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Director’s Spotlight: Iowa Art Goes Beyond Borders
By Anita Walker, Director
We’ve
been having great fun at the Iowa Arts Council talking about a boot scraper that’s
sure to become a celebrity. Made by an Iowa artist in the Amana Colonies, it is
one of the many wonderful works of art available on our new buyiowaart.com
Web site. It was discovered there by producers of the popular television series
Law and Order, rushed to New York, and is a plot element in the January
22 episode of the show.
Why are we so delighted? Well, we are always happy when buyiowaart.com helps Iowa artists market and sell their work. But let’s face it, there’s something about being noticed outside the borders of our own state that makes us stand up a little taller, beam a little brighter. It validates the quality we know we have here, but are too modest to talk about out loud.
In fact, sometimes we take our self-effacing identity so seriously we are genuinely surprised at the excellence of our own orchestras, the talent on stage in our own theaters, the quality of the collections in our own museums. The truth is talent is not the sole province of the coasts. Creativity does not require a particular temperature and climate to germinate and thrive. It only needs a person to own it, a place to be expressed and a welcoming audience to affirm its existence. We have all of that.
The proof of our ability to compete on a national stage is everywhere, everyday. It’s in the artists who leave home and find success in cities large and small, climates warm and cold, all over the country and beyond. It’s in the national recognition earned by writers and artists and cultural leaders who do their work here. It’s in the funding that comes into our state from foundations outside of it and from federal grants. The National Endowment for the Arts Access to Artistic Excellence program just awarded nearly $80,000 to four Iowa projects.
If you haven’t pursued National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) funding please consider it. The NEA is the nation’s largest annual funder of the arts. In FY 2004, it awarded more than 2,100 grants totaling almost $100 million to arts organizations and artists in all 50 states and six U.S. jurisdictions. You can learn more about funding opportunities for individual artists and organizations at www.arts.gov.
And while you’re on the Web, join people from all over the globe who
are discovering Iowa art on www.buyiowaart.com.
Save the Date for Cultural Advocacy Day
On January 23 & 24, groups will gather at the State Historical Building, 600 E. Locust, Des Moines for workshops and the traditional march to the Capitol and an opportunity to meet with their legislators. Participants an opportunity to attend workshops and “problem solving meetings” to discuss topics such as smart building codes, health care for cultural workers, arts education and more.
