Since 1960, the number of Local Arts Agencies (LAAs) in the United States has grown more than 10-fold, from 400 to 4,500. The greatest rate of growth was during the 1970s and 1980s. LAAs are found in all 50 states plus Washington, DC.

Local Arts Agencies are known by a variety of names and Arts Agency leaders have titles that also vary. What is consistent about the LAA, however, is the focus on advancing arts and culture locally to create more healthy, vibrant and equitable communities.

Once primarily nonprofit, volunteer-driven organizations that solely presented programming, they are now are a mix of both public and private agencies that leverage billions of dollars to advance the arts, ensuring broad access to the arts and improving the quality of their communities. Local arts agencies range in size, scope, population demographics, and services offered. They are customized to the communities they serve—uniquely designed to meet the needs and enrich the lives of its constituency.

WHAT IS A LOCAL ARTS AGENCY?

The nation’s 4,500 Local Arts Agencies (LAAs) promote, support, and develop the arts at the local level ensuring a vital presence for the arts throughout America’s communities. LAAs are diverse in their makeup—they have many different names and embrace a spectrum of artistic disciplines. But each LAA, in its own way, works to sustain the health and vitality of the arts and artists locally, while also striving to make the arts accessible to all members of a community. Each LAA in America is unique to the community that it serves and each evolves within its community—no two LAAs are exactly alike in name, programming or even mission. The infographic below will help you learn more about LAAs so that you can identify the LAAs that serve your community.

Read the full article about Local Arts Agencies at Americans for the Arts.