July 19, 2011

Summer has finally arrived in Minnesota and we are looking forward to another great fiscal year—filled with new

international arts programs and visual arts exhibitions, and with refreshed seasons of the programs you know and

love, such as the Performing Arts Fund, the Midwest Arts Conference, and Arts Midwest World Fest. I am also

thrilled to announce that July 2011 marks the start of our new strategic plan, and with it, a new mission and vision

that outlines our unyielding commitment to the arts and to serving residents across the Midwest, that articulates a

renewed responsibility to the vitality of Midwestern communities, and that reasserts our role in the delivery of

creative experiences and leadership development programs.

We look forward to the year ahead of us and hope to connect with you at one of our many engagements and events.

In the meantime, I hope you enjoy this update on our programs, accomplishments, and plans for the future.

Arts Midwest is proud to operate with a low administrative-to-program

expense ratio. Over the past few years, on average, 94% of our

expenses have gone directly to bringing programs and services to

communities across the region and the U.S. In addition, Arts Midwest

has remained a financially stable organization, continuing to balance

our books each year despite the constraints of the national economy.

While we maintain low administrative expenses and are careful with

our budgets, we do not sacrifice the happiness or well-being of our

employees. In April, Arts Midwest was voted one of the best

nonprofit organizations to work for by the NonProfit Times, a

national publication for nonprofit management and leadership. And, this

June, we were voted one of the Best Places to Work by the

Minneapolis/St. Paul Business Journal. This is the fourth time that we have received this distinction from the

Business Journal and the second time we have been recognized by the NonProfit Times. I am honored and humbled

to lead such an incredible organization and to work with such dedicated and talented individuals.

In July 2011, Arts Midwest begins its second quarter-century. During our first twenty-five years, our arts touring

programs and exhibitions, funding investments and conferences, and research and leadership development efforts

have brought vitality and new knowledge to communities and cultural leaders across our region. We are proud of

our accomplishments, and prouder still that our work is consistently recognized for its quality, creativity, and

passion.

At the same time, while our past accomplishments have made a permanent contribution to the lives, perspectives,

ARTS MIDWEST CONTINUES TO BALANCE ITS BUDGET

94%

6%

Arts Midwest Expenses

Program Administration

2012-2014 STRATEGIC PLAN

and memories of millions of individuals, we are clear in our understanding that our success in the future depends on

an active recommitment to organizational renewal, curiosity, innovation, and adaptation. This understanding has

driven the development of our new strategic plan, a plan rooted in ensuring that:

Imagination and creativity remain not just at the center of our own work, but also are renewed and celebrated as

valuable assets of our region.

Continual evaluation and "listening opportunities" are incorporated into Arts Midwest practices in order to

ensure our continued relevance to our many clients and audiences.

Our closest partners at our member state arts agencies benefit from Arts Midwest's continued success, and

through our work together, the Midwestern region remains a vital and dynamic place to live and do business.

To those ends, we have developed a new mission statement that will guide our work in the coming years: Arts

Midwest promotes creativity, nurtures cultural leadership, and engages people in meaningful arts experience,

bringing vitality to Midwest communities and enriching people’s lives. We encourage you to visit

www.artsmidwest.org to read our new strategic plan, including our new vision and values statements, and our

goals and plans for the coming years.

Thanks to all the performing artists and presenting venues that made the 2010-2011 Performing Arts Fund such a

success! Over the course of the performance season, our engagements reached more than 265,000 individuals,

including more than 115,000 students through 265 public performances and 1,162 in-depth educational

activities. We continue to hear great stories from these performances and workshops, and encourage you to visit our

website to read our monthly spotlighted engagements.

July 1 marked the start of our 2011-2012 Performing Arts Fund season. This year we are supporting 142 engagements

across our nine-state Midwestern region—providing residents in communities small and large with exciting and

meaningful arts experiences. Please visit our website to check out our listing of funded events to find a performance

near you.

The 2009-11 Arts Midwest World Fest cycle has ended. We look back with satisfaction and joy at the number of

individuals we reached and the number

of engagements we supported.

We are incredibly grateful to our

supporters—including 3M, The Hearst

Foundations, MetLife Foundation,

Japan Foundation, the President’s

Committee on the Arts and the

Humanities, the Consulate General of

Israel to the Midwest, Friends of Israel

Arts, Délégation du Quebéc à Chicago,

the Ministry of Culture of the People’s

Republic of China, and the arts and

cultural heritage fund of the Minnesota

State Arts Board.

The 2011-13 cycle begins this fall and

we welcome our new partner

communities: Devils Lake, ND; Hill

City, SD; Detroit Lakes, MN; Red Oak,

IA; Wausau, WI; Charleston, IL;

Wabash/Hartford City, IN; Saugatuck,

MI; and Elyria, OH.

ARTS MIDWEST WORLD FEST

Public Performances

Educational Activities

Students Adults

Bloomington, IL 4 38 4,792 1,348

Terre Haute, IN 8 37 5,181 3,350

Knoxville, IA 4 35 6,640 1,554

Marquette, MI 4 38 6,622 1,442

Alexandria, MN 4 47 10,913 3,073

Valley City, ND 4 41 6,321 2,076

Sandusky, OH 6 28 1,920 1,708

Aberdeen, SD 4 31 7,136 2,311

Hartford, WI 4 34 6,348 3,594

55,873 20,456 42 329

PERFORMING ARTS FUND

In 1999 on the streets of downtown Cairo, eight

guys got together, formed a band, and started living

their dream. That’s the story behind Wust El Balad,

one of the most popular folk-rock bands in the Arab

World. Masterful, brave, and intoxicating, Wust El

Balad—which translates to “downtown”—blends

traditional Middle Eastern vocals with contemporary

Latin rhythms and jazz. Encounter their impassioned

and varied sounds and experience the lively streets

of Cairo coupled with the ancient styles of the

Egyptian desert.

WUST EL BALAD

Take a tour to Bali and experience the enchanting

sounds of Çudamani. Hailing from the village of

Pengosekan, Çudamani performs a highly creative

musical and dance repertoire that is vibrant, technical,

and free spirited. Evoking both contemporary vitality

and dedication to Balinese traditions, the ensemble

brings to life vivid tales of gods, heroes, and the cosmos

in Balinese mythology. Enjoy the inspired and complex

tones of Çudamani and be instantly transported to the

rich and diverse islands of Indonesia.

ÇUDAMANI

TARIM

Theirs are the ancient songs of the Silk Road, the

melodies of the Uygurs, the Kazaks, the Kirkiz; the

rhythms of the Hui, the Uzbek, and Tatars. As you

listen, close your eyes—the sounds will take you to

the spice markets, deserts, and vineyards of western

China, a land of vast contrast, scale, and history.

Experience Tarim, an ensemble of musicians and

dancers from the Cultural Bureau of Xinjiang Uygur

Autonomous Region.

YAMMA ENSEMBLE

Yamma Ensemble draws from the roots of ancient

Israeli poetry to present joyous, vibrant, and passionate

music. Bringing the cultural mosaic that is Israel alive,

Yamma blends the traditional sounds of the Middle

East and the contemporary rhythms of the west. To

listen to Yamma Ensemble is to stroll the markets of

Old Jaffa, to sip coffee in a café above the

Mediterranean. It is to experience the mystery of

Israel.

2011-2013 ARTS MIDWEST WORLD FEST ENSEMBLES

The 24th annual Midwest Arts Conference will take place in Minneapolis,

Minnesota, from September 7-10, 2011, and planning is in full swing! We are

incorporating some new and exciting additions to this year’s Conference:

Presenting Seth Godin, marketing legend and best-selling author for the

keynote address, Invisible or Remarkable? Co-hosted with our Arts

Learning Xchange program, Seth will engage attendees in a thought-

provoking discussion on how arts organizations should get attention, tell

the right story, and deliver remarkable products and services.

Seeking broader input from the field for our professional development

sessions

Exploring ways to make networking and business connections more

inclusive and easier onsite

Providing a wide range of live performance opportunities

Offering a dynamic and full Marketplace exhibit hall

Preparing attendees for the four-day event through our pre-Conference

seminars, which will include a session on collaboration and

commissioning new work, and will feature an exclusive opportunity to

watch Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Dance Company at work creating Story/

Time, a new piece commissioned by the Walker Art Center.

In addition to our Performing Arts Fund, Arts Midwest World Fest, and

Midwest Arts Conference programs, we have many great engagements on the

horizon. Stay in touch, as this Fall we’re bringing more events for Twin Cities

arts organizations through Arts Learning Xchange, wrapping up the three-year

ArtsLab cycle, announcing a new international cultural exchange program, coordinating visual arts exhibitions, starting

another great round of reading and discussion activities through The Big Read, and more. As always, we encourage you

to visit our website, find us on Facebook, follow us on Twitter, and subscribe to our RSS feed to stay current on our

programs.

We believe in the future of our vision and our work, and we are grateful to all of our members, supporters, partners, and

colleagues for joining us on this path. Thank you for your support.

Sincerely,

David Fraher

Executive Director

2011 MIDWEST ARTS CONFERENCE

(Top): 2011 Midwest Arts Conference

Keynote speaker Seth Godin, photo courtesy

of Seth Godin. (Bottom): Attendees enjoy

the Marketplace at the 2010 Midwest Arts

Conference. Photo by Tiffany Rodgers.