Arts Wisconsin: Invites applicants for the third annual Rural Arts Management Institute

Contact: Anne Katz, Arts Wisconsin

608 255 8316 | akatz@artswisconsin.org

A training program for rural arts managers in the Upper Midwest

Intensive weekend workshops to be held monthly from October 16, 2009 through April 10, 2010 at the Northern Lakes Center for the Arts in Amery, WI

Amery, WI —- Arts Wisconsin, Wisconsin’s statewide arts service, advocacy, and development organization, invites applicants for the third annual RURAL ARTS MANAGEMENT INSTITUTE, to be held at the Northern Lakes Center for the Arts in Amery, Wisconsin from October 2009 through April 2010. The Institute will provide training in arts management to individuals committed to developing arts organizations in rural communities across the Upper Midwest (Wisconsin, Minnesota and Michigan).

Applicants may already be working in the arts and wishing to gain additional skills and improve their organizations, or they may be new to arts management and looking to make their entrepreneurial concept for a rural arts organization a reality. “What a great learning experience!,” wrote one previous participant. “I discovered a whole new world of knowledgeable experts, useful information and resources, and supportive colleagues… I highly recommend the RAM Institute to anyone who makes the arts happen in a rural area.”

In six months of weekend workshops, participants will learn how to:

* Understand Community: the special requirements of developing the arts in rural areas

* Build An Organization: organizational development, legal and tax issues and working with boards

* Go from Planning Into Practice: developing and evaluating programs

* Find The Funding: budgets, fund-raising and proposal development

* Spread The Word: marketing, participant recruitment and advocacy.

* Move forward: completion of an Institute implementation plan and follow-up networks and resources

Tuition for the workshop is $600 ($100 per weekend), which includes room and board and is highly subsidized by grants from the National Endowment for the Arts, the Wisconsin Arts Board and the Kohler Foundation. Partial scholarships and flexible pay plans available.

Applications are due September 15, 2009 and may be downloaded from Arts Wisconsin’s Web Site, artswisconsin.org . Questions should be directed to Anne Katz, Executive Director of Arts Wisconsin, at akatz@artswisconsin.org or 608 255 8316.