Wednesday, November 8, 2006

Statewide commission advocates arts

ICA wants art to thrive for education and community


By SABINA DANA PLASSE
Express Staff Writer

Fostering creativity and advocating for the arts are among the premier goals of the Idaho Commission on the Arts, which met last month to discuss long-term goals.

The Idaho Commission on the Arts (ICA) held its annual Commission Retreat in Boise to discuss procedures and ideas for its long-range plans. A state agency, the ICA is made up of 13 volunteer commissioners from all regions of Idaho appointed by the governor to four-year terms.

The ICA's mission is to make arts available to all Idahoans. Building a five-year plan in order to provide more flexibility and adaptability, the ICA hopes to focus its efforts on Idaho's diverse artistic and cultural heritage while increasing accessibility, advocacy and an appreciation for the arts.

Wood River Valley's Denise Simone, a founding member of the non-profit theater company, Company of Fools, is Blaine County's commissioner representative serving a second term for the ICA. Her term will end in 2009.

"It's been an honor and a real eye-opener," said Simone. "I get to be in this community and put my life's passion on a state level and talk to state officials about arts education."

Idaho was one of the first states to have an arts commission instituted in 1966 in order to bring arts to rural areas, and that is no simple task. Idaho has tricky terrain, and it's not easy to maneuver making it difficult to bring or cultivate the arts in certain rural areas.

As a state that is historically conservative, Idaho has the reputation for being disinterested in the arts, but in the last five years as neighboring states have received almost no arts funding, Govs. Risch and Kempthorne stepped up and assumed more proactive advocacy roles.

"There are resources within the community, but networking is really important," said Simone. "People and individuals need to join organizations. The Hailey Arts Commission resides under the city's umbrella, but the city formed this commission and received a public arts grant of $5,500 to do a call for an artist to create an entryway for the park. It was one of nine public art projects to receive a grant."

The ICA has an annual budget of $800,000 and recieves a majority of its funding from the National Endowment of the Arts. Giving out fellowships and creating opportunity for arts education in communities lacking the arts, the ICA has actively promoted the arts.

Simone said more art organizations need to take advantage of what the ICA has to offer.

"The staff will do a professional development for small companies and larger (companies) as well as how to form a board or cultivate a board. It will even come out to speak to a board," she said.

The ability to receive ICA quick fund grants, which are one-page submission requests, allow teachers to receive educational opportunities as well as serve the needs of community arts organizations and projects.

"It's not extra or special. The arts are the life blood of a community," said Simone. "Lots of schools don't have crayons or construction paper. If we don't teach creativity, we are losing our souls. If we don't nurture our children and allow them to express creativity, problems will continue to mount."




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