By The Camp Verde Journal staff
The Camp Verde Journal of Camp Verde, Arizona
Arizona Art Tank, a funding initiative launched last year by the Arizona Commission on the Arts to make strategic investments in Arizona's most promising and daring arts ventures, is coming to the Coconino Center for the Arts in Flagstaff on Thursday, Jan. 15.
At this regional, public event, artists and arts organizations from throughout Northern Arizona will be given six minutes each to pitch an arts-based venture to a live audience and a panel composed of state legislators, local business and arts leaders and artists.
At the end of the evening the panel will award seed funding grants to the three top-scoring applicants in the amounts of $5,000, $8,000 and $10,000.
Presenting organizations and artists are Sedona Arts Center, AZ Culture and town of Clarkdale; Milagro Arts Center of Prescott; Canyon Movement Company of Flagstaff; Prescott College Art Gallery at Sam Hill Warehouse of Prescott; and comMUSIKey of Prescott.
"At the Arizona Commission on the Arts, we believe artists are entrepreneurs and arts organizations are small businesses — both of which are central to the success of the American economy," said Robert Booker, executive director of the Arizona Commission on the Arts. "The arts promote innovation and collaboration, and positively impact local economies, student learning and cultural understanding."
Drawing inspiration from the world of entrepreneurial startups and venture capital, the "fast-pitch" event represents a departure from the state agency's standard method for awarding grants to artists and arts organizations.
In a traditional grant process, applicants are represented only by their written applications and relevant work samples. Though review panel meetings are often open to the public, they are generally formal, daytime affairs that attract little audience.
Arizona Art Tank allows artists and arts organizations an opportunity to pitch their proposals directly to the review panel and invites the public to witness and actively participate in the process. At each event, the audience will award, by popular vote, a separate $1,000 grant, provided by Arizona Art Tank sponsor APS, to their favorite venture.
Arizona Art Tank is free and open to the public. The Coconino Center for the Arts is located at 2300 N. Fort Valley Road in Flagstaff. Doors will open at 6:30 p.m. The event will begin at 7 p.m.
More information is available by visiting the Azarts website, emailing info@azarts.gov or calling the Arizona Commission on the Arts at (602) 771-6536.
One of 56 state and jurisdictional arts agencies across the United States, the Arizona Commission on the Arts is an agency of the state that supports a statewide arts network. The Arizona Commission on the Arts supports access to quality arts and arts education opportunities for all Arizona citizens; the development and retention of statewide jobs in the nonprofit arts, culture and education sectors; and increased economic impact in local communities through arts-based partnerships that develop tax and small business revenue.
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