JOIN US @ POETRY OUT LOUD
State Finals
March 9, 2019
8:30 am - 2:30 pm
Please join us at the Connecticut State Finals for Poetry Out Loud on Saturday, March 9 from 8:30 am to 2:30 pm at Middlesex Community College in Middletown. This is a free event - no ticket is necessary. The winner of the Connecticut State Finals will compete in the 2019 National Finals to take place April 30 - May 1, 2019 in Washington, DC.

Poetry Out Loud is a national poetry recitation contest that encourages students to learn about great poetry through memorization and recitation. The program helps students master public speaking skills, build self-confidence, and learn about literary history and contemporary life.

Created by the National Endowment for the Arts and the Poetry Foundation, Poetry Out Loud: National Recitation Contest is administered in partnership with the State Arts Agencies in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and Puerto Rico. For more information, contact Adriane Jefferson via email.
OUR PARTNERS AT THE STATE CAPITOL!
On March 1, the directors of our nine (9) regional partners met with Lt. Governor Susan Bysiewicz in her office at the State Capitol. Our regional partners, known as Designated Regional Service Organizations (DRSOs), serve as local field offices to constituents and citizens and support Connecticut's economy by providing arts and cultural leadership at the regional level. In the photo (from left to right) :

Eric Dillner, Shoreline Arts Alliance
Daniel Fitzmaurice, Arts Council of Greater New Haven
John Murphy, WindhamArts

Connect today with your Regional Service Organization to learn what they can do for you!
CONNECTICUT ARTS HERO AWARDS
The Arts Hero Awards honor and celebrate Connecticut residents who are doing extraordinary work in the arts, for the arts, or through the arts in Connecticut. Do you know someone who should be honored as a Connecticut Arts Hero? Please take a moment to nominate this special someone! The deadline to submit is Thursday, March 28, 2019.
This year's Arts Heroes will be honored in a special ceremony on Wednesday, May 1, 2019 at 6:00 pm at Infinity Hall & Bistro in Hartford, Connecticut.
2019 CONNECTICUT ARTS DAY
Thursday, May 2, 2019
Please join us on Thursday, May 2, 2019 for Connecticut Arts Day! This year we are very excited to have Connecticut Arts Day in New Haven!

The morning program and performances will take place at College Street Music Hall. We will then move directly across the street to the Omni New Haven Hotel at Yale for an afternoon of presentations, workshops, lunch and the presentation of the Connecticut office of the Arts' Lifetime Achievement Award.

Please save the date - Thursday, May 2, 2019 for Connecticut Arts Day!
NEED MONEY FOR PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT?
The Elizabeth L. Mahaffey Arts Administration Fellowship provides $2,500 non-matching grants to arts administrators to pursue professional development activities that will advance their careers in arts administration. Arts administration is the field that concerns the business operations of an arts organization, including but not limited to staff management, public relations/marketing, budget management, fund-raising, program development and evaluation and board relations. Applications are due March 29, 2019 before 5:30 pm.
To be eligible, an individual must:
  • be a Connecticut resident;
  • be employed at a Connecticut non-profit arts organization; and
  • have a minimum of two (2) years and no more than ten (10) years of experience in the arts field.

For more information, visit our website or contact Rhonda Olisky via email.
COA ON YOUTUBE!
COA is now on YouTube! Subscribe today!

UPCOMING WORKSHOPS
ACT ADVOCACY DAY
April 8, 2019
Join the Connecticut Tourism Coalition and the Connecticut Arts Alliance for Arts, Culture + Tourism (ACT) Advocacy Day at the Legislative Office Building in Hartford on April 8, 2019. Be sure to visit the Connecticut Office of the Arts' table!

10 - 11:30 am: Exhibits, Speakers and Remarks from Legislators
11:30 am - 1 pm: Tourism Caucus Meeting

This is a free event. Register at bit.ly/actadvocacy.
About the Connecticut Arts Alliance:
The Connecticut Arts Alliance (CAA) is a non-profit advocacy organization established in 2005.

About the Connecticut Tourism Coalition:
The Connecticut Tourism Coalition (CTC) is comprised of various association and industry-supporting organizations whose main goal is to affect change in the Connecticut tourism industry by addressing key legislative, regulatory and budgeting issues through public education.
CREATIVE COMMUNITIES EXCHANGE (CCX)
June 6 & 7, 2019
The biennial Creative Communities Exchange (CCX) gathers people from across New England who connect creative work to community goals. An energizing networking and learning event, participants share ideas and discuss strategies about how to make inclusive creative communities happen. CCX 2019 will take place June 6 & 7 in Montpelier, Vermont. For more information about CCX 2019, visit the New England Foundation for the Arts' website .
WE HAVE A NEW LOOK!
Check out our new website !
CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS:
2019 CONNECTICUT BOOK AWARDS
The Connecticut Book Awards recognize the best books of 2018 by authors and illustrators from Connecticut or books about Connecticut. Categories include:
  • Fiction
  • Nonfiction
  • Poetry
  • Books for Young Readers broken into three subcategories: Picture Books, Fiction, and Nonfiction

Books must have been published in 2018. Entry fees start at $40 for a 2,000 copy or less print run. The submission deadline for all categories is April 19, 2019. Visit CT Center for the Book for criteria, guidelines and the on-line submission form.

Starting this year, the Connecticut Book Awards will include the Bruce Fraser "Spirit of Connecticut’ Award". This special award is in memory of long-time Connecticut Humanities' Director Bruce Fraser and celebrates Connecticut’s sense of place.

Winners from last year are
  • Fiction:  Georgia Hunter, We Were the Lucky Ones, Penguin Books
  • Nonfiction: Virginia DeJohn Anderson, The Martyr and the Traitor – Nathan Hale, Moses Dunbar, and the American Revolution, Oxford University Press
  • Poetry: Gina Athena Ulysse, Because When God is Too Busy, Wesleyan University Press
  • Young Readers:
  • Young Adult: Jake Burt, Greetings from Witness Protection!, Macmillan
  • Juvenile: Susan Hood, Double Take! A New Look at Opposites, Candlewick Press
 
For more information, please contact Lisa Comstock by email o r by phone at 860.937.6582.
BE PART OF CONNECTICUT'S BEST
Exhibit in the Connecticut Building
@ the 2019 Big E
The goal of the Connecticut Building at the Big E is to promote the best of Connecticut! It is an amazing opportunity for arts and culture organizations as well as individual artists and crafters to promote themselves and their products to the over 1 million people who visit the Connecticut Building.
"Despite the forecast, live like it's Spring." - Lilly Pulitzer
Only 14 days to go!