About Us - Guiding Principles
- Artistic Quality
- Access to the Arts
- Cultural Diversity
- Assistance to Individual Artists
- Development of Arts Organizations
- Arts Education
Supporting and stimulating excellence in the arts in Virginia is the responsibility of the Commission.
Artistic quality is the first consideration in the decision to fund any arts organization or arts activity. The Commission supports artistic excellence where it already exists, encourages growth in artistic quality, and works to make this artistic excellence available to all Virginians.
The advisory panels make evaluations of artistic quality. The Commission chooses the panelists for their knowledge of and experience in the arts. They attend activities of the Commission grantees and have first-hand knowledge of the quality of the work of the organizations.
The Commission works to ensure that quality arts are accessible to all Virginians regardless of race, age, gender, income, disability, geographic isolation, or social barrier. The Commission
0esupports existing arts organizations in all parts of the Commonwealth and encourages new organizations that serve people with limited access to the arts.
In addition, the Commission makes a substantial investment in performing arts touring each year as a way of increasing the availability of high quality arts throughout the Commonwealth.
All applicants are expected to consider the needs of special populations, such as older adults, individuals with disabilities, and the institutionalized, when planning their programs.
The Commission believes that it is through the arts we celebrate the diverse cultures of this country.
The Commission funds arts organizations, artists, and arts activities that preserve and present the many cultures of contemporary life in the Commonwealth.
Commission grantees that are serving racially, ethnically, and/or culturally diverse communities are expected to actively seek racial, ethnic, and/or cultural diversity in their artists, audiences, boards, and staff. Applications for funding should fully describe all efforts to create this diversity.
Assistance to Individual Artists
Central to support for the arts is aid to individual artists of all disciplines. The Commission believes that assisting the artist today is an investment in the cultural heritage of the Commonwealth.
The Commission provides fellowships for individual artists to help create new work as well as advance the careers of artists and the art forms in which they work.
If the arts are to thrive, there must be a receptive environment. The Commission hopes to develop a broad interest in and demand for new art in the Commonwealth by assisting in the purchase, commissioning, presentation, and distribution of work by Virginia artists of all disciplines. The Commission's goal is to foster a climate in which artists of exceptional talent may work full time at their art, assured of critical and financial rewards. Arts organizations receiving funding from the Commission are encouraged to pay their artists.
Additionally, the Commission supports artist retreats, access centers for equipment and studio/rehearsal space, and organizations that provide information and advisory services for individual artists.
Development of Arts Organizations
The Commission provides on-going support for established arts organizations and helps in the development of new arts organizations which fill a community need. In deciding which organizations to support, the Commission looks for high standards of artistic quality and management and the amount of local commitment to an organization in terms of attendance and financial support.
The Commission funds both professional and nonprofessional organizations that strive for artistic excellence. The Commission defines a "professional" organization as one composed of, hiring, or serving artists who earn or endeavor to earn their living through the practice of their art.
The Commission provides technical assistance to arts organizations, including paying for staff and board members to attend workshops and seminars, funding short term consultations on management problems, and conducting management workshops.
The Commission views its financial assistance role to arts groups as that of a catalyst, helping to strengthen private and local support of the arts. The Commission believes in a diversified funding base for arts organizations.
Organizations receiving funding from the Commission are expected to earn as much income from ticket sales/admission fees as possible, while seeking contributions from individuals, corporations, foundations, and government, as well as income from special fund-raising activities. This philosophy recognizes that government resources are limited while demands for services are high and that the arts are healthier when open to diverse influences and not financially dependent on any single source of support.
Some arts organizations exist to present the work of one artistic leader and are not intended to continue after that leader is gone. Other, equally worthy arts organizations have a more broad-based artistic philosophy and are intended to continue serving their communities beyond the tenure of the original artistic leader. The Commission strongly encourages this second group of organizations to build cash reserve funds and endowment funds to ensure financial stability in the future.
The Virginia Commission for the Arts is committed to strengthening arts education in the Commonwealth. The arts are an essential component of our communities, education, and lives. Creative activity is a source of joy and wonder. It also nurtures the development of cognitive, social, and personal skills which lead to improved academic performance in all subjects.
The study of the arts should be a part of the education of every young person, whether that student grows up to be a performer, a scientist, or a basketball player. A complete curriculum in the arts includes both training in performance and in the creation of art work and the study of the history and theory of the various art forms.
The Commission supports artist residencies in the schools, innovative projects that integrate the arts with non-arts curricula, and the educational programs of nonprofit arts organizations. None of these educational resources, however, take the place of sequential, curriculum-based arts instruction delivered by certified arts teachers. These supplemental arts programs reinforce and expand upon the arts curricula.
The Commission works in partnership with arts education associations, the Virginia Board of Education, the Virginia Department of Education, and arts organizations to promote arts education in all schools in Virginia.