CALL FOR STORIES ABOUT THE IMPACT OF THE ARTS!
#CTLovesNEA

Share your story about how the arts have had an impact on your community or in your personal or professional life.  We are particularly interested in stories about how a publicly funded grant from the CT Office of the Arts or from the National Endowment for the Arts has made difference in your life or your community.

Please share your story with us by Tuesday, May 16 by sending an email with your story to Adriane Jefferson .  Use the subject:  My CT Arts Story.  If you have an image, please attach the image to your email. If you would like to share a video, please provide a link to an on-line video.  Your story may be used - with attribution - on our website or Facebook page. Please note that by providing us with your story you are giving us permission to share it with others.  

You may also tweet your story @CTOfficeofArts and use hashtag #CtlovesNEA.

We look forward to hearing your stories!
WEBINAR:  COMMON MYTHS ABOUT SUPPORT FOR INDIVIDUAL ARTISTS
April 18, 2017 at 2:00 pm

Grantmakers in the Arts will be conducting an on-line webinar on Tuesday, April 18th at 2:00 pm that will discuss how funding and support to artists fits into the broader arts funding landscape and why directly funding individuals to create and produce work is critical to arts and culture.

The webinar will feature Kristina Newman-Scott, Director of Culture for the Dept. of Economic and Community Development and Jayson Smart, Senior Program Officer for Rasmuson Foundation.

Webinars are free to the staff and board of Grantmakers in the Arts member organizations.  The fee for nonmembers is $35.

COA SPONSORING 2 CREATIVE COMMUNITY FELLOWS FROM CONNECTICUT

The Connecticut Office of the Arts (COA) is providing the funds to underwrite the participation and travel costs for two (2) individuals from the State of Connecticut to participate in the Creative Community Fellows program of the National Arts Strategies. 

Through its  Creative Community Fellows program, National Arts Strategies unites a group of 24 creative change-makers, helping them move their projects forward through transformational tools and networks.  Fellows are curious, open, collaborative and interested in learning new skills and sharing their expertise. They are dedicated to creating healthy neighborhoods and recognize and seize opportunity for change.    

Fellows jump-start the program, which is fully subsidized, by living and learning together for one week in a business incubator-like environment and take monthly online courses in topic areas such as community partnerships, finding capital and support, budgeting and more.  

COA is proud to support this program along with  The Kresge Foundation, Bush Foundation, Knight Foundation and the Educational Foundation of America.
REGISTER NOW FOR THE 24TH ANNUAL SUMMER INSTITUTE
JULY 10-14, 2017

The 2017 Higher Order Thinking (HOT) Schools' Summer Institute, “THE HOT APPROACH MAKES STEM SIZZLE”,  will feature Christoper Eaves, Pamela Z, Dr. Paul Sproll, Dr. Alan November as well as sequential learning tracks, interactive demonstrations and performances.

Appropriate for: school teams, individual arts and non-arts classroom teachers, administrators, parents, teaching artists and arts/cultural organization educators.  

Register by May 1, 2017 to receive an early bird discount!
ARTIST FELLOWSHIP PROGRAM

The Artist Fellowship Program is undergoing revisions which allows artists of all disciplines to apply in any given year. The Fiscal Year 2018 Program Guidelines and Application will be available in April of 2017.

Application Deadline: Wednesday, June 21, 2017

Please check our website for updates.
SPACEFINDER CONNECTICUT LAUNCHES IN CONNECTICUT

SpaceFinder Connecticut is a free matchmaking tool for artists looking for creative space and spaces looking to promote their rentals.   Venues can market unbooked rental space by creating a listing and uploading a digital calendar, while creatives can discover space based on location, price, amenities, up-to-date availability and more.  This tool is currently available in Fairfield County only with other regions coming soon.

CONGRATULATIONS TO GABRIELLE KUNZIKA!

A big congratulations to Gabrielle Kunzika from the Classical Magnet School in Hartford for being named the 2017 Poetry Out Loud State Champion.

Gabrielle read the following poems at the State finals: Gabrielle will represent Connecticut at the  Poetry Out Loud National Championship to be held on April 25 & 26 in Washington DC.

Poetry Out Loud encourages students to learn about great poetry through memorization and recitation. This program helps students master public speaking skills, build self-confidence, and learn about literary history and contemporary life.  Since 2005, Poetry Out Loud has grown to reach more than 3 million students and 50,000 teachers from 10,000 school in every state, Washington, DC, the US Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico.

Poetry Out Loud is a program of the  National Endowment for the Arts in partnership with The Poetry Foundation and the CT Office of the Arts.
WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT IN THE ARTS
On Friday March 31st, the CT Office of the Arts invited a small group of participants to participate in a roundtable conversation about workforce development and the arts. The group discussed what role artists currently play in Connecticut’s workforce? Where are the gaps and the opportunities to improve marketplace empowerment for artists? How can the creative sector add value in other business and service sectors? And, how can we grow creative career pathways? 

