RG 097, Connecticut Commission on the Arts

Inventory of Records

Finding aid prepared by Connecticut State Library staff.

Copyright © 2008 by the Connecticut State Library

Historical Note

In 1963, a Commission on the Arts established by Special Act 106, to make a comprehensive survey of the state and report findings to the Governor by Jan. 1965. In 1965, the Connecticut General Assembly passed Public Act 579 creating the Connecticut Commission on the Arts, a public service agency responsible for encouraging “participation in, and promotion, development, acceptance and appreciation of” the cultural resources of the state. The agency was governed by an independent board of 25 commissioners appointed by the Governor, President of the Senate, and Speaker of the House. The Commission maintained a staff of administrative, fiscal, consultative, and field personnel. The Commission was placed under the Department of Education for administrative purposes only by the State Reorganization Act of 1978 and then in 1995 under the State Library for the same reason. The Commission’s work falls generally into five categories: Programs, Program Development, Information Services, Technical Assistance and Grants. The seven main areas of work are in: Community Development, Dance, Education, Literature, Music, Theatre and Visual Arts. On June 30, 2003 the Commission merged with other agencies to form the Commission on Arts, Tourism, Culture, History, and Film per Public Act 03-6.

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Scope and Content

"300 Years of Connecticut Architecture" Exhibit materials, 1968-1974, were collected as part of a town by town state survey of architectural records made in 1968. It resulted in an exhibit that traced the development of Connecticut architecture from 1639 to 1974 and constitute a photographic history of Connecticut. The exhibit opened at the Wadsworth Athenaeum in 1971, and toured the state through 1974.

Dance materials, 1965-1977, include correspondence, clippings, programs, press releases, publications relating to the Commission's dance activities. In its 1965 report to the Governor and Legislature, the Temporary Commission on the Arts indicated that, in Connecticut, dance was the performing art needing greatest development. Since 1966 the permanent agency's support efforts in this field have fallen into three general categories: audience building, upgrading standards in schools of dance and companies, and bringing dance into closer contact with public education.

Project Create materials, 1967-1970, include press releases, clippings, correspondence, evaluations, and financial records dealing with the administration of the program. Between 1967 and 1970, Project Create brought arts-in-education programs to nine Connecticut elementary schools. Developed by the Commission, the project was funded and administered through Title III of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, with a budget of $425,000 for the three year period. Project Create was designed to "break through the limitations of a rigidly academic, verbