Arts News

As many of you may have read, Peggy Baggett, Executive Director of the Virginia Commission for the Arts (VCA), is retiring as of December 1, 2011.

Ms. Baggett has been with the Commission for 35 years, 31 of which as Executive Director and has worked for over three decades with artists, arts administrators, board members, and thousands of volunteers throughout the Commonwealth of Virginia, including nine different Governors. She led the creation of the Virginia Heritage Awards as part of the ongoing efforts of building the arts across the state and helped to make possible the unprecedented collaboration within the cultural community of MINDS WIDE OPEN; Virginia Celebrates Women in the Arts, which included over 10,000 arts events in 400 locations across the state on the theme of women in the arts.  
To quote Ms. Baggett,"I am grateful to have had a career that I continue to love and am richly rewarded to have had a small role in the flourishing of the arts across Virginia."

In the Virginians for the Arts latest newsletter, they published some very interesting points on the economic impact of the arts in Virginia. For those organizations who receive VCA grants, we hope that some of you will come down to the ArtWorks Conference & Reception sponsored by the VA Commission for the Arts on January 24-25, 2012 and the Arts Advocacy Day sponsored by VFTA January 26, 2012. Enjoy the read.

It is important for elected officials to understand the huge economic impact - as high as $1.13 billion, based on Virginia's current population and the results of the last economic impact study - that the arts have on the Commonwealth.