SouthDakota ArtsCouncil

The South Dakota Arts Council is a state agency serving South Dakotans and their communities through the arts.

Purpose
Recognizing the importance of creativity in the lives of all South Dakotans, the Council makes quality arts accessible throughout the state by providing encouragement, grants, services and information to artists, arts organizations, schools and the public.

What we do
The SDAC partners with the National Endowment for the Arts and the state of South Dakota to provide funds for grants to artists, arts organizations, community arts projects, traditional arts apprenticeships, and community symphonies and orchestras. In addition, the SDAC provides the state with the Artists in Schools and Communities arts residency program and a Touring Arts program.

Additionally, SDAC partners with South Dakotans for the Arts (SoDA), a sister agency in the private sector, to implement a traditional/folk arts program, an art institute for educators, a program for art in the state’s juvenile corrections facilities, an A+ Pilot School program, the High School Congressional Art Competition, and scholarships for Native American youth to the Oscar Howe Summer Art Institute. Together, SDAC and SoDA present the statewide arts conference, a bi-annual Governors Awards in the Arts event, a bi-annual South Dakota Governor’s Biennial Art Exhibits, and the annual Prairie Arts Management Institute. SDAC and SoDA also partner to offer Technical Assistant Grants to arts organizations and to maintain a Performing Arts Bank that underwrites performances up to $500 for communities of with populations under 15,000.

Other SDAC partnerships include working with the National Poetry Foundation and the NEA on Poetry Out Loud, a high school program that teaches students about the art of poetry through classroom exercises and a statewide recitation contest.