Community Collaborations
The IUPUI Arts & Humanities Institute works with dozens of organizations in central Indiana. As part of the Cultural Ecologies Project, we are working with several of our partners to develop new models for the evaluation and assessment of arts and humanities projects. If you are an organization and would like to become involved in The Cultural Ecologies Project, please contact us.
Arts Council of Indianapolis
The Arts Council of Indianapolis fosters meaningful engagement in the arts by nurturing a culture where artists and arts organizations thrive. It advocates for the need and importance of broad community funding and support for a thriving arts scene; innovates by constantly pursuing and promoting innovative ideas and programs that better serve the area, its artists, and arts organizations; and connects artists, audiences, businesses, foundations, and arts and cultural organizations with opportunities to explore and expand central Indiana’s creative vitality.
The IAHI works specifically on assessment and evaluation for the following arts program:
The Public Art for Neighborhoods Fund
Strengthening Indianapolis means strengthening our neighborhoods, and arts in neighborhoods are a vital component of the city’s overall neighborhood development strategy. Public art is widely recognized as having benefits for both social and economic development, and for improving the quality of life for neighborhood residents. The Public Art for Neighborhoods fund comes from private developers who are doing projects in designated “redevelopment” areas of the city—called TIF districts—and who have been given tax breaks or other economic incentives from the City to encourage their investment in that area. Developers are required to direct 1% of the value of these incentives towards either completing a work of public art as part of their project, or as a cash contribution to the Public Art for Neighborhoods Fund. Nonprofit neighborhood associations and community development corporations (CDCs) will be eligible to apply to the Arts Council for project funds. Projects could include permanent artwork, temporary artwork, creative placemaking or tactical urbanism projects, arts-based festivals, open-air free performances, and one-time or recurring events that have a strong arts and culture component. Projects can occur anywhere in Marion County, and an equitable distribution of projects is the goal of the Public Art for Neighborhoods program. The ordinance calls for at least half of the funds spent to be for projects in low-income neighborhoods, and a a broad-based selection and oversight committee with regular reporting to the City-County Council will ensure excellent stewardship of the funds.
