VOLUME 51 | ISSUE 3
A MONTHLY NEWSLETTER OF THE
ARIZONA COMMISSION ON THE ARTS
FEATURED NEWS
Mural by Rose Johnson. Casa Grande
Community Conversations: Arts Education in Arizona Schools
Join us in Gilbert, Globe, Coolidge, or Phoenix
The Arizona Commission on the Arts and Arizona Department of Education are on the final leg of their statewide tour, hosting community conversations about arts education in communities across Arizona. With four stops to go, we invite residents of the East Valley, Globe-Miami, Coolidge/Casa Grande, and Phoenix to join us for conversations in their communities:
GILBERT
Wednesday, March 21
GLOBE
Thursday, March 22
COOLIDGE
Wednesday, March 28
Phoenix
Thursday, March 29
Dr. Rosemarie Dombrowski, City of Phoenix Poet Laureate; Dr. Laura Tohe, Navajo Nation Poet Laureate; Antonio Juarez; Sophie Weinzinger
Congratulations, Sophie Weinzinger, 2018 Arizona Poetry Out Loud State Champion!
Sophie Weinzinger, a junior at Coconino High School in Flagstaff, will represent Arizona at the 13th Annual Poetry Out Loud national finals competition in Washington, D.C., April 23-25, 2018.

The Arizona Poetry Out Loud State Finals were held at the studios of Arizona PBS in Downtown Phoenix on Saturday, March 3. Ten students, representing schools from Tucson to Ganado, a chapter of the Navajo Nation, recited poems by a diverse array of literary luminaries. After two rounds of recitations, four students advanced to the final round. From these four, Weinzinger was named State Champion while Antonio Juarez, a senior at Willow Canyon High School in Surprise, was named first runner-up.
Photos (clockwise from top left): 2017 Master-Apprentice Award recipients Gertrude “Gertie” Lopez; Dan Levenson; Wanesia Spry Misquadaceis; Richard Noel; Alice Manuel; Francisco Garcia; Joanna Schmit; Barbea Williams; Terrol Johnson. Photos by Steven Meckler, courtesy Southwest Folklife Alliance
Southwest Folklife Alliance Master-Apprentice Artist Award
The Southwest Folklife Alliance (SFA) is currently accepting nominations for its annual Master-Apprentice Artist Award, which supports master traditional artists and their apprentices. This year SFA will make 9 awards to pairs of Arizona-based artists or tradition bearers. Master artists receive $2500 and their apprentices $500 to engage in learning and transmission of traditional knowledge.
An Interview with Storyteller Rod Ambrose, 2016 SFA Master Artist
As a storyteller who pulls from the oral traditions of West Africa, Ambrose has visited hundreds of elementary, middle and high schools, universities, and community colleges throughout Arizona. Originally from Chicago, he now lives in Glendale, where he runs the Talking Drum Performance Studio Network.

Nomination Deadline: April 11, 2018
Artists are first nominated by peers within their community, cultural institutions, apprentices, or by self-nomination. Applicants include a wide variety of traditional artists, including but not limited to
  • Artisans: weavers, basket makers, jewelers, mask makers
  • Occupational folklife practitioners: adobe brick makers, leather workers, ironworkers
  • Oral tradition practitioners: storytellers, musicians, poets
  • Performing arts practitioners: dancers, traditional garment makers, ritual object makers
Artists are selected by a panel and awarded for their knowledge, dedication, and commitment to passing on living traditions from our region and beyond. 
New Report: Arts and Culture Contribute $9 Billion to Arizona’s Economy
According to new data released on March 6, 2018, by the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) and the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA), Arizona’s arts and culture industries contribute $9 Billion to the state’s economy, employing 90,000 Arizonans who earned a combined $4.9 Billion in Fiscal Year 2015, contributing more to the State’s economy than mining, agriculture, and forestry combined.

Nationally, the arts contribute $763.6 billion to the U.S. economy, more than agriculture, transportation, or warehousing, and employ 4.9 million workers across the country.
Grants for Fiscal Year 2019 Arts Learning Projects & Partnerships
The Arizona Commission on the Arts is now accepting applications for three grant programs that support the development and/or enhancement of opportunities for arts learning throughout the state and across the aging spectrum.
Strengthening Schools through Arts Partnerships
Deadline: June 1, 2018
Strengthening Schools Through Arts Partnerships grants (SSTAP) support substantive school/ community partnerships that strengthen teaching and learning in arts education and/or arts integration in Arizona Title I schools.

Arts Learning and Collaboration Grants
Deadline: May 3, 2018*
Arts Learning Collaboration Grants enhance the work of school-based arts teaching and learning programs through collaborative projects taking place in-school (during regular school hours), after-school, or during summer/inter-session and in-services.

Lifelong Arts Engagement Grants
Deadline: May 3, 2018*
Lifelong Arts Engagement Grants support partnerships that foster meaningful arts learning experiences in a variety of community settings for learners of any age. Community/social service organizations or governmental entities partnered with arts organizations or professional teaching artists are eligible.

* Arts Learning Collaboration Grants and Lifelong Arts Engagement Grants are offered throughout the year on a three-deadline cycle.

CYCLE A Application Deadline: 11:59pm Thursday, May 3, 2018.
For projects taking place between July 1, 2018 and June 30, 2019.

CYCLE B Application Deadline: 11:59pm Thursday, September 6, 2018.
For projects taking place between November 1, 2018 and June 30, 2019.

CYCLE C Application Deadline: 11:59pm Thursday, January 31, 2019.
For projects taking place between March 1, 2019 and June 30, 2019.
NEWS
AZ Humanities Awards $58,800 in Project Grants
This month, AZ Humanities awarded project grants to 10 unique and creative projects. Grantees include a symposium on Native Alaskan masks, creating children’s audio guides in Spanish, and exploring Middle Eastern literature.

