For anyone who might not be familiar with Arts Services Initiative of Western New York, there’s a lot of catching up to do. To start, the initiative was forged in 2011 in order to fill the need for a non-profit organization that could be instrumental in a range of services for artists and art organizations. After the Buffalo Arts Council fizzled out, and a host of other groups and organizations formed to help take over the reigns, it was determined that no one existing organization would be able to come forward and take the lead. That meant that a new service and planning organization needed to be formed, and it was deemed that Fund for the Arts commission a consultant to meet with the culturals to see what it was that they felt was needed. From there it was determined that Western New York was lacking a comprehensive organization that could administer funding, help convey the importance of the arts to the region, and be aggressive in gaining support for the local arts. Thus was born The Arts Services Initiative (ASI) – and a search for an Executive Director was underway.
Buffalo Rising, January 23, 2013 11:44 AM
