The Wisconsin Arts Board has announced its winter 2004 series of town meetings—and it's time for you to get involved! From January through May, the Arts Board and the Wisconsin Assembly for Local Arts will meet with communities throughout Wisconsin to share news from the state and national level, and gather news from the local level.

The Wisconsin Arts Board (WAB), the state agency responsible for the support and development of the arts throughout Wisconsin, and the Wisconsin Assembly for Local Arts (WALA), the statewide membership organization dedicated to arts advocacy and service, work in partnership to build and sustain Wisconsin's communities through the arts, and ensure access to the arts for all. However, the two agencies do not work alone.

Wisconsin community leaders throughout the state are creatively using arts and culture to strengthen their communities—to help resolve budget problems; incubate, attract and retain business; develop a healthier economy; and encourage their young people to remain and find employment close to home. They recognize that investment in arts and cultural endeavors is vital to the health of their citizens and communities.

This annual series of town meetings traditionally brings together arts groups, artists, educators, businesspeople, funders, elected officials and other arts supporters. The connections that they make with each other—often for the first time—are even more significant than the connections that they make with the representatives from WAB and WALA.

You are enthusiastically invited to participate in the town meeting closest to you!

In addition, this year the Arts Board will be holding a focus group in conjunction with the town meeting. This focus group is part of the Arts Board's current strategic planning process, and it will help determine where the agency should focus its efforts and resources over the next three years. Participants will consider the following questions:

1. What are the biggest challenges facing the Wisconsin arts community today?
2. What role do you believe a state agency devoted to supporting the arts should play in addressing these issues?
3. With what aspects of the Wisconsin Arts Board's programs and services are you most pleased?
4. What aspects of the Wisconsin Arts Board and its programs and services would you like to see enhanced, changed, eliminated or created?
5. Anything else we need to talk and/or hear about?

TOWN MEETING SCHEDULE:

• February 4—Stevens Point, at UW-Stevens Point
  Local host: Stevens Point Arts Council
• March 22—Racine, at the Racine Art Museum, 441 Main Street
  Local hosts: Racine Arts Council and Racine Art Museum
• April 13—Hudson, at the Phipps Center for the Arts, 106 Locust Street
  Local host: Phipps Center for the Arts and Hudson Area Chamber of Commerce
• April 14—Fond du Lac, at the Windhover Center for the Arts, 51 Sheboygan St.
  Local host: Arts Council of Fond du Lac
• April 20—Door County, date/location TBA
  Local host: Peninsula Arts Association
• May 18—La Crosse, at Viterbo University Fine Arts Center, 815 9th Street South
  Local host: Viterbo University School of Fine Arts

The Wisconsin Assembly for Local Arts is working hard to confirm dates for town meetings in the following communities:

• Marinette
• Monroe
• Rhinelander
• Superior