Advocacy and Grantsmaking
A central focus for the Arts Council since its inception has been to serve as an advocate for the arts and to reallocate city funding to the arts community. Significant accomplishments in 2009 included:

• Processed, adjudicated, and awarded $1.3 million in city and state grants for the arts.
• Increased public understanding of the importance of the arts to Indianapolis in order to garner support for arts funding. Through a comprehensive arts advocacy campaign entitled "What the Arts Mean," highlighted the economic and social impact of the arts.
• Awarded $400,000 in artist grants through the nationally recognized Creative Renewal Arts Fellowship program. Worked extensively with the current round of Creative Renewal Arts Fellowship program recipients through workshops and individual consultations.
• Adjudicated and awarded fellowships to emerging artists through the Robert D. Beckmann Jr. Emerging Artist Fellowship Program, providing professional development opportunities and grant dollars to assist in career development.
• Administered the Indiana Arts Commission's (IAC) Regional Partnership Program for 7 counties in central Indiana. Provided technical assistance and processed, adjudicated, and awarded grants totaling more than $330,000 to more than 50 organizations through state funding for the arts.
• Launched a series of meetings in each of the six surrounding counties the Arts Council serves via the state's Regional Partnership Program to build relationships, share information and resources available to them through the Arts Council, and to learn more about their artists and arts organizations and how the Arts Council can better serve their needs.
• Administered and awarded nearly $100,000 through the Fast-Track Funding Program on behalf of the Indianapolis Cultural Development Commission for quick turn around projects to bolster cultural tourism.

Public Art
The Arts Council developed and implemented a comprehensive public art program for Indianapolis in 2005. Since that time, public art has been one of the most visible programs administered by the Arts Council. Accomplishments in 2009 included:

• Produced George Rickey: An Evolution, the fourth in the major temporary public art exhibition series. The exhibition premiered 10 monumental sculptures as well as an ancillary exhibition at the Indianapolis Art Center.
• Concluded Chakaia Booker: Mass Transit, the third in the temporary public art exhibition series.
• Updated the rotating art program in the light box at College and Massachusetts Avenues by featuring a new image from local artist Darlene Delbecq.

Marketing & Communication
The Arts Council provided marketing resources to arts organizations through informative workshops, and technical assistance, and connected audiences with relevant information about the arts in Indianapolis and arts organizations' events. Accomplishments in 2009 included:

• Concluded a first-of-its kind audience development initiative to build "next audiences" aged 25-40. Hosted a second national Next Audiences Summit, a national arts conference, in Indianapolis in October 2009 attended by more than 130 participants from 13 states.
• Enhanced electronic communication to key constituent groups through the Arts Council's website www.indyarts.org, distributed the weekly IndyArts e-newsletter to more than 5,500 subscribers with information regarding upcoming arts events and links for further details and tickets. Through the Arts Council's innovative arts calendar, the Arts Council maintained and grew its role as the centralized resource for arts information for major media outlets in central Indiana.
• Organized the third annual "Free Night of Theatre" in Indianapolis, a nationwide marketing event created to build new audiences at local theaters through an online ticket giveaway.

Artist Services
Artists benefited from the valuable services provided by the Arts Council in the areas of marketing, technology and other assistance programs. Selected highlights from 2009 included:

• Distributed weekly e-communications to more than 2,100 artists featuring information and opportunities for artists to build business skills, access grant funding, and share best practices about the business of being an artist.
• Hosted a series of professional development workshops for artists, including the topics of public relations, developing a complete portfolio, and alternative spaces for showing work.
• Managed a rapidly growing online artist database for over 800 artists on the Arts Council's website. In addition to adding 200 new artists, the functionality was expanded to increase the number of images shown, the inclusion of artists' social networking sites, and an automated system for keeping artist exhibitions up to date.
• Published a new corporate buying guide designed to encourage local businesses to incorporate local art into their decor and educate them regarding the process of purchasing original local art.
• Continued Be Indypendent, the "buy local art" movement. Organized the first Be Indypendent Holiday Art Sale in the Indianapolis Artsgarden featuring 21 artists' work.
• Consulted to Community South Hospital on the process of selecting 26 Indiana artists for multiple opportunities for original artwork at the new south campus, resulting in over $100,000 in existing artwork sales and new commissions.

Indianapolis Artsgarden
Owned and operated by the Arts Council, the Indianapolis Artsgarden is an architectural icon for the city of Indianapolis and showcase for the arts. Adjacent to Circle Centre Mall, and connected to the Conrad hotel and Embassy Suites, this seven-story, enclosed glass dome spans the intersection of two major streets in downtown Indianapolis. Activities in 2009 included:

• Hosted more than 300 free performances, including jazz, dance, theatre, opera, classical, country, and folk music. The year ended with over 65 high school and middle school choirs and bands featured during the popular annual Mistletoe Music Festival.
• Hosted 10 visual art exhibitions by central Indiana artists.
• Produced the 13th annual Art & Soul at the Artsgarden, a celebration of African-American art and artists in Indiana. In addition to 21 free performances in the Artsgarden, the program was expanded to feature performances of four emerging African-American artists throughout the year.
• Continued a strategic partnership in the Artsgarden between Circle Centre Mall, the Indianapolis Convention & Visitors Association, and the Arts Council to staff the cultural concierge service providing information on the city, mall, and the arts seven days a week during mall hours.

Administration
In addition to initiatives to advance and promote the arts in Indianapolis, the Arts Council is dedicated to achieving its own organizational excellence. Significant advances in 2009 included:

• Hosted a sold out Start with Art fundraising event with more than 1,100 arts, business, and community leaders in attendance. The annual event kicked off a new arts season in Indianapolis and celebrated business and arts partnerships. Indianapolis native and nationally renowned opera singer Angela Brown was the keynote presenter and performer.
• Convened meetings, workshops, and seminars for arts organization CEO's and their board chairs and monthly meetings of arts marketing personnel.
• Launched and conducted an extensive 6-month national search for a new Arts Council president led by Arts Council board members and community representatives. The search concluded with the appointment of Dave Lawrence as the Arts Council's new President & CEO in December.
• Developed the groundwork for a new strategic plan for the Arts Council that would guide the council and provide leadership for the entire arts community into the future. Information used to develop strategies and tactics for the new strategic plan was developed through a comprehensive survey of the community, focus groups, and interviews with key community leaders, funders, arts advocates, leaders of local arts and cultural organizations, and artists.
• Reduced the operating expenses of the Arts Council by more than 40 percent since 2004 while maintaining the organization's outstanding level of service to the community.
• Housed the administrative offices of partner organizations, the Indy Hub and the Cultural Development Commission.