The Alliance of Artists Communities was created in 1991, on the principles that the creative exploration of new ideas is essential to human progress, and freedom is necessary for all creative accomplishment.

We believe this freedom is more important now than ever: freedom to develop without predetermined outcomes, freedom to challenge assumptions, freedom to take bold turns toward new directions that will shape our world in years to come. This is what artist residencies provide to artists, as research-and-development labs for the arts.

I personally give to this field because I am moved by what is yet to be -- knowing there are thousands of writers, painters, dancers, musicians, poets, filmmakers, scholars and others who are in-residence right now at an artists’ community and whose work will change our world. And I know that often a residency is the turning point, the moment when an artist finds courage to take a creative leap. The Alliance’s work is about providing support to artists in those moments -- long before the concert, the book, or the museum -- when first pen is put to paper, fingers to keyboard, brush to canvas.

As a collective voice for this field, the Alliance can accomplish what no single artists’ residency program can – educating funders, legislators, and policy-makers about the critical role artists play in our world; developing the professional capacity of the field; and building resources, including more than $2 million in direct funding from the Alliance to artist residencies and artists since 2004. And the Alliance also provides inspiration – bringing together people from around the world who believe that the cultivation of new art and ideas is necessary for the health of our communities and achieving the best of what it means to be human.

I invite you to support this work. Your gift will enable us to continue building resources for artists’ communities and artists when they are needed most.

We are honored to invest in artists and the development of new creative work, and we give thanks to all of you who join us in this critical endeavor to support freedom of expression.

**************

To make a gift to the Alliance, please complete our secure online giving form by entering your contribution amount in the box above and clicking "Add to Cart" or download a giving form. All donors will receive a written receipt of his/her gift.

What your gift supports

From the glamorous and compelling to the merely functional, but all essential:

$25 buys a book, magazine subscription, or other resource for our library, available to artists, researchers, and those creating new residency programs

$50 supports the materials for each "Be Our Guest" series of residency talks for artists

$100 provides a modest honorarium for an artist to speak at an Alliance conference or public event

$250 supports the Alliance as a National Co-Sponsor of Arts Advocacy Days, lobbying for greater arts support, funding, and policy-making

$500 provides a conference scholarship to an artist, student, or residency administrator who would otherwise not be able to attend

$1500 supports our green initiative - providing eco-friendly alternatives at Alliance events, such as reusable water bottles, compostable flatware, online handouts, and carbon offsets

$5000 provides the Alliance with a summer research intern, so we can continue to gather critical data on artists' communities and support for today's artists; or hires musicians, storytellers, dancers and others to present their work at Alliance events.

To make a gift to the Alliance, please enter your gift amount and click "add to cart" above to complete our secure online giving form or download a giving form. All donors will receive a written receipt of his/her gift.