Regional arts organizations (RAO’s)
provide arts programs in all disciplines to more than 20
million Americans each year in all 50 states and four U.S. territories.
In the last decade, regional arts organizations generated
tours involving more than 4,000 artists,
reaching more than 1,500 communities, developed and toured 150 visual arts exhibitions, awarded
fellowships
to hundreds of artists and supported artist residency programs.
Regional arts organizations conduct ground-breaking
research, develop training programs and materials, provide technical
assistance to their
member state arts agencies, experiment with media and new technologies
to expand audiences for arts organizations and artists, publish
books, design and implement programs for writers and publishers,
develop the
federal standards for computerized arts information and undertake
national and international projects related to specific arts initiatives.
The budget of regional arts organizations
grew from $5.1 million in 1980 to
$41.1 million in 2009. Budget growth
has come from private
sector contributions; state appropriated funds and earned income.
