Who We Serve
State Arts Agencies
Creative West supports the work of 16 state art agencies in the western United States and U.S. Pacific jurisdictions.
Photo Credit Julianna Cressman
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- Alaska State Council on the Arts;American Samoa Council on Arts, Culture and Humanities;Arizona Commission on the Arts;California Arts Council;Colorado Creative Industries;Commonwealth Council for Arts and Culture;Guam Council on the Arts and Humanities Agency;Hawai’i State Foundation on Culture and Arts;Arts Idaho;Montana Arts Council;Nevada Arts Council;New Mexico Arts;Oregon Arts Commission;Utah Division of Arts and Museums;ArtsWA;Wyoming Arts Council
As a USRAO with a longstanding relationship with the National Endowment for the Arts, Creative West is an intermediary and a responsive leader to the state arts agencies in the region.
In 1974, the National Endowment for the Arts entrusted Creative West (then Western States Arts Foundation) with supporting the state arts agencies in 11 states: Arizona, California, Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Utah, Washington, and Wyoming. The organization soon came to support the state arts agencies in Alaska and Hawai’i.
In 2022, the region expanded to include the state art agencies in American Samoa, Commonwealth of Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI), and Guam. Creative West is committed to offering resources to even the most remote communities in the United States and nurturing partnerships that recognize community values, culture, and priorities.
The following are the State Art Agencies served by Creative West
Photo Credit TJ Frouge
Alaska State Council on the Arts
ASCA represents, supports and advances the creative endeavors of individuals, organizations and agencies throughout Alaska.
Renowned Samoan artist Reggie Meredith Fitiao shows her siapo, or tapa cloth, accompanied by her husband Su’a Ulisone Fitiao, a traditional Samoan tattoo artist.
American Samoa Council on Arts, Culture and Humanities (ASCACH)
Preserving the arts via federally and locally supported programs and projects, touches culture on all levels for all humanity.
Community Investment Grant recipient, Xico, Inc. in Phoenix, AZ. Local artist Lilian Nabulime making monoprints in the artists studio.
Arizona Commission on the Arts
The Arizona Commission on the Arts is an agency of the State of Arizona whose mission is to create opportunities for all Arizonans to participate in and experience the arts. To that end, we deliver grants and support to cultivate sustainable arts communities and promote statewide public access to arts and cultural activities.
The PGK DANCE Project in San Diego, California
California Arts Council
Culture is the strongest signifier of California’s identity. As a state agency, the California Arts Council supports local arts infrastructure and programming statewide through grants, programs, and services.
Dancing Earth Outreach, Southern Ute Cultural Center, Ignacio, Colorado
Colorado Creative Industries
CCI believes in the power of creativity to inspire human connections, create social change, and support economic vibrancy throughout Colorado. We focus on strengthening the vitality of visual, performing, and literary arts through promotion, resources, and funding opportunities.
Northern Mariana Islands Workshop
Commonwealth Council for Arts and Culture
The Commonwealth Council for Arts and Culture (CCAC) will serve to develop and foster programs that promote excellence in the arts, promote and utilize our diverse artistic and cultural resources, provide quality arts experiences for our citizens and opportunities for artists, and promote and perpetuate the unique folk heritage of the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI).
Photo Credit Creative West
Guam Council on the Arts and Humanities Agency
(CAHA) – CAHA exists to encourage and promote the artistic practice of our artisans and create opportunities for Guam residents to learn, experience, express and appreciate art and artistic talent in all its forms.
Hawai'i State Art Museum
Hawai’i State Foundation on Culture and Arts
The mission of the Hawai‘i State Foundation on Culture and the Arts (SFCA) is to promote, perpetuate, and preserve culture and the arts in Hawai‘i. SFCA funding is provided by the State of Hawai‘i and the National Endowment for the Arts.
Lydia McCloud in a hat woven by Jenny Williams
Arts Idaho
The agency supports the efforts of individual artists including painters, writers, dancers and actors who are creating new projects that are seen by thousands of Idahoans each year. Our Folk and Traditional Arts Program helps to preserve, perpetuate, and celebrate the traditional arts in communities by supporting tradition bearers and Idaho folklife through documentation, public programming, and funding opportunities.
Tippet Rise Art Center
Montana Arts Council
Montana will be known far and wide as “The Land of Creativity,” where the arts are essential to the creativity, imagination and entrepreneurship that make Big Sky Country the very best place on earth to live, learn, work and play.
Youth Art Month Family Festival at Arts for All, Nevada
Nevada Arts Council
A division of the Nevada Department of Tourism and Cultural Affairs, was created as a state agency in 1967. With offices in Las Vegas and Reno, Nevada Arts Council programs serve as a catalyst to stimulate artistic, creative, cultural, and economic activity across the state, enliven its breadth of communities, ensure lifelong learning in the arts for all Nevadans, and to encourage public and private support for the arts.
Albuquerque Youth Symphony Program, New Mexico
New Mexico Arts
The mission of the Arts Commission, in conjunction with New Mexico Arts, is to stimulate opportunities for artists, arts organizations, and other groups for activities or projects to provide artistic or cultural services to the state, to maintain and encourage artistic excellence, and to promote awareness of and access to the arts for all of the people of New Mexico.
Cara Tomlinson's “Endless Clamor," Photo by Mario Gallucci.
Oregon Arts Commission
The Commission provides leadership, funding and arts programs through its grants, services and special initiatives. Nine commissioners, appointed by the Governor, determine arts needs and establish policies for public support of the arts.
Urban Arts Gallery, Photo by Sky Hatter for Utah Arts Alliance
Utah Division of Arts and Museums
Utah Arts & Museums (UA&M) seeks to advance Utahns’ quality of life through arts and museum experiences and cultural opportunities. We are a service organization offering a variety of professional development opportunities and grants to serve our constituents. We serve schools, local arts agencies, organizations, community centers, performing groups, museums, and individuals across Utah.
Jordan Mattox, Poetry Out Loud champion, Washington
ArtsWA
The Arts Commission is a catalyst for the arts, advancing the role of the arts in the lives of individuals and communities throughout the state.
Artist Colleen Friday working on an elk hide art piece.
Wyoming Arts Council
Through grants, partnerships, programs and unique opportunities, the Wyoming Arts Council provides funding and support statewide for projects big and small. The WAC plays an important role in the economic and social development of every community by investing in the arts. It awards almost 150 grants and fellowships each year, funding programs and projects from every county, thereby serving more than a million participants, including 1.1m adults, 200k youth, 10k artists, and 1.3m people total. For every $1 of Arts Council funding, local communities provided another $35 worth of arts programming in FY16, with an estimated project value of $32,167,251
Web Services powered by
Creative West
CaFÉ is an online application submission system that strives to make art opportunities available to all by offering arts organizations an affordable submission platform and artists an easy way to apply.
GO Smart is an affordable grants management software that offers pre- and post-application forms, panel reviewing, and data reporting for grantmakers.
The Public Art Archive (PAA) is a free, searchable, and continually growing online database of completed public artworks throughout the U.S. and abroad, with a suite of resources and tools built for managing public art collections.
ZAPP provides art fair and festival administrators with a suite of tools to digitally collect and jury applications, manage booth payments, and communicate with applicants all in one easy-to-use digital platform. Artists can apply to hundreds of shows nationwide through a central website.