By Jim Speirs, Executive Director, Arts South Dakota With South Dakota’s humanities programming—including proven children’s literacy projects—threatened because of the elimination of the federal appropriation for the National Endowment for the Humanities, it’s time to take steps to ensure that a similar funding cut is not carried out at the National Endowment for the Arts [...]
By Jim Speirs, Executive Director, Arts South Dakota Amazing arts and culture projects are happening all across South Dakota but arts organizations and their leaders are spread out and often isolated from colleagues. The Arts Leadership Institute, sponsored by Arts South Dakota, has been created to support those who are doing the critical work of [...]
By Jim Speirs, Executive Director, Arts South Dakota There’s a reason that South Dakota governors and legislators have for decades supported the arts and creative industry in our state. The South Dakota Arts Council, in partnership with the National Endowment for the Arts, was created in the mid-1960s to ensure and maintain arts accessibility [...]
By Jim Speirs, Executive Director, Arts South Dakota This month the South Dakota Arts Council and Arts South Dakota announced the biennial Governor’s Awards in the Arts. Each recipient is an inspiring example for all of us, often demonstrating a lifetime of commitment to creativity, cultural enhancement and sharing the arts with students, audiences [...]
By Jim Speirs, Executive Director, Arts South Dakota In a state as large and diverse as South Dakota, no one organization can advance our creative environment singlehandedly. One of Arts South Dakota’s most significant partners in the daily challenge of providing arts advocacy and arts information is South Dakota Public Broadcasting (SDPB). With 98% coverage [...]
By Jim Speirs, Executive Director, Arts South Dakota Look around your community and chances are you’ll discover the arts everywhere this season. Maybe there’s a play at school, or a choral concert celebrating the holidays. You may find an arts and crafts fair that’s an annual tradition or perhaps your community has a South Dakota [...]
By Jim Speirs, Executive Director, Arts South Dakota South Dakota is a land of diversity, from our sweeping and soaring geography to our regionalized industries to our proud Native and immigrant forbearers. The arts in South Dakota are no less diverse—if anything, the creative vision of our citizens is as distinctive as each of them. [...]
By Jim Speirs, Executive Director, Arts South Dakota The future of South Dakota’s creative environment, cultural education opportunities and professional arts careers is shaped by decisions made in Pierre and Washington, DC. On November 5, your vote for candidates who care about the arts will be one of the most important advocacy steps you [...]
By Jim Speirs, Executive Director, Arts South Dakota South Dakota is fortunate that arts instructors have always joined together to enhance their skills and advocate for increased support for their disciplines. Arts South Dakota has recently collaborated with several of these arts educator associations to establish the South Dakota Arts Education Advocacy Cohort, providing [...]
By Jim Speirs, Executive Director, Arts South Dakota It’s federal funding time again, and Congress is looking to give the arts a raise—with your help! Recently the Senate Appropriations Committee allocated an increase in funding to $209 million for the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) in the FY’25 Interior Appropriations bill. That’s a [...]
