The Genesee-Orleans Regional Arts Council will be the vital community resource for promoting the value of art and culture as integral to our daily lives.

Art and Culture enriches, inspires and educates, while strengthening a community's identity. Therefore, GO ART! initiates a broad range of opportunities for artists and cultural organizations, and facilitates cooperative efforts among the cultural, business, service and educational communities for the people who live in and visit Genesee and Orleans Counties.

GO ART! at a Glance

What we do:

• Program five art galleries in Genesee and Orleans Counties, exhibiting local and regional artists and students.
• Present a variety of cultural programs and events.
• Maintain a web-based regional cultural calendar.
• Help artists find opportunities for expression of their art.
• Inform artists of training and grant opportunities.
• Act as a community resource for arts/cultural programs and services.
• Administer New York State Council on the Arts Regrants.
• Provide meeting and event space for organizations and individuals.
• Participate in community cultural planning.
• Advocate for arts and cultural development.

GO ART! has finally made its way to Facebook. After some ado, you can find us at www.facebook.com/geneseeorleansarts. If you have a Facebook account, you can also search for GO ART! from your home page. Please stop by and visit.

That attempt was so successful that we decided to brave the waters of Twitter. Amazingly enough, that worked too! Tweet with us at www.twitter.com/gogoart.

If you're not a fan of Facebook or Twitter and want to stay connected, you can sign up to be on our mailing list using the following link...

Visit the blog, The Art of the Rural: Considering Rural Arts and Culture in the Twenty-First Century at http://theruralsite.blogspot.com/ This site works to gather a variety of perspectives on the state of rural arts and culture in American life, humbly seeking to bring a variety of arts organizations, artists and media outlets into conversation.

Local Economic Impact of the Arts

The Arts and Culture Industry generates nearly $5 million in economic activitry in Genesee County alone!

Conservative estimates (based on a 2001 independent study) also shows the following economic impacts:

• A minimum of 1424 performances, festivals and events drawing at least 104,400 attendees each year.
• One hundred eleven jobs.
• $2,031,944 in resident household income.
• $115,082 in state and local government revenue.
• 16,515 hours of volunteer work valued at $265,066.
• Arts and cultural activities keep dollars local, and draw at least 26% of attendees from outside the area.

Funding of the arts also helps to leverage support and partnerships from other sources. For example, GO ART! has secured funding in recent years from the NEA, New York Council for the Humanities, EPF, local foundations and corporations, and individuals, and partnerships with numerous entities such as SUNY, Genesee Community College, Office of the Aging and Youth Bureaus, to name a few.

Read the study on which these statements are based.