Arts Council of Napa Valley

The Arts Council Napa Valley (ACNV) is the official Napa County, California, USA arts council.

Arts Council Napa Valley runs under the California State Arts Council, the California Arts Council (CAC).[1]

External links

• Arts Council of Napa Valley website

MISSION Arts Council Napa Valley supports a thriving and diverse creative community by expanding arts education, collaborating with arts organizations, and nurturing the development of artistic talent. We are here to serve Napa Valley youth, schools, artists, arts organizations, and patrons of art.

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HISTORY ACNV was founded in 1980 as a non-profit 501(c)3 membership organization for the purpose of supporting and connecting the creative community in Napa County. In the last 30 years, ACNV has grown from a small organization into an important stakeholder and partner in Napa Valley. In the last five years of community growth and change, its primary focus has broadened from the visual arts and arts education in the schools, to now include every form of arts, culture and history being produced in Napa County.

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PROGRAMS & SERVICES

ARTIST OPPORTUNITIES: ACNV lists multiple calls for artists, grant opportunities, audition notices, and residencies on the ACNV website. ACNV also periodically blasts several of these opportunities to our artist members via e-newletters. Artist Opportunities

ARTS IN EDUCATION: ACNV provides matching grants to local schools and community organizations to help fund in-school and after-school arts programming, as well as hands-on family activities at multiple local festivals. ACNV maintains an annual online catalog of qualified arts instructors and class descriptions. We conduct professional development workshops and support mentoring programs for artists who want to learn how to bring their creative skills to the classroom. ACNV is now entering into new contracts with the Napa County Office of Education (NCOE) to be the primary contractor for providing teaching artists for after-school and special programs. www.artsednapa.org

FISCAL SPONSORSHIP: ACNV provides a responsible, financial structure and oversight to support creative community programming for organizations, volunteer groups and individual artists in a transparent and strictly monitored process.

NAPA ARTWALK: In 2010, ACNV launched this new program in partnership with the City of Napa. The ARTwalk is an annual, temporary, outdoor sculpture exhibition showcasing a variety of three-dimensional artwork throughout downtown Napa. The program was created to increase foot traffic in our downtown retail sector while providing an educational vehicle for understanding and appreciating the power of public art in our community. It also includes an audio tour, created with QR Codes (a new communication tool using Smart Phone technology), to inform visitors on the work and the artists as they take this self-guided tour. [2]

NAPA COUNTY READS: In partnership with the Napa County Office of Education (NCOE) and Napa City-County Library, ACNV co-produces this annual program promoting literacy in our schools and the community at large. ACNV brings in the support of the visual arts community by soliciting for artwork submissions each year to be auctioned off in a silent auction, which takes place the night of the author reading and reception. All proceeds benefit the next year's program. The 2011 call for Napa County Reads artists has been released. Work will incorporate themes from Suzanne Morgan Williams' novel "Bull Rider." [3].

NAPA VALLEY ARTS: In October 2010, ACNV launched this annual, month-long, countywide celebration of arts and culture. ACNV coordinates this program with the participation of the Napa Valley Arts Coalition, a group created by ACNV representing every major arts venue and organization in Napa Valley. The main goal of this program is to increase cultural tourism and market Napa Valley as not only a destination for wine and food, but also for the arts. The second annual Napa Valley ARTS Celebration will run from October 1 - 31st, 2011. [4]

ART ON FIRST: This is a new program set to launch in Spring 2011. In partnership with the PBID (Business Improvement District), City of Napa, and a local artist and gallery owner, ACNV will coordinate this installation exhibition in 15-18 vacant storefront windows along First Street in downtown Napa. This program will highlight the work of professional Bay Area artists selected by a small committee of arts professionals. Work will be on display in six month cycles to revitalize and drive foot traffic to Napa's downtown retail corridor.

MASTER ONLINE ARTS & CULTURE CALENDAR (WWW.NVARTS.ORG) & SOCIAL MEDIA SUPPORT: ACNV's online calendar lists information, ticket info, weblinks and maps for local visual, literary, theater, music, dance, historical, and cultural events. This comprehensive resource also features workshops, classes, benefits, and lectures as well as a new section devoted to community resources for parents and educators. The calendar also links to the "Underground Calendar", focused on alternative events for youth, created in partnership with Wandering Rose, a creative collective fiscally sponsored by ACNV. ACNV staff and volunteers vet every single calendar posting and also post individual event reminders and updates at least four times daily via Facebook and Twitter. During ARTS 2010, ACNV also sent weekly e-blasts with event reminders, listings, maps, images and ticket info, all culled from www.nvarts.org.

MASTER ONLINE CALENDAR CONFIRMATION PROGRAM: This new ACNV program offers the local hospitality industry a way to inform their guests about what arts and culture events may be happening during the time of their stay in the Valley. ACNV provides the tools to post an RSS data feed from nvarts.org directly onto a hotel's website, allowing hotel staff to place selected events onto each guest's confirmation email as well as providing guests with up to the minute event information during their stay.

NAPA COUNTY POET LAUREATE: In partnership with the Napa County Board of Supervisors, ACNV solicits applications and coordinates a review panel for a new County Poet Laureate on a biannual basis. The Poet Laureate works with ACNV to support the annual California Arts Council (CAC)/ National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) "Poetry Out Loud" program and appears at multiple public functions to formally read a selected poem in honor of the event. The mission of the Poet Laureate is to elevate and incorporate poetry into the lives of our county's residents.

ONLINE ARTIST REGISTRY: ACNV's Registry showcases the work of local artists, writers, designers and musicians in an online menu format available as a free community resource. It includes detailed information on all participating member artists, including resumes, biographies, artist statements, web links, contact information, and up to ten images per artist.

POETRY OUT LOUD: In partnership with the CAC, the NEA and the Poetry Foundation, this annual ACNV program spotlights the importance of poetry and recitation in our high schools. ACNV works with Napa Valley High Schools to create a countywide recitation competition, whose winner goes on to compete at the state level in Sacramento. The national competition that follows offers the winner college scholarship funds.

ROTATING STUDENT ART EXHIBITION AT NAPA CITY HALL: ACNV coordinates and installs a quarterly, changing exhibition showcasing the incredible arts education happening in classrooms throughout Napa County. At the beginning of each exhibition, ACNV staff, the Mayor and councilmembers honor the young artists, their families and teachers at a special reception held at a regular City Council Meeting.[5].