Something remarkable happens when you support creative people and process: New ideas are born. Lives and communities are transformed. We view the world differently. Sparks fly. And yes, the products and outcomes are pretty amazing, too!
Advocating for artists and their creative development is risky business. It is not easily measured by tickets sold or tourism generated, by test scores or tax returns. The tangible results - the plays and dances, books and music, and all the rest - often emerge months or years after the first creative spark. Artists' communities fan the flames of creativity by offering inspiration and support to artists at a time when outcomes are especially uncertain, when ideas are often most fragile, in the private moments of creative daring when first the pen is put to paper, or brush to canvas, or fingers to keyboard.
Now more than ever, we need artists - to offer new ways of examining our world, to ignite our imaginations, and to tell the stories of our time. One of the most important investments we can make in our artists is supporting dedicated time to create new work, explore new ideas, experiment and take creative risks. That's what artists' communities and residency programs do, as research-and-development labs for the arts.
As a collective voice for this field, the Alliance can accomplish what no single artists' community can - advocating to funders, legislators, and policy-makers; providing best-practices data that increases the professional capacity of the field; and building resources for the field, including $2 million in direct funding from the Alliance to artists' communities and artists since 2004.
We invite you to support this work. A contribution to the Alliance of Artists Communities is an investment in a network of more than 1,000 artists' communities and residency programs worldwide that provide critical resources to artists of all disciplines. In 2009, public and private philanthropy for the arts and artists in the U.S. decreased by an estimated $500 million. In response, the Alliance doubled its activities advocating for individual artists and support for the development of new creative work. Your gift will enable us to continue our efforts to build resources for artists' communities and artists when they are needed most. From $50 to $5,000, your contribution will have a significant impact on artists and the role of creativity in society.
**************
To make a gift to the Alliance, please complete our secure online giving form below 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:
To make a gift to the Alliance, please complete our secure online giving form below or download a giving form. All donors will receive a written receipt of his/her gift.$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.
