[What follows is] a growing list of Greater Hartford area and statewide organizations that exist to support and advocate for artists and the arts in our region, or include such support as part of their mission. [This page is intended to serve as an archive for The Invisible City Project website. While this information is not up to date, it is my hope that its contents continue to provide a point of entry.]
Connecticut Arts Alliance
The Connecticut Arts Alliance was established to ensure that the arts are central to life in Connecticut. The CAA works to foster public education and awareness of the arts, increase funding for the arts, and influence public funding and actions that affect the arts. The CAA strives to promote and underscore the value of all achievements of the arts industry and all the ways they improve our lives.
Connecticut Dance Alliance
The Connecticut Dance Alliance is a non-profit organization dedicated to increasing public awareness of dance in all its forms and serving the needs of the state-wide dance community. Connecticut Dance Alliance provides: Performance opportunities; Master classes and workshops; Statewide marketing & visibility; Professional development support; Networking meetings; Listings in comprehensive statewide dance calendar; Classified listings on its website.
Connecticut Office of the Arts
The Connecticut Office of the Arts develops and strengthens the arts in the state and makes artistic experiences widely available to residents and visitors. Through its grant programs, the office invests in Connecticut artists and arts organizations and encourages the public’s participation as creators, learners, supporters, and audience members. Through its program and services, the office connects people to the arts and helps to build vital communities across the state. In addition, the Office of the Arts plays an ongoing convening role and provides an array of training and professional development opportunities. The Office of the Arts collects and disseminates state, regional and national arts information resources via web communications, directories, publications, data-sharing, one-on-one consultations, and referrals.
Greater Hartford Arts Council
The mission of the Greater Hartford Arts Council is to provide leadership for the financial success and organizational stability of the arts, heritage and cultural community of Connecticut’s capital region. The Greater Hartford Arts Council supports more than 150 arts, heritage and cultural organizations across a 34-town region in central Connecticut, providing grants, programs and services designed to leverage the arts to strengthen communities, drive the economy and improve the quality of life of 1.2 million residents. The Arts Council runs an annual United Arts Campaign, a community-wide fundraising drive that relies on the generous support of corporations and local businesses, government and private foundations and the contributions of individual arts enthusiasts to help keep the arts alive. The Arts Council then re-invests United Arts dollars through a range of grant programs—from essential operating support to funding hundreds of programs, projects and events—and provide support, technical assistance, arts education initiatives, advocacy and umbrella marketing to the cultural sector. The Arts Council acts as “investment counselors” for its donors, convening panels of community volunteers to thoroughly review each application for grant funding and make appropriate allocations recommendations to the Board of Directors. Outside of fundraising and financial support, the Arts Council acts as a key strategic partner and civic institution to utilize the power of the arts to improve cities and towns, celebrate the unique cultural diversity of the region, educate families, create an economic “ripple effect” and make Greater Hartford a vibrant, wonderful place to live, work and visit.
Greater Hartford’s Dance Umbrella
Greater Hartford’s Dance Umbrella was created to be a collaborative arts service organization providing advocacy, networking, marketing, audience development, administrative support and professional development for the not for profit dance community of Greater Hartford. Initially created by dancers, dance organizations and dance venues for dancers, who shared a common vision of a vibrant, diverse dance community, regular newsletters now bring together information from various segments of the dance community.
Hartford Foundation for Public Giving
As Greater Hartford’s community-wide charitable endowment, the Hartford Foundation for Public Giving is permanently committed to improving the quality of life for residents throughout the region. The goal of the Foundation’s grantmaking is responsive funding of projects that show promise for substantial, long-term community benefit. Our list of grantees includes organizations from cities, towns and neighborhoods in our 29-town Greater Hartford region; agencies large and small; those serving many people, and those with a narrowly-defined focus. The Foundation’s Nonprofit Support Program (NSP) helps nonprofits improve their organizational performance through an array of grants and services. These include assessments and grants in four key areas: planning, financial management, executive transition and technology. NSP also provides: workshops and multi-session training programs for agency board members and staff; loans to finance cash-flow, working capital, and equipment needs; access to free legal advice; and a newsletter featuring resources available to nonprofits.
Hartford Public Library
Hartford Public Library offers unique resources and engaging learning opportunities for nonprofits aimed at capacity building and fundraising. The Library maintains a core collection of continuously updated materials in multiple formats that address the specific needs of local nonprofit, grassroots and faith-based organizations. The Library is also part of the New York based Foundation Center’s Cooperating Collection network. The Center’s mission is to foster public understanding of institutional philanthropy by collecting, organizing, analyzing, and disseminating information on foundations, corporate giving, and related subjects through a core collection of Center materials and databases. Our nonprofit workshops are conducted by expert consultants in their fields, local leaders, and attorneys and many are tailored to the specific needs of nonprofit managers, staff, board members and other key stakeholders. Selected workshops are supported in part by the Hartford Foundation for Public Giving and The Alliance for Non-Profit Growth and Opportunity (TANGO). We provide tools, resources and information that will help non-profit organizations fulfill the missions of their organizations. To see The Library’s comprehensive list of online resources on grants and nonprofits, click here.
reSET | SocialEnterpriseTrust.org
reSET | SocialEnterpriseTrust.org offers social entrepreneurs educational and support programs, work space, access to loans through the Social Enterprise Investment Fund, and other services to help launch and grow their businesses. reSET supports legislation to promote social enterprise, and has opened an incubator and community co-working space at 99 Pratt Street in downtown Hartford. reSET has also convened conferences at Connecticut colleges and universities, inspiring them to develop social enterprise offerings within their business curricula. reSET is supporting the launch and growth of social enterprises, creating jobs, and building a community committed to innovative solutions to social problems. By supporting businesses devoted to both purpose and profit, reSET participates as an ally with our state government, business partners, and robust nonprofit sector in making our communities safer, healthier, and more prosperous places to live for all of our citizens.
The Pro Bono Partnership
The Pro Bono Partnership provides free business and transactional legal services to nonprofit organizations serving the disadvantaged or enhancing the quality of life in neighborhoods in New York, New Jersey and Connecticut.
