The mission of the North Carolina Arts Council is to enrich cultural life and to nurture and support excellence in the arts. The professional staff provides services to artists, art organizations, and supporters of the arts. The council offers grant assistance for specific activities by funding programs designed to support particular groups of…

This report examines arts engagement in ten key states in the U.S. by analyzing data from the 2002 Survey of Public Participation in the Arts (SPPA). It is organized into ten state profiles that summarize key demographic characteristics, the arts landscape, and public participation in the arts. Because the regions profiled here are not a random…

This report describes public participation in the arts across the four U.S. census regions: the Northeast, the Midwest, the West, and the South. It incorporates data from the 1982, 1992, and 2002 Surveys of Public Participation in the Arts, as well as secondary data on regional demographics, the arts landscape, and consumer spending. In…

This handbook/guidebook/manual details marketing and fund-raising strategies that might benefit art organizations. Drawing on sources from the arts community, including orchestras, opera, dance and theater companies, galleries, museums, arts councils, performing arts centers, and a zoo, ideas are presented which have proven successful in actual…

This report examines arts participation in the ten largest metropolitan areas in the United States using data from the 2002 Survey of Public Participation in the Arts. These data indicate that, in general, these metropolitan regions tend to be more alike than different with respect to arts participation patterns. Analysis reveals that while…

The report discusses the Ford Foundation's support for the arts in the United States since 1981. The premise upon which the Foundation provides such support is that the arts provide an immediate and intense means of communication, both in the present and across the centuries. A potent reflector and interpreter of values, art illuminates the…

This handbook for organizing performance presentations, designed for professional organizations and volunteer or not-profit organizations, focuses on how to manage a presenting organization. The volume features 40 specific rules to guide groups presenting performances. The rules include: (1) get organized, (2) know the law, (3) remember performers…

This article describes activities of the Homeland Neighborhood Cultural Center (Long Beach, California) which is located in the most culturally diverse section of the city and provides accessible artistic outlets for individuals and groups traditionally excluded from art establishments. Program development, staff, activities, and relationship to…

Describes the history of the Philadelphia (Pennsylvania) Dance Company, known as PHILADANCO, founded in the early 1970s by Joan Myers Brown at her Philadelphia School of Dance. PHILADANCO has sought to discover and train a corps of local Black dancers to build a strong dance company and important cultural institution. (AF)

To help increase leader effectiveness in planning and implementing local action projects, the booklet presents discussion and examples of the nature and characteristics of planned community action leading to community development. The booklet first explains why leaders should be involved with community action and then gives abstracts of seven…

The report presents case studies of 7 community action projects which were undertaken by New York communities with populations under 10,000 and which show how local leaders can improve the quality of life in their communities. The report describes the background, initiation, expansion, implementation, consequences, and highlights of the projects,…