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Executive Director's Letter - 5/9/23

Posted on May 9, 2023 by GBCA

Did you know that in addition to being an Arts Service Organization, GBCA is a Local Arts Agency? The U.S. government defines a local arts agency (LAA) as “a community organization, or an agency of local government, that primarily provides financial support, services, or other programs for a variety of artists and arts organizations, for the benefit of the community as a whole.”

Why Are LAAs Important to a Communities (sic) Health and Vitality?

  • LAAs build healthy, vibrant and equitable communities
  • LAAs enable diverse forms of arts and culture to thrive
  • LAAs help ensure broad accessibility and public engagement with the arts culturally, socially, educationally, and economically
  • LAAs impact the economic health and growth of a community through vibrant arts programming
  • LAAs support and advance arts and culture at the local level and bring communities together
  • LAAs connect elected official and business leaders to the power of arts in the community (Americans for the Arts)

“The funding and programs of LAAs make their communities pulsate with artistic activity and spur arts employment.” SMU DataArts

To further understand the importance of GBCA and funding through LAAs, you can view the just released Local Arts Agency Funding and Arts Vibrancy: Exploring How Funding From Local Arts Agencies Impacts Arts Vibrancy and its Underlying Dimensions report from SMU DataArts. Its findings?

“Our global conclusion is that overall local arts agency (LAA) funding has a statistically significant, positive effect on overall Arts Vibrancy…Let’s take it a step further. Additional analysis indicated that overall LAA funding has a statistically significant, positive effect on each underlying measure of Arts Providers: (1) the number of Nonprofit Arts & Culture Organizations, (2) the number of Arts & Culture Employees, (3) the number of Arts & Entertainment Organizations; and (4) the number of Independent Artists.”

Arts Service Organizations and LAAs like GBCA provide leadership, resources, and the collective tissue necessary for a healthy arts ecosystem. That’s why your support is essential and effective. Feeling inspired? You can make a contribution to GBCA online here.

Thanks for reading!!

Jeannie

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Executive Director's Letters

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