The Iowa Arts Council empowers Iowa to build and sustain culturally vibrant communities by cultivating creativity, learning and participation in the arts.
Established in 1967, the Iowa Arts Council serves as Iowa’s state arts agency and works in collaboration with its federal agency partner, the National Endowment for the Arts, and regional arts partner, Arts Midwest, to build the capacity of Iowa’s arts ecosystem. The Iowa Arts Council strives to create opportunities for the arts to flourish in Iowa by nurturing cultural leadership and investing in projects that provide access to arts experiences in communities and public spaces throughout Iowa.
The Iowa Arts Council’s most recent strategic plans, for 2016-2018 and 2019-2021, reinforce these efforts and identify goals that remain central to its ongoing work and updated priorities.
Take a look at a few ways the Iowa Department of Cultural Affairs is
helping Iowans build culturally vibrant communities across the state:
Iowa Artist Fellow Lee Running