No Records Found

Lake Agassiz Arts Council Records

Collection

Identifier: Mss 221

Staff Only

Scope and Contents

The files are divided into two categories: Lake Agassiz Arts Council files, and Coordinated Arts Fund Drive records. The LAAC files include the history of LAAC and its various member organizations, bylaws, annual reports, meeting minutes, financial records, committees and task forces, grants and foundations, agencies and organizations, individual member organizations, promotion and events, awards, directories, and subject files. The CAF Records include campaign (fund drive) files, financial records, correspondence, grant applications, and subject files. The Minutes Series is an incomplete series with several gaps in each of the meeting minutes folders. The first group is the Executive Committee Meeting Minutes followed by the Board of Trustees Minutes and the Delegate Assembly Minutes. The series also includes minutes from various committees and task forces, which are organized alphabetically. The Financial Series is organized alphabetically and includes audits from 1980 to 1983, financial statements from 1979 to 1993, and a few tax returns. The Committees and Task Forces Series is organized alphabetically and includes general information and reports from LAAC committees and task forces but excludes the meeting minutes. The Grants Series is alphabetized by the name of the granting agency or foundation. The series contains several files on the Cultural Environment Commission, which was administered through the Fargo City Commission from 1979 to 1988. In 1988 LAAC took over the Cultural Environment Commission. This transfer is documented in the grants series. The series also includes funding granted by the NEA and other national foundations. Another major component of this series is the record of grant applications to North Dakota Council on the Arts (NDCA) from 1976 to 1993.

The Agencies and Organizations Series includes general information on local, regional, and national arts organizations. The Member Organizations Series begins with files documenting funding received from the cities of Fargo, North Dakota and Moorhead, Minnesota. The Fargo files cover the years from 1989 to 1994, and the Moorhead files include records from 1980 to 1994. Both city governments provided major funding for LAAC’s member organizations. LAAC participated in requesting and disbursing the funds granted from the two city governments. After the two city groupings, the rest of the series is organized alphabetically by member organization. The majority of the files contain individual member’s grant applications, final reports, and general information (including brochures, newsletters, and other publications). The Promotions and Events Series documents the various fundraising and promotional events sponsored by LAAC. The Awards Series includes files on awards given to LAAC and its member organizations by local and regional governments and area businesses. The Directories Series includes directories compiled by LAAC from 1972 to 1996. These directories include the names of directors, board members, and contact persons from member organizations. The Subject Series is organized alphabetically and includes LAAC brochures, newsletters, correspondence, and other general information related to the organization. The broadsides have been placed in Mss 1596.5 and include posters, flyers, and calendar either produced by LAAC or by organizations that it funded. Coordinated Arts Fund (CAF) Records The Coordinated Arts Fund (CAF) Grouping contains the records related specifically to the fund raising efforts of the LAAC from 1976 to 1984. The Campaign Series includes general information for each of the campaigns (fund drives) from 1976 to 1984. The Financial Series contains financial statements, budgets and ledgers for the inclusive years that the CAF was operating. The Correspondence Series includes in-coming and out-going correspondence related to the fundraising efforts of the CAF. The Grant Applications Series contains grants and grant applications to various national and local funding organizations. This series differs from the grants series of the LAAC in that it relates specifically to CAF fundraising. The Subject Series includes general information related to the CAF, final reports, brochures, handbooks, evaluations, newspaper clippings, and survey forms.

Dates

1968-1998.

Creator

Lake Agassiz Arts Council. (Organization)

Access

The collection is open under the rules and regulations of the Institute.

Copyrights

The Institute owns the copyrights.

History

In 1970 the Junior League of Fargo, North Dakota and Moorhead, Minnesota conducted a communitywide survey which revealed a great deal of support for a fine arts festival. The Lake Agassiz Arts Council (LAAC) was formed as a result. From its inception, LAAC has supported, encouraged, and represented area arts organizations in the Fargo-Moorhead area.

The original members of LAAC included Concordia College, F-M Civic Opera, F-M Community Theatre, F-M Symphony Orchestra, Fine Arts Club, Junior League, KFME-ETV, Moorhead State University, North Dakota State University, and the Red River Art Center (now Plains Art Museum). LAAC was restructured in 1977 to take a more active leadership role in the Fargo-Moorhead community and to sponsor the Coordinated Arts Fund Drive (CAF). The idea behind the CAF Drive was have one large fund-raiser, rather than having each individual member organization raise its own money. LAAC acted as a clearinghouse for fund raising and distributed the funds to each of the four largest arts organizations: F-M Civic Opera, F-M Community Theatre, F-M Symphony Orchestra, and Plains Arts Museum. In 1983 LAAC went through another restructuring and discontinued the CAF Drive. The council redefined its mission in order to give all member organizations direct representation. Since then, the primary goals of LAAC have been to coordinate advocacy efforts for government funding, provide visibility for its member organizations, and provide service for the area arts groups.