 As the designated local arts agency for the City of Tucson and Pima County, the Tucson Pima Arts Council provides arts and cultural development services through direct funding, technical assistance, and commissions and contracts to artists and arts organizations and selective special cultural project and cultural development studies facilitation. Through Grants, Community Arts Development, and Public Art Programs, the Arts Council encourages neighborhood, youth and community involvement in the arts. It provides employment opportunities for artists, and crucial support for arts organizations, and it enhances education and promotes heritage-based artistic traditions. Other services include support for International Exchange, and Marketing and Organizational Development assistance for artists and arts organizations. In addition, the Arts Council's advocacy efforts increase awareness of the importance of the arts and culture to our quality of life, making Tucson and Pima County a better place to visit and live, and contributing to the economic development of the region.
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 The Tucson Pima Arts Council celebrates its 22nd anniversary this year with the knowledge that this distinction is really only part of a thirty-three year continuum of community commitment and support for the arts and cultural development of our region.
In 1971 a group of citizens came together to form the Tucson Council on the Arts, whose purpose included promotion, advocacy, funding, education and serving as a catalyst and information resource for cultural development. In 1974, the Tucson Council on the Arts, along with the Chamber of Commerce's Culture and Arts Committee recommended that the city establish the Tucson Commission of Arts and Culture, TCAC. Among the Commission's goals were the reinforcement and enhancement of Tucson's image as the cultural corridor of the Southwest, the allocation of public dollars through a fair and equitable grant process, the provision of free workshops and education programs throughout the city, and the coordination of a central calendar.
The City of Tucson joined the ranks of hundreds of cities across the country on June 1, 1975 with the passage of Ordinance 4357, formally recognizing the arts as an essential city service to be funded annually. In 1976, $35,000 was allocated to fund 16 arts groups through the TCAC's grant allocation process. In 1977, Tucson's first Arts advocacy group was formed. In 1979, the first TCAC director, Ralph Kohlhoff was hired. Kohlhoff was a professional arts administrator with experience in forming local arts councils in three other communities.
1984 marked the establishment and designation of the Tucson Pima Arts Council as the local arts council of the City of Tucson and Pima County, "the principal mechanism through which arts and cultural activities will be planned and carried out within the metropolitan area." Our programs now provide $446,275 in direct funding to artists, arts organizations, community groups and neighborhoods; and our technical support, advocacy and promotion of arts and culture help to deliver arts and cultural programming to thousands of people who live and visit our region each year.
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The Tucson Pima Arts Council provides arts and cultural services for the City of Tucson and Pima County. The almost 20 rural communities pictured below have received direct support through our Community Arts Development Program's Rural Arts focus.
The Tucson Pima Arts Council fosters artistic expression, educational development and the economic growth of our diverse community by supporting, promoting and advocating for arts and culture.
