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Arts Tasmania is an agency of the Tasmanian State Government and is in the portfolio of the Tasmanian Minister for the Arts. Arts Tasmania is within the Tasmanian Department of Economic Development, Tourism and the Arts. It is the Tasmanian Government agency responsible for policy and planning for arts and culture in Tasmania. The Minister for The Arts is Premier Lara Giddings MP and current the Director is Katherine Hough.

Arts Tasmania was created in 1991 as an umbrella term used by the Tasmanian State Government when referring to the Tasmanian Arts Advisory Board (TAAB), and the then Office of the Arts within the then Department of Education and the Arts.

Arts Tasmania has a similar function to other Australian state arts funding bodies and to the Australia Council for the Arts and that of other global arts councils, although it is unique to Tasmania. Arts Tasmania liaises with other Tasmanian Government agencies including the Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery, the State Library of Tasmania and the Tasmanian Archives Office.

Primary to Arts Tasmania’s core programs, is to each year administer grants and loans to artists and arts organisations distributed under the Tasmanian Arts Advisory Board Act (TAAB) 1975. Currently, its funding programs include:
 * Individuals, inclusive of; Start-up Grants, Residencies, and Artsbridge
 * Organisations
 * Low-interest Loans
 * Arts and Disability
 * Aboriginal Arts Fund
 * Small Museums and Collections Program
 * Premier’s Arts Partnership Fund

Arts Tasmania is also responsible for policy, planning, strategic development, and funding, of the arts and moveable cultural heritage in Tasmania. Funding for screen based activities not handled by Arts Tasmania is made through a separate Tasmanian Government agency, Screen Tasmania (established in 1999).

Arts Tasmania has a comprehensive vision statement and operational staff based in Hobart and Launceston.