OUR WORK

The Fresno Arts Council provides and advocates for local arts programming and services as well as employment opportunities for working artists to both teach and create original artworks in the Fresno County area

Fresno Arts Council provides assistance for public arts projects, including murals, sculptural installations, and other design projects We work with individuals, businesses, and community organizations to understand their vision and needs, develop and distribute a call for artist proposals, and guide the selection and contract process from idea to execution. In 2022, Fresno Arts Council worked with such agencies as California High Speed Rail, Fresno Yosemite International Airport, and State Center Community College District For more information, contact Program Coordinator, Eric Martinez at eric@fresnoartscouncil org

Fresno Arts Council provides Arts in Education programming for county K-8 schools In March 2023, the program certified several new teaching artists to work with Fresno County students, helping them to meet Common Core and Arts Education standards through arts education programming Each year, Fresno County’s Poetry Out Loud™ contest selects a winning student to represent area high schools at the California State Poetry Out Loud competition For more information, contact Andrea Mele, Program Coordinator at andrea@fresnoartscouncil org

History

In 1980, the FAC received a grant from the California Arts Council (CAC) to provide technical and administrative assistance to various arts groups in Fresno County Within a year, the purpose of the FAC expanded to sponsoring and encouraging cultural education and creative activities, as well as serving as the umbrella unit for all county arts organizations, in such areas as legislation, education, and community awareness of the arts

In addition, the FAC coordinated and disseminated information concerning the arts: Beginning in 1991, with funding from the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA), the FAC hired folklorist, Amy Kitchener, who developed our program of folk arts locally and created performances and exhibits with local communities The Alliance for California Traditional Arts (ACTA) was formed under our guidance as its own organization, under the leadership of Kitchener In the mid-1990s, the City of Fresno passed Arts to Zoo, a measure collecting 001% of sales tax for cultural organizations The money was distributed for a year and a half before the tax was declared illegal In 1998, the remaining money was given to the FAC and the Fresno Regional Foundation for distribution In 2010, the FAC completed redistributing those funds annually to arts and cultural organizations In 2015, with support from former Assemblyman Henry T Perea, the FAC established the Rural Access Fund Today, the FAC continues to innovate new grant-making opportunities for local artists, including the Fresno Arts Safety Net Fund (FASNF) and FAC Cares, both in response to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic that started in Spring 2020

Arts programs and cultural activities attract industry and other businesses to a community, resulting in growth and economic progress but it takes support from private and public sectors, and people like you, to create and foster this creative activity

We rely on individual, organization and business membership dues, as well as event sponsorships as an integral part of our funding. Be an advocate for the arts in Fresno County by becoming a member of the Fresno Arts Council today

JOYCE

COKE

JERRY