Posted on January 2, 2013

Rasmuson Foundation Commits $8.5 Million to Arts Organizations in Alaska

The Rasmuson Foundation in Anchorage, Alaska, has announced a four-year, $8.5 million commitment to local arts organizations.

Grants will be distributed through four initiatives — the Individual Artist Awards, which support artists living and working in Alaska; the Harper Arts Touring Program, which seeks to stimulate access to high-quality arts in communities across the state; the Art Acquisition Fund, which provides grants to museums and cultural centers for local art acquisitions; and the Arts in Education program, which supports artists in school programs, school and community-based projects, and arts excursions.

In addition, the foundation will expand its Alaska Artists in Residency program to include residencies split among artists who are hosted by organizations outside the state and artists from the lower forty-eight who are hosted by cultural organizations in the state. Other new programs designed to incentivize public and private investment in the arts and help midsize arts organizations become more sustainable will be announced at a later date.

Over the past decade, the foundation has provided more than nine hundred grants totaling about $22 million to individual artists, cultural institutions, community organizations, schools, and collaborative partnerships in the state, as well as to national programs. The new commitment will boost the foundation's investment in the arts through 2016 to nearly $30 million.