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The Wisconsin Arts Board is a state agency of Wisconsin that provides technical assistance and funding for arts programs and arts education.

Mission Statement
The Wisconsin Arts Board’s mission is to nurture creativity, cultivate expression, promote the arts, support arts in education, stimulate community and economic development, and serve as a resource for people of every culture and heritage.

The Wisconsin Arts Board’s vision is inspired by a quote from the late Robert E. Gard, Professor Emeritus of Community Theatre, University of Wisconsin: "If we are seeking in America, let it be for the reality of democracy in the arts. Let art begin at home and let it spread through the children and the parents, and through the schools and the institutions, and through government. And let us start by acceptance, not negation-acceptance that the arts are important everywhere, and that they can exist and flourish in small places as well as large, with money or without it, according to the will of the people. Let us put firmly and permanently aside the cliché that the arts are a frill. Let us accept the goodness of art where we are now, and expand its worth in the places where people live."

History
The Wisconsin Arts Board was established in 1973 by the Wisconsin Legislature. Wisconsin was one of the earliest states to form a state-supported arts council. The guiding legislation that was instituted at the agency’s inception is described in Subchapter II of Chapter 44 of the Wisconsin Statues for 1973 and granted the Arts Board with the following powers and duties:

The board shall

 * a) Continually study the artistic and cultural activities within the state.
 * b) Assist arts activities in the state.
 * c) Assist communities in creating and developing their own arts programs.
 * d) Encourage and assist freedom of artistic expression.
 * e) Promulgate rules, pursuant to ch. 227, for the implementation and operations of this      subchapter.
 * f) Plan and implement, when funds are available in the appropriations under s. 20.380 (3) (b) and (o), a program of contracts with or grants-in-aid to groups or, in appropriate cases, individuals of exceptional talent engaged in or concerned with the arts.
 * g) Arrange and schedule the portrait of the governor or any former governor. Costs incurred under this paragraph shall be charged to the appropriation under s. 20.380 (3) (c) up to a limit of $10,000 per portrait. Costs in excess of $10,000 per portrait may be charged to the appropriation under s. 20.380(3) (c) only with the prior approval of the joint committee on finance.
 * h) Annually, award an amount equal to at least 5% of all state and federal funds received by the board in that year for grants to artists and arts organizations to artists who are minority group members and arts groups composed principally of minority group members. In this paragraph, “minority group member” has the meaning specified in s. 16.287(1) (f).
 * i) Administer challenge grant programs for the purpose of encouraging the fund-raising efforts of arts organizations.
 * j) Annually pay to the Milwaukee Foundation, Inc., for deposit in the High Point Fund, the amount appropriated under s. 20.380 (3) (e).

The board may

 * a) Enter into contracts with individuals, organizations, units of government and institutions for services furthering the development of the arts and humanities.
 * b) Accept all gifts and grants and expend them for the purposes intended.
 * c) Award an operational grant to an organization if the sum of all operational grants awarded in the current year does not exceed 50% of the sum of all grants awarded to organizations from the appropriations under s. 20.380 (3) (b) and (o) in the current year. In this paragraph, "operational grant" means a grant awarded by the board to support those administrative costs of an organization that are not directly related to the development of an artistic performance or product.

In 1974, Jerrold Ruby served as the Arts Board’s first executive director. Under his directorship and support from the National Endowment for the Arts, the board’s early policies and grant programs were established. The first state funds for programming were allocated in the 1979-81 state budget. In 1981, Marvin Weaver took over the executive directorship and instituted several new programs including a summer arts camp for high school students in cooperation with the Department of Public Instruction and the first Advisory Council on Tourism and the Arts. Weaver’s directorship also saw the creation of three new program initiatives: Folk Arts, the Performing Arts Network-Wisconsin and the Wisconsin Grant Challenge. Arley Curtz made reforms to the agency while a long-range plan was developed, the economic impact of the arts was studied, and grants programs were revised.

In 2011, after state-wide budget cuts, the independent body was folded into the Department of Tourism, where it retained its independent, Governor-appointed board. In the last decade, the Arts Board created a task force that explored connections between the arts, education and workforce development; established regional assessments of cultural infrastructure; and identified critical opportunities for creative industries in both rural and urban settings.

Board Members
The Arts Board is governed by a fifteen-member board appointed by the Governor to serve three-year terms. Board members are Wisconsin citizens recognized for their accomplishments in the arts, humanities, business, education or public service. The board includes members from urban and rural areas across the state and from diverse racial, economic and cultural backgrounds. Board members set policy for the agency and approve funding recommendations made by the peer review panels. The members meet a minimum of four times per year, and all meetings are open to the public. The current chair of the board is Bruce Bernberg.

Funding
The Arts Board is in partnership with and receives funding from the National Endowment for the Arts. Each year the Arts Board grants funds to individuals and organizations working in folk arts, arts education, or local arts. It also makes grants to arts organizations whose primary mission is to create or present arts programming. The Wisconsin Arts Board’s programs and activities do not discriminate on the basis of disability in admission, access or employment.

Individuals
Folk Arts Apprenticeships Awards - are $3,000 grants that support respected master traditional folk artists in teaching their skills to committed and talented apprentices. (WAB website)

Organizations
Creation and Presentation Grants - provide artistic program and operational support to established nonprofit arts organizations whose primary mission is to create or present ongoing arts programming that makes a significant local, regional, or statewide impact on the cultural life of Wisconsin, and that furthers the Arts Board’s community development and arts education goals.

Creative Communities Grants - encourages arts education and community arts development in Wisconsin. It provides support for projects in the following three areas: Arts Education; Folk and Traditional Arts; and Local Arts.