By Jim Speirs, Executive Director, Arts South Dakota

Arts South Dakota’s newly designed website, ArtsSouthDakota.org, is the front door to our state’s arts scene—and it’s always open! The website is a powerful tool, placing arts and cultural information from every corner of South Dakota on the screen of any device.

The new, easier to use ArtsSouthDakota.org calendar enables individuals and organizations to view or submit arts events on the only statewide calendar devoted entirely to the arts. Using the site is a breeze, with a navigation bar that’s always with you, “floating” as you scroll through pages. That means every page in the website will be accessible no matter where you are at the moment.

By using art from the South Dakota Arts Council’s Art for State Buildings program and photos from the State Tourism department, the new website localizes each page and spotlights South Dakota’s artists and our creative culture.

Connecting users to arts resources is another vital piece of ArtsSouthDakota.org. The Resources page provides links to state and national organizations and also links to Arts Alive, the state arts magazine, and to Arts Opportunities. A page for arts organizations offers visitors downloadable, user-friendly lists of groups across South Dakota including arts centers and galleries, choral organizations, community arts councils, dance and literary organizations, municipal bands, music, theater, visual arts and crafts organizations, symphony orchestras, Native American groups and statewide service organizations.

Are you looking for a job in the arts? A partnership and collaboration with Springboard for the Arts is an exciting new feature for the Arts South Dakota website. Springboard for the Arts’ Job Board is the perfect way for creative organizations and businesses to connect with artists for jobs and paid internships in Minnesota, Iowa, North Dakota, South Dakota and Wisconsin. With over 15,000 monthly page views, as well as custom social media tags and a weekly email newsletter, the Job Board is an invaluable tool for any hiring process.

We think our new front door looks great, and once you open that door, you’ll be connected to the entire spectrum of the arts in South Dakota. Our website serves a widely diverse constituency, and we think we’ve made that easier than ever with ArtsSouthDakota.org. Check it out for yourself!