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October 7, 1999
Raenelle Kwock DES MOINES, Iowa -- Iowa is known for farming, politics and insurance. The arts in Iowa are also important, but not many people know that. In order to increase the visibility of the arts in Iowa, the Iowa Arts Council offers grants and sponsors conferences. "Basically, the mission of the Arts Council is to provide funding, assistance and expertise to Iowa artists, art organizations, educators and educators with the arts," said Jodi Chapman-Henke, Arts Council public information officer. Chapman-Henke said the proposed seniors arts festival for those 65 and older, state art conference and folk life festival 2001 are some examples that the council helped to launch or are in the process of getting started. The council was established as a state agency in 1967 and consists of 11 members. Providing technical assistance and helping the community are two important areas within the council that enable it to fulfill its duty of providing help for proposed projects. Julie Bailey, Arts Council coordinator of technical assistance and community development, said one part of technical assistance is staff consultations, which involve helping communities with various art projects, such as a proposed community music school in Sioux City. "So whatever their needs are, if they want us as a staff, whether it's me or anyone else on staff that has whatever particular skills, they can call us and we can see if that's an option for them," Bailey said. Bailey said Sioux City Community School, Morningside College and the Symphony in Sioux City want to start a community music school, so they need assistance with strategic planning which involves a document of goals, its mission and an outline of results. The council is also determined to end barriers in the art world. Chapman-Henke said the National Endowment of Arts has been criticized for obscene things and that men are singled out because they are assumed to be gay. "Artists are different people," she said. "They are very creative, and they don't do things what people consider normal. Most of the artists that we work with are your everyday, normal people." Aside from stereotypes, each council grant is competitive. The council's guidebook says, "The access to the arts grant programs supports exemplary arts-related projects, programs, residencies and arts-related activities that benefit Iowans and are developed by artists, nonprofit organizations, and educators." The five categories people can apply for are artists in schools or communities residency grants, artists project grants, arts in education project grants, mini grants and project grants for organizations. For example, Bailey said this year has seen a huge increase in facilities available to do art programs, and a lot of colleges in Iowa are renovating or building art centers. In order to complete these projects, the colleges could get an arts in education project grant from the council. Aside from awarding grants, the council enhances the arts community in Iowa. Bailey, who is also coordinator of the state art conference, said it is always a wonderful event. "It's just this great gathering of art constituents," she said. Over the course of two days, March 23-25, 2000, there will be workshops, award banquets, parties and keynote speakers. Bailey said the council is trying to get Bobby McFerrin, extraordinary jazz vocalist and classical conductor, because of his popularity. Although the council enhances the art environment, its future does not look too promising because of financial reasons. The shortage of money is a result of the agricultural crisis. Bailey said since the council is a state government agency, its funding depends on tax revenues. "With less money, we can do less programming," she said. Chapman-Henke also said the arts funding in Iowa is 45th in the nation this year and funding from the Iowa Legislature was also lost. However, Chapman-Henke said she is more optimistic about the arts, in general. "I think it should be improving because a lot of things go the way of the economy," she said. Iowa, when compared to other states, is not known nationally for its arts, and both Chapman-Henke and Bailey said there is room for improvement. Bailey said the community development component area within the council stresses that arts are not just art for art's sake, but it affects economic development, tourism and community life. Chapman-Henke said the media and art world must work together to strengthen the arts."I think that The Des Moines Register does an OK job with it," she said. "It's not an easy thing to do." Chapman-Henke said every art organization must present itself in angles that draw the media to the organization, and the media need to understand more about art. Bailey said even with all the programs and grants that the council provides, people must promote the arts in Iowa. "Just talking about the importance of the arts, and what it means to us personally and what they mean to the community," she said. |