When the Arts Council of Indianapolis was created 1987, the council's central focus was serving as an advocate for local arts organizations, a mission it fulfilled largely through granting the city's arts-related financial support.

That focus hasn't changed. But over the years the council's leadership role has expanded to include specific strategies designed to bolster the arts in central Indiana.

Today the council's mission is to advance and promote the arts through funding, advocacy, business, artistic and technical assistance, public and private support, and technology. To accomplish this, we focus on four strategic initiatives:

• Advocacy
• Support of Artists and Arts Organizations
• Audience Development
• Organizational Excellence

The council includes five key service areas:

• Advocacy and Granting
• Public Art Indianapolis
• Arts Marketing
• Artist Services
• Artsgarden

Naturally, these service areas frequently overlap to better support our strategic initiatives – and to bring artists, arts organizations and audiences in central Indiana together.