Bloomington Area Arts Council

Mission Statement
The Bloomington Area Arts Council supports public participation in the arts by developing, strengthening, and promoting the cultural resources of Bloomington and Brown, Greene, Lawrence, Monroe and Owen Counties.

Vision Statement

The Bloomington Area Arts Council fulfills its mission by building dynamic partnerships that enhance the creativity of artists and arts organizations and facilitates public arts investment and participation.

Organizational Goals

• Develop, strengthen and promote artists and arts organizations in the five-county area
• Catalyze economic and community development through the arts
• Increase visibility and public awareness of Bloomington's cultural resources
• Promote life-long learning in the arts
• Improve the long-term stability of the BAAC, thereby strengthening our capacity to fulfill our mission and goals

About the BAAC

The BAAC operates four core programs: Education, Performance, Visual Arts and Arts Development. The administrative staff of seven full-time is based at the John Waldron Arts Center in downtown Bloomington, which opened in 1992. The Arts Center is equipped with two multi-use classrooms, a ceramics lab, jewelry lab, darkroom, two galleries, a gallery shop and two performance spaces. The BAAC provides programming at the Arts Center and facilities are available to the general community for rental as well. Outreach activities occur in schools and community centers in the five county service area, and the BAAC provides critical arts information and referral through its home site www.artlives.org and its performance and cultural events portal www.bloomingtonarts.info.

The Education program employs 100 artists as instructors and offers 400 classes and workshops to 3,000 children and adults throughout the region. The Education program also offers intensive experiences through its Limestone Symposium aimed at sculptors and stone carvers and Tribal Pura, an annual workshop and performance on Middle Eastern dance.

The Performance program co-produces 16 productions with local performing groups, providing technical support, facility rent and marketing support for shows that reach an audience of 3,000 annually. Over 100 additional performances are presented by local arts groups, through venue rental, which reach an additional 7,000 audience members.  The performance program in its entirety serves over 1,000 performers in theater, dance, music and spoken word.

The Visual Arts program showcases the work of 200 regional visual artists and craftspeople in 22 exhibits for an audience of 7,000 annually. A juried art show provides exhibition opportunities for an additional 60 artists and 9,000 audience members.

The Arts Development program provides a variety of programming for the community including a jazz outreach program to regional schools, the OBOB community read program, artist services and training programs, an arts leadership event as well as administers approximately $60,000 in grants on behalf of the Indiana Arts Commission.

Check out our websites: www.artlives.org and www.bloomingtonarts.info

Where we are:

The John Waldron Arts Center is located at the corner of 4th and South Walnut in the heart of downtown Bloomington.


                           

                                                   

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