About
The Nevada Arts Council
The Nevada Arts Council, a division of the Nevada Department of Tourism and Cultural Affairs, was created as a state agency in 1967. With offices in Carson City and Las Vegas, Nevada Arts Council programs serve as a catalyst to stimulate artistic, creative, cultural, and economic activity across the state, enliven its breadth of communities, ensure lifelong learning in the arts for all Nevadans, and to encourage public and private support for the arts.
The agency has a staff of 13 full-time program and administrative staff and a nine-member board whose members are appointed by the Governor. The Nevada Arts Council is divided into six programs as accessible portals for our constituents and members of the public alike, Artist Services, Arts Learning, Community Arts Development, Folklife, Grants, and Public Initiatives. Through these program areas, the agency provides grant funding, offers professional assistance to the state’s creative industry (artists, educators cultural organizations, and schools), and coordinates statewide outreach programming, initiatives and activities for Nevada residents and visitors. Nevada Arts Council grants, programs, and services are guided by a statewide planning process and a strategic plan.
Mission
To enrich the cultural life of the state through leadership that preserves, supports, strengthens, and makes excellence in the arts accessible to all Nevadans.
Vision
A Nevada in which the arts enrich the lives of all residents, enhance the livability of communities, and contribute to the state’s economic revitalization.
Goals
- Increase public access, participation, and investment in Nevada’s arts and culture
- Incorporate the arts as an essential element in the educational experience of all Nevadans
- Strengthen the environment in which artist work and contributions of our artists are valued and supported
- Encourage and support a diversity of organizations that produce, present and promote excellence in the arts
Our Outcome
A culturally vibrant state – from the most isolated and small rural communities to the urban centers of Reno/Sparks and Las Vegas.
What We Do
The NAC encompasses six program areas that work together and independently to effectively serve our diverse statewide constituency.
Honors and showcases the work of Nevada’s contemporary literary, performing, and visual artists to the public through exhibits, grants, and outreach programs. Provides resources to artists for career development. Helps Nevadans understand the vital role that artists contribute to a creative workforce.
Supports the goal of lifelong learning in the arts by promoting and expanding quality arts education opportunities for all Nevada citizens. Has three program focuses that include Arts Education, Arts Integration, and Arts for Social Development.
Supports Nevada’s nonprofit arts and culture organizations, municipalities, public institutions, and tribal governments with programs and services aimed to elevate the arts and cultural infrastructure and organizational capacity statewide.
Supports the folk and traditional arts activities of individuals, organizations, and communities through grants, consultations, producing and documenting projects and exhibitions, and technical assistance.
Reflects a significant commitment by the State and the Federal Government to support the creation of arts and access to the arts for its citizens.
Oversees Nevada Arts Council Board engagement, partnership initiatives, public awareness campaigns, and special projects that promote Nevada’s arts industry, support the agency’s mission and goals and strengthen the state’s cultural infrastructure.
Strategic Planning
The Nevada Arts Council (NAC) engages in a formal planning process to gather feedback about the agency’s programs and policies, assess the needs of Nevada’s arts industry, and investigate the state of the arts in Nevada’s communities. Through a combination of community meetings, focus groups, and individual conversations, NAC staff and board engage in a dynamic “Statewide Conversation on the Arts”. NAC also distributes a survey to the public, both online and in print. The information gathered during the planning process informs the agency’s strategic plan, results in new programs and services from the NAC, and forges new relationships. NAC planning meetings and activities are co-sponsored and hosted by arts and community-based organizations, municipalities, service groups, and public institutions. The strategic plan guides the work of the agency and is shared with the National Endowment for the Arts and the State of Nevada.