Questions – and Answers – About the Arts Council of Indianapolis

Q: Is the Arts Council of Indianapolis a public organization?
A: The Arts Council of Indianapolis is a private non-profit organization established in 1987.

Q: What does the Arts Council do?
A: The Arts Council of Indianapolis exists to advance and promote the arts through funding, advocacy, business, artistic and technical assistance, public and private support, and technology. In addition to the annual grants program through the city's allocation, the Arts Council offers many other programs and services designed to support and advance the arts in Indianapolis.

The Arts Council of Indianapolis offers free programs and services to artists including workshops, technical assistance, paid exhibition and performance opportunities at the Indianapolis Artsgarden, free publicity and marketing assistance through its website: www.indyarts.org, and nationally-recognized artist fellowships such as the Creative Renewal Arts Fellowship program.

The Arts Council offers free programs and services to arts organizations as well, such as free workshops and technical assistance opportunities, industry-leading research projects, and other funding opportunities through Fast Track grants (funded by the Indianapolis Cultural Development Commission) and the Regional Arts Partner program (funded through the Indiana Arts Commission, the state arts agency).

The Arts Council also manages the city’s public art program that has included exhibitions and installations of local, regional, national, and international artists. The public art program is not funded through the City of Indianapolis allocation. Current funding for this program comes from private sources (most notably the Lilly Endowment) to the Indianapolis Cultural Development Commission.

Arts Council salaries are not paid through the city's allocation. Program costs, salaries, and other activities not associated with the city's grant allocation program are supported by individual contributions, grants from foundations and corporations, and one annual fundraiser.

Q: How are the city’s funds used?
A: The City's arts allocation to the Arts Council is used only for direct grants that support Marion County arts and cultural organizations. No city funds are used to support ongoing Arts Council operations, employee salaries or benefits.

Q: Do city funds support arts organizations or individual artists, too?
A: The funding allocated from the City of Indianapolis to the Arts Council is only available to arts organizations -- not individual artists. This is a requirement placed on the Arts Council by the City of Indianapolis.

Q: Who decides which arts organizations receive grants?
A: The Arts Council uses out-of-state grant panelists to adjudicate each grant application, eliminating favoritism and conflicts of interest.  The panels determine the merit of each grant application and assess the organization’s artistic quality, community impact, and organizational impact.  Each application is scored based on each organization’s ability to meet and/or exceed the established scoring criteria.

The adjudication panels are open to the public. All arts organizations receiving grants must provide a dollar-for-dollar cash match, leveraging the city’s investment two-fold. Not all applications received are funded. In addition to the city's core arts groups, applications are received and grants are made to new and emerging arts organizations each year.

Q: How much does city support represent to arts organizations' budgets?
A: The funds awarded to arts organizations represent between .05% to 10% of an organization's budget. The programs and projects supported include free programs, discounted tickets and admission, community outreach programs, and support to pay individual artists for programs and performances at Indianapolis arts venues.  View a list of grants supported with city funding in 2008.

Q: What other kinds of grants does the Arts Council offer?
A: The Arts Council provides funding support and grants from other sources (in addition to the city's allocation) for a variety of arts-related initiatives, including fellowships, arts projects, and public art programs.  The Arts Council seeks funding from other foundations to regrant to artists and arts organizations in a number of unique funding programs.

Arts Council newsletters, annual reports, and other documents include listings of all grants awarded by the Arts Council for a specific time period, including those not funded through the city's allocation. Learn more at www.artscouncilofindianapolis.org.

Q: What’s the difference between city funding and CIB funding?
A: City funding comes from an allocation from the City’s annual budget.  The funding allocation is part of the Parks and Recreation Department’s budget that is controlled by the Indianapolis City County Council’s Parks and Recreation Committee. The City allocation for the arts is meant to support diverse community outreach programming and events, including low- and no-cost performances and educational opportunities that serve more than 1.6 million students and nearly 500,000 seniors each year.

An additional allocation, recommended by the Mayor of Indianapolis, is made through the Capital Improvement Board (CIB).  CIB grants support arts and cultural organizations that play important roles in cultural tourism attraction and associated economic activity.

Q: What’s the difference between city and state funding for the arts?
A: City arts funding is an annual allocation from the City of Indianapolis budget (through the City Council’s Parks and Recreation Committee) to the Arts Council of Indianapolis.

State arts funding is an allocation from the Indiana General Assembly and the National Endowment for the Arts to the Indiana Arts Commission.  The Arts Council of Indianapolis is a Regional Arts Partner of the state arts commission (Region 7).  Funding programs through the Regional Arts Partner program are available to arts and cultural organizations in Marion, Hamilton, Hancock, Hendricks, Shelby, Johnson, and Boone counties. For more information about the state’s arts funding and the Indiana Arts Commission, visit: www.in.gov/arts.

Q: What is the Indianapolis Consortium of Arts Administrators?
A: The Consortium (ICAA) consists of arts professionals from 38 of Central Indiana's largest arts and cultural organizations. Those organizations spend nearly $50 million with businesses in Indiana annually and along with other area arts organizations, welcome more than 4.1 million visitors to museum exhibitions, musical performances, live theater, and other cultural experiences.  The Consortium hosted the Indy Culture Matters rally on Monument Circle in April 2009.  More information on Indy Culture Matters can be found at indyculturematters.org.