What's Afoot Backstage

Things have slowed a bit in December at the Arts Board, giving us time to round out the year, and reflect on all of the amazing connections made, tasks accomplished, and constituents served. We had our last 2025 board meeting this month in the lovely city of Milwaukee, and we are energized and ready to meet 2026.

There was a lot to be grateful for this November at the Arts Board, from Wisconsin's amazing artists and arts organizations, to the grant programs that we steward (applications for 4 of them opened this month), to our staff (our executive director attended a national and a regional executive leadership gatherings this month; our assistant director guest-taught a couple of arts administration classes at UW Stevens Point), to our 8 rockstar grant panelists (who reviewed 54 new Creation and Presentation applications this month), and more!

Autumn landed in Wisconsin, and while the leaves were falling, the Arts Board was jumping... but not into piles of leaves! We jumped into Arts and Humanities month, an Art Party for artists and arts administrators, an accessibility in the arts self-assessment training session, the Wisconsin Science Festival, site visits, collaborations with national partners, ​the 2025 Rural Arts and Culture Forum, and more!

September may have begun with a holiday (Labor Day), but the rest of the month was hardly relaxed. The Arts Board got busy this September, with back to back to back site visits, technical support, the Midwest Arts Xpo​, National Arts in Education Week​​, our continuing collaborations with arts partners, and our Quarterly Board Meeting.

It seems like we say "it was a busy! month," every time a new What's Afoot Backstage recap is released. We are happy to say that we are quite consistent as an agency, and this August was no less busy or exciting than the previous months. Many of you caught us at the Wisconsin State Fair... although we were technically there on the last day of July, the fair took place from July 31st - August 10th. Our Folk and Traditional Arts Specialist, Kaitlyn Berle, also attended the Native Art Marketplace at Frank Lloyd Wright's Taliesin. Lastly, we continued building our initiatives and outreaches, and connecting in with folks across the entire state.

As always, the Arts Board met the new month with enthusiasm, and ​every day in July met us with the same energy. Among the many meetings and technical support that we do behind the scenes, July was very important, as we traveled to Kenosha and Racine, and met with our constituents, artists, and arts organizations there. Also in July, the 2025-2027 Biennial Budget was passed by the Wisconsin State Legislature, and signed by Governor Tony Evers.

June arrived, whirled, and departed with a rush here at the Arts Board! We launched a new series (Spotlighting Wisconsin) to recognize amazing arts organizations in the state, conducted site visits, collaborated and met with our partners, and attended American for the Arts' Conference in lovely Ohio.

Meetings, Milwaukee, and more filled up our May at the Wisconsin Arts Board!​ Technical support is always a priority for our agency, but we were really able to focus on that aspect of our work this May, along with holding many meetings, for our panels, for our board members, and for arts partners.

We celebrated Jazz Month, Poetry Month, and Hmong Heritage Month, held many meetings with our friends and partners to discuss social prescription, external relations, film, and more, held our FY26 Creative Communities - Arts Education Grant Review Panel, conducted site visits in Milwaukee, and our Executive Director George Tzougros spoke at Dane Arts' Business of Arts Conference.

It's been a busy March! We traveled to La Crosse, Wisconsin for the Wisconsin Governor's Conference on Tourism (WIGCOT), we delivered to Assembly Representatives and Senators over 130 reports visualizing the impact of Wisconsin Arts Board Grants, we conducted site visits across the state, and celebrated Youth Art Month.