Project Grants are awarded twice yearly and organizations can apply for up to $10,000 in funding. The next Project Grants Letter of Intent deadline is May 1, 2018. 
Viola Awards Celebrate Flagstaff Arts & Sciences
On March 3, at a gala ceremony, the Flagstaff Arts Council announced the winners of the 2018 Viola Awards, an annual tradition celebrating excellence in the arts and sciences in Flagstaff.

A total of twelve awards were announced at the event, including new categories for Community Impact (and Individual award and Organization award), Excellence in Music, and the Innovation Award.

Photo: Dark Sky Arial. Photo by Rick Meinecke
ARIZONA ARTISTS IN THE NEWS
Poetry Thriving in Flagstaff
According to the Arizona Daily Sun, "the robust poetry scene in Flagstaff is certainly having a well-deserved moment in the spotlight." From a thriving slam scene to the 2018 Arizona Poetry Out Loud State Champion, they make a strong case!
Art worlds connect at Arizona-Mexico border
Cronkite News reports on “Shared Spaces: An Evening of Dance, Music and Poetry at the US/Mex Border,” a unique binational community performance presented on both sides of the border fence between Douglas, AZ, and Agua Prieta, Sonora.
Arizona's poet laureate on PBS News Hour
Speaking with Jeffrey Brown on a recent episode of PBS Newshour, Alberto Álvaro Ríos, Arizona's inaugural Poet Laureate, discusses his life, his work, and why he feels that living on the border is "the most American experience." 
OPPORTUNITIES
2018 Public Art Challenge
Bloomberg Philanthropies
Deadline: April 19, 2018
Bloomberg Philanthropies’ Public Art Challenge encourages mayors to partner with artists, elevating the value of including the creative sector when developing solutions to significant urban issues. The program supports temporary public art projects that celebrate creativity, enhance urban identity, encourage public-private collaborations, and strengthen local economies.
Activating Community Opportunities Using Museums/Libraries As Assets
Institute of Museum & Library Services
Deadline: May 14, 2018
Support projects that address challenges faced by the library and museum fields and that have the potential to advance practice in those fields. Successful projects will generate results such as new tools, research findings, models, services, practices, or alliances that can be widely used, adapted, scaled, or replicated to extend the benefits of federal investment.
RESEARCH & RESOURCES
National Endowment for the Arts Arts Investment Fact Sheet, Arizona
Produced by the National Assembly of State Arts Agencies (NASAA) This two-page document explores the reach of NEA and Arizona Commission on the Arts grant awards, including an overview of NEA appropriation trends and dollars leveraged; talking points on citizen benefits of public funding for the arts; and data on the local impact of state and federal funding for the arts.

Data Arts Celebrates Exceptional Uses of 'Everyday Data'
In their new Everyday Data video series, DataArts showcase the leaders of four small arts organizations--a rural theater, a Mexican folk music ensemble, an incubator for young dancers, and an organization that trains and promotes queer women of color filmmakers--who are using data to plan ahead, make decisions, grow their audiences, and more.

Each video is accompanied by suggested next steps and resources to help arts organizations better leverage their own data.
Data for Financial Resilience
Chicago-based Sones de México Ensemble use data to help them understand how all their programs, including a new music school, work together to support both their mission and their bottom line.
Data to Grow Your Audiences
Bloomsburg Theatre Ensemble (BTE) has a loyal following in their rural Pennsylvania community. Data collection and analysis is a key component of their work to expand their audience.
Data for Decision Making
DanceWorks Chicago had a hypothesis: there are Chicago residents who were not traditional dance supporters, who would be attracted to their mission to support early career artists. To test their theory, they conducted market research; the results yielded a suite of possible new outreach activities.
Data to Build Your Community
Representing a broad range of perspectives is core to QWOCMAP's mission, and they use demographic data to strengthen their inclusivity, helping them to quantify their outreach success, understand how to best serve the specific needs of the community, and communicate the value of their work to stakeholders. 
ARTS FUNDING
New Videos Illustrate Public Benefits of the Arts
Each of these short, engaging videos, produced by the National Assembly of State Arts Agencies (NASAA), tells a unique story of how communities thrive through the arts.
Art in Our Everyday Lives
The arts foster quality of life, civic vibrancy, economic opportunity, accessibility and cultural heritage. When funding for the arts is threatened, we risk losing what makes our communities and our country so special.
Student Success
The arts cultivate young imaginations and facilitate success in school, enhancing students’ academic achievement in multiple subject areas. They provide the critical thinking, communications and innovation skills essential to a productive work force.
Art Heals
Art therapy is a powerful healing force for America’s veterans, aging populations, and people coping with depression, addiction, cancer or other health challenges. Research proves that art therapy lowers the need for pain medications, improves coping skills, engages the patient’s family, reduces anxiety and depression, and cuts down time spent in the hospital.
American Ingenuity
Creativity is a quintessentially American strength. The arts help us solve complex problems, connect with each other, provide good jobs and grow our economy.


DATES TO REMEMBER
Community Conversations: Arts Education in Arizona Schools
  • Mar 21: Gilbert
  • Mar 22: Globe
  • Mar 28: Coolidge
  • Mar 29: Phoenix

Mar 29: Quarterly Commission Meeting
April 6: 2018 AZ Poetry Out Loud State Finals broadcast on Arizona PBS (check local listings)

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IMAGINE AN ARIZONA WHERE EVERYONE
CAN PARTICIPATE IN AND EXPERIENCE THE ARTS
Arizona Commission on the Arts | (602) 771-6501 | info@azarts.gov | www.azarts.gov