Creative placemaking is an integral part in fostering public arts and community engagement opportunities, and state arts agencies are a valuable resource in accomplishing this. In this article, Art Place America and the National Assembly of State Arts Agencies collaborated to develop tools and strengthen the knowledge of practitioners to implement creative placemaking strategies in their local communities. Click Here to browse the different resources these two organizations compiled to communicate the importance of state arts agencies in influencing the public arts sector!

Art is a historical reminder of the past, serving as a vessel of communication about a person, place, or event. In this article, you can find 10 artworks created by Missouri artists who are no longer living. Click Here to better understand Missouri’s history through paintings, prints, and sculptures.

 

Cultural understanding is integral in our ability to empathize with diverse populations and the arts can be used as an educational tool. Research suggests that exposure to arts featuring marginalized people and groups can impact the publics opinion, cultivating an environment of equity and inclusion. This fact sheet provides data on the arts ability to create social change with programs, readings, and organizations who work to sustain it.

Fostering diversity in the arts is a key component to several high performing arts organizations who predominately serve communities of color. This report establishes various arts organizations whose mission focuses on marginalized communities of color and the ways they have not only sustained themselves but successfully performed as cornerstones for others. Click Here to read more from key art leaders who share their insights, strategies, and advice.

 

One of the largest public arts projects in Missouri is “Shakespeare In the Streets” developed by the grassroots organization, St. Louis Shakespeare Festival. “Shakespeare In the Streets” is a theatrical production that invites local St. Louis neighborhoods to narrate their local story through a Shakespearean play that reflects themes of their own community. Click Here to watch a documentary about the experience and importance of this community project!