This report presents research across a wide range of national arts councils and ministries of culture, with the goal of broadening the understanding of environmental sustainability in connection to the arts, outlining current and future work, and encouraging collaboration and partnership to develop policies and programs related to culture and environmental sustainability.

Grantmakers in the Arts commissioned this survey of arts funders who are supporting environment-related work. Some of the funders are actively pursuing this cross-sector work, while others are just beginning to consider whether and how to do this.

This research paper and report on a 2010 summit convened by the Asia-Europe Foundation provides a variety of examples of current and future practice at the arts/environment/sustainability intersection.

The goal of this field scan is to understand and frame how place-based arts and cultural inter-ventions, or “creative placemaking,” can advance sustainability outcomes in the context of community development. We focused on the U.S. context, although many of the issues and priorities identified are also globally relevant. [Introduction, p. 6]

The Orton Family Foundation integrates art and artists into its community planning work with small towns in New England and the Rocky Mountain West. As foundation staff helps small town residents plan for and control future growth through their signature Heart & Soul Community Planning grants, they’ve found that using art projects—radio stories, intergenerational sculpture projects, illustrated recipe books—to discover and highlight stories about what makes their town special is an effective civic engagement and community building strategy. As residents are engaged...