On Thursday, February 16, the Louisiana Presenters Network (LPN) will hold a state-wide block-booking session for presenters. This is a great opportunity for arts administrators to share information about artists they would like to host at their organizations and/or venue in the future. If others at the session become interested in those same artists, the LPN can help create a block-booking, which reduces artist fees and other expenses, making the residencies more financially feasible. Year after year, this event proves to be very valuable to all who attend.

The meeting will be held at the Capitol Welcome Center in Baton Rouge at 10am, and the session usually lasts until about 3pm. Lunch will be ordered and delivered to the center.

If you’d like to attend, or if you have questions, please contact Naomi Cordill at symphony@bayou.com or 318-435-0029.

We’d like to take a moment to congratulate arts organizations throughout Louisiana on their Decentralized Arts Fund (DAF) grant awards!  Their efforts to provide quality arts experiences across the state and to provide work for artists is crucial to Louisiana’s economy, the educational success of our children, and the building of our communities.

Although DAF grants generally don’t provide the majority of funding required for a project, the Louisiana Partnership for the Arts Advocacy (LPAA) knows that DAF grants provide organizations with critical seed money that allows them to seek co-sponsors, program advertisers, and other funding sources, thereby allowing a successful project or provides much-needed operational support.

NOW, IMAGINE IF THAT ORGANIZATION RECEIVED AN AMOUNT ONLY HALF AS LARGE! Would it have been as easy to get that project off the ground? Thanks to round-the-clock efforts from the LPAA and our well-respected lobbyist, we secured a last-minute 50% increase to DAF funding during the 2011 legislative session. Without that boost, far smaller awards would have been given to grant recipients in all 64 parishes. Today, we’d be enjoying far different — and likely far fewer — arts experiences in our local areas.

We still face funding battles and the 2012 legislative session is just around the corner. LPAA DOES NOT EMPLOY ANY STAFF AND ONLY HAS FUNDS TO PAY OUR LOBBYIST FOR ANOTHER MONTH OR TWO. Without the memberships of arts organizations and individual memberships from board members, patrons, staff members, and YOU, we cannot continue to work for you and your community.

Please help us continue helping you. Your financial support helps us maintain and (dare we hope?) increase funding for the arts in Louisiana! It is easy — just click the “Join” tab above or the PayPal button in the right sidebar.

Thank you for all you do to support Louisiana’s creative culture!

As the Louisiana affiliate with the Kennedy Center Arts Alliance Education Network, the Louisiana Partnership for the Arts invites Louisiana musicians ages 15 to 20 to audition for a place in the National Symphony Orchestra’s 2012 Summer Music Institute. The Institute, July 2 – 30, offers four weeks of private lessons, rehearsals, coaching by National Symphony Orchestra members, classes, and lectures to prepare aspiring musicians for their futures in music.

All students selected to participate in the 2012 Summer Music Institute attend on full scholarship, so there is no cost for lessons, room and board, and local transportation Information about financial aid for travel to Washington, audition repertoire, and an application are available at http://www.kennedy-center.org/nso/nsoed/smi.