Governor's Commission on the Arts
Also known as:
Arts Commission
Active dates:1975-1976
Authority:
Governor Wendell Anderson
Function: To evaluate the services provided to the public by arts organizations, the costs of providing such services, and the sources of revenue available to support them. The commission also was to consider the needs of individual artists and arts organizations, citizens' access to the arts, and the operation of arts facilities.
History:
The Governor's Commission on the Arts was created by Governor Wendell Anderson on November 15, 1975.
The 25-member commission met from November, 1975, through December, 1976. There were also subcommittees focusing on needs of the artist, public sector, private sector, quality of life, role of the consumer, and education. The commission employed fifteen full- and part-time consultants and its operation was funded primarily by private sector donations. The commission's research staff conducted several studies or surveys: of citizens, regarding attendance levels and attitudes toward public funding; of artists, regarding individual needs; of community organizations which provide arts services but whose primary purposes are not arts-related; of elementary and secondary schools, regarding arts education studies; of colleges and universities, regarding arts education studies; of nonprofit arts organizations (the commission's major survey); of organizations' endowment funds; of recent facilities fund drives; of finances (Trend Survey); of public sector arts support; and of foundation, corporate, and individual giving in the private sector.
The commission's findings and recommendations were presented in a 278-page report, Minnesota: State of the Arts (March 1977, see Legislative Library catalog record NX24.M6 M56 1977).
Membership:
25 Members
Agency heads:
Chair: Stephen R. Pflaum
Notes:
Appointed November 1975 (governor?); to report by 15 December 1975; to complete work by 1 February 1976 [Mpls. Star 6 November 1975].
Documents/Articles:
News clippings and documents. Agencies Notebook Collection, 1977.
Record last updated:
02/08/2012
All information on this group from the Library’s collection of agency notebooks has been digitized. These
materials are incorporated into the “documents/articles” section of the record. Please contact a librarian with any questions. The Minnesota Agencies database is a work in progress.