This conversation was informed by similar conversations recently hosted by the National Endowment for the Arts in collaboration with state and national partners. The discussion aligns with COA’s Equity, Access and Inclusion Statement of READI (Relevance, Equity, Access, Diversity and Inclusion). The conversation was facilitated by with Barbara Schaffer Bacon, the Co-Director for Animating Democracy at Americans for the Arts , and Heather Pontonio, Arts Program Director at the  Emily Hall Tremaine Foundation.
TOP FIVE REASONS TO ATTEND CREATIVE COMMUNITIES EXCHANGE!  
June 8-9, 2017 - New London, Connecticut
The early registration deadline for the Creative Communities Exchange (CCX) is coming up on April 14.  It's time to secure your spot at the biennial networking event for New England leaders engaged in cultural economic development.  Here are the top 5 reasons to attend:

1. Workshops - where else can you learn about successful arts and real estate partnerships, neighborhood revitalization projects centered around arts and culture, and creative workforce development for artists and makers with disabilities?
2. Networking - swap business cards with leaders from arts, local government, urban planning, and economic development
3. Large group sessions - including an interactive keynote with David Grant on how to assess your impact
4. C elebrate the creative sector - be the first to hear findings from the New England Foundation for the Arts' report about New England creative economy employment and toast the region's creative enterprises, artists, and creative workers at the reception
5. New London, CT - hear how strong partnerships fuel their creative economy and experience it for yourself with evening activities.
    ART IN PUBLIC SPACES OPPORTUNITY!
    Eastern Connecticut State University - Willimantic

    Request for Qualification (RFQ)

    Deadline: May 12, 2017
    Budget: approximately $175,000

    Project Summary: Opportunity for in-state and out-of-state artists. Purchase and/or Commissioning of site-specific artwork.
    IN CASE YOU MISSED IT!  
    FY17 CONNECTICUT ARTS ENDOWMENT GRANTS ANNOUNCED

    On March 24, COA was pleased to announce the recipients of the FY17 Connecticut Arts Endowment grants and the Elizabeth L. Mahaffey Arts Administration Fellowship. 

    A big thank you to the Hartford Courant for its article entitled "CT Office of the Arts Distributes Almost $400,000 to State Art Groups."

    We would like to share the following quote from Joyce Kirkpatrick, Chair of the Development Committee of The Greater Middletown Chorale:  "Thank you for this most welcome news!  The support of the COA and DECD in all its forms, including the CT Arts Endowment Fund, is critical to the success of the GMChorale and is greatly appreciate."  Thank you, Joyce, for your kind note!
    DOUBLE YOUR MEDIA INVESTMENT WITH NEW CO-OP ADVERTISING PROGRAM OFFERED BY THE CONNECTICUT OFFICE OF TOURISM

    The Connecticut Office of Tourism is pleased to announce a $75,000 spring/summer co-op advertising program designed to help smaller tourism-related attractions, restaurants and hotels expand their marketing reach!
    Not only will this program match your media investment of a minimum of $5,000 and up to $10,000; the state also supplies the creative services. So you save on both creative development and media costs.
    Here's how this turnkey program works:
    1. You commit to the program and choose online advertising and/or outdoor billboards. Each medium requires a $5,000 minimum. If you choose to use both mediums, the cost will be $10,000.
    2. You provide two pieces of input: 1) attention-getting photography of your destination and 2) a profile of your target audience (e.g., those interested in family fun, etc.).
    3. The Office of Tourism will prepare the creative and place the media. We'll create the ads using our Connecticut still revolutionary branded templates. And we'll match your minimum $5,000 media investment dollar-for-dollar and place it in the most relevant, available media.
    For more information, or to sign up for the program, please contact rosemary.bove@ct.gov. But hurry! The program is first come, first served. A total of $75,000 has been set aside for this media match, so the maximum number of program participants and the maximum match may vary depending on how many partners get involved.
    CONNECTICUT GOVERNOR'S CONFERENCE ON TOURISM
    Thursday, May 4, 2017
    Connecticut Convention Center, Hartford, Connecticut

    • Great networking opportunities
    • Top speakers
    • Inspiring sessions for professionals of all levels
    • Governor's Tourism Awards

    All this for an affordable $99 conference registration!  For more information visit CTTourismConference.com
    FINNISH AMERICAN HERITAGE SITES BUS TOUR
    April 22, 2017 - 9:00 am to 5 pm

    On Saturday April 22, the Connecticut Historical Society (CHS) will offer a bus trip to the Finnish American Heritage Society in Canterbury, where participants will tour the historic Finnish Hall, hear a talk by historian Rachel Carley, and enjoy a Finnish lunch. 

    The Cultural Heritage Arts Program of CHS in partnership with the Finnish American Heritage Society are convening the tour and related exhibit Sisu and Creativity: Finnish Cultural Heritage in Connecticut.  The exhibit presents art works, images, and documentation of the community’s history from the FAHS archives, and draws on a detailed survey of Finnish heritage sites undertaken in 2014 by Rachel Carley in partnership with FAHS as part of the State Historic Preservation Office’s  “Our Stories, Our Places” initiative. Support for the CHS project comes from the National Endowment for the Arts, the Connecticut Office of the Arts and CT Humanities.