Regional arts commission

History
The Regional Arts Commission
Founded in 1985, the The Regional Arts Commission serves the St. Louis regon and funds the arts and cutural programming. In addition to financial support, RAC provides technical, marketing and other support for arts organizations of all shapes and sizes.
Governance
A fifteen-member Commission appointed by the St. Louis County Executive and the Mayor of the City of St. Louis serve four-year, staggered terms. The Executive Director manages a staff of ten.
Sources of Revenue
RAC receives funding from 4/15% of the hotel/motel room sales tax revenue from St. Louis City and County, in addition to special project grants from foundations, corporations, the Missouri Arts Council and the National Endowment for the Arts.
Cultural Diversity Initiative
RAC developed a Diversity Action Plan to address diversity issues in the arts including policies, guidelines and programs; constituents and their needs; and RAC’s role in the broader community. To develop the plan RAC conducted interviews with community leaders and constituents and a study of the changing demographics of the region. A Community Diversity Advisory Council has been established to provide ongoing advice on the action plan, strengthen connections to targeted diverse populations, and keep the Commission informed about developments in the region. RAC is committed to encouraging and supporting diverse cultural expression as well as opportunities for engagement in the arts for all citizens of the region.
2008 Grants Allocation
$3,597,350 in annual grant awards to support 205 nonprofit arts and cultural organizations, consortiums and programs in the St. Louis area.
Grants awarded since 1985
Since its inception, RAC has distributed more than 5,000 grants, investing a total of $65 million in the St. Louis arts community.
RAC: A Resource to the Arts
- Programs, Services & Initiatives of the Regional Arts Commission -
Granting Opportunities: The Grants Process
One of the first arts agencies in the nation to develop and implement an online grants system (the eGrant ), RAC’s Annual Grants Round requests are due mid-January. Each grant request is carefully reviewed and discussed in an open, public forum by citizen panels, staff members and the Commissioners.
Cultural Resource Center
RAC conceived of the financing and development of the area’s first Cultural Resource Center by creating a Community Improvement District (CID) and issuing $3 million in tax-exempt bonds to bring the project to fruition. The four-story facility was developed to meet the everyday needs of arts and community groups, both emerging and established.
ArtSpaceat Crestwood Court
ArtSpace is a unique collaboration between RAC and Crestwood Court mall, designed to stimulate both business and the arts. The mall was faced with many vacant stores, and turned to RAC to find artists and cultural groups who could use the space at nominal rents for performances, studios, galleries, classes and offices.
The result is a successful artist’s colony, one of the largest of its kind in the United States, which is gaining national attention. The creative solution is driving shoppers to become new audience members for the arts and simultaneously attracting new retailers to the mall to take advantage of the arts audiences.
The Database of the Arts (DART)
DART is a collaboration between 15 of the largest cultural institutions in St. Louis. It is designed to increase audiences, ticket sales & museum memberships through highly sophisticated direct marketing. DART uses shared information from sales to accurately predict which households are most likely to make additional cultural purchases.
DART’s goal is to increase Return on Investment so that cultural groups are using their limited marketing budgets effectively. In other cities that have done similar projects, ticket sales increased by as much as 27%.
ArtsZipper
RAC has developed the region’s most comprehensive cultural calendar, ArtsZipper.com With more than 800 featured organizations and thousands of events, ArtsZipper.com is the go-to arts site that includes information about events, how to buy tickets, maps to venues, ticket discounts, arts reviews and blogs.
The exclusive media partner for ArtsZipper.com is the St. Louis Post-Dispatch and its website STLToday.com, which receives several million unique visits a month.
The Gallery at the Regional Arts Commission
Located on the first floor of the new Cultural Resource Center, The Gallery the Gallery is committed to exhibiting the work of local artists and fostering opportunities for curators living in the St. Louis region. By special invitation, guest curators compose group exhibitions, each featuring works that explore a specific discourse. RAC accepts proposals for exhibitions on a rolling basis.
The Community Arts Training (CAT) Institute
Since 1997, the Regional Arts Commission has offered CAT as an innovative program centered on the belief that art can be an agent of social change. The CAT Institute is designed to provide professional level, comprehensive training programs for artists and community workers/social service providers working in community settings such as neighborhood organizations, social service agencies, and/or after-school programs. To date, there are more than 150 graduates of the CAT Institute working in the community, many on new initiatives developed during their fellowship. Through active learning, and a mentor-based curriculum, the CAT Institute equips fellows to use the arts to positively impact the community.
The Arts Commandos
An energetic volunteer program of the Regional Arts Commission, the 250 Arts Commandos carry out specific projects for nonprofit arts and cultural organizations in the St. Louis area. Now in their 18th year, the Arts Commandos have worked on more than 920 projects, for a total of nearly 38,500 volunteer hours for the arts community.
Public Art
RAC has continually provided a voice and face for public art, contributing to policy development and identifying resources to support various projects in the region. By being a community advocate, RAC has helped to establish an understanding of public art as integral in creating a dynamic environment where we live, work and play. Two most recent projects at the Cultural Resource Center include Kardia, an 8½’ x 9½’ brilliantly-colored glass artwork by William Cochran that can be seen both inside and outside The Gallery, and Haptic Portal, two 10’ high bronze panels with viewing portals that flank the front entrance to the building by local artist Lindsey Stouffer.
Technical Assistance
In addition to the annual grants program, RAC has made grant funds available for travel, consultants and equipment purchases. Through the facilitation of workshops and seminars that explore strategies for fundraising to cost-efficient marketing ideas, RAC is committed to providing the arts community with an outlet for continuing education and support.

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