18th.
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Sincerely,
Terry A. Scrogum
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About the Individual Artist Support Initiative |
The Individual Artist Support (IAS) initiative has two tracks: 1. The Individual Artist Professional Development track (IA-PD) seeks to support professional development opportunities and projects related to an individual artist's career. Grant amounts for IA-PD are $500 or $750 with no cash match required 2. The Individual Artist Project Track (IA-Project) seeks to support individual creative artists in the creation, production, and presentation of their work. Grant amounts for IA-Project are $2,000, $3,500, or $5,000 with a 25% cash match required. Deadline: Monday, February 1, 2010 Project Dates: April 1 - August 31, 2010 Guidelines including more information now available on the IAC website: http://www.state.il.us/agency/iac/Guidelines/IASI/includes/grant.htm.
Application workshop webinars are scheduled in mid-January:
- Wednesday, January 13, 2010, beginning at 1:00 PM CST
- Thursday, January 21, 2010, beginning at 3:30 PM CST
Registration information will be posted soon in the guidelines. Please email Encarnacion Teruel at encarnacion.teruel@illinois.gov to express your interest in advance. |
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Help Recreate the Illinois Arts Council Website |
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By taking this survey, you are contributing to the long-term sustainability of the Illinois Arts Council and helping the State of Illinois to understand how the agency can continue delivering services critical to fulfilling the agency mission: "Building a strong, creative, and connected Illinois through the engagement of all Illinoisans in the pursuit of, participation in, and enjoyment of the arts."
The survey has 11 questions and will take approximately 10 minutes to complete. Participating or opting out of participation will in no way affect your relationship with the Illinois Arts Council, its funding process or its services. All questions, including your name and organization, are optional.
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About the Illinois Arts Council Logo |
 The Illinois Arts Council logo is a stylized version of a cast bronze sculpture, "Hybrid Muse," created by Illinois' renowned artist Richard Hunt. The work was commissioned in 1985 by the Illinois Arts Council Foundation to honor the twentieth anniversaries of the Illinois Arts Council and the National Endowment for the Arts. The "Hybrid Muse" sculpture is given to recipients of the Governor's Awards for the Arts.
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Illinois Arts Council
James R. Thompson Center
100 West Randolph
Suite 10-500
Chicago, IL 60601
Phone: 312/814-6750
Toll free in Illinois: 800/237-6994
TTY: 888/261-7957
FAX: 312/814-1471
Email: iac.info@illinois.gov
EN ESPAÑOL
Para información en Español llame al Illinois Arts Council al 312/814-6750.
Si usa TTY, llame al 312/814-4831.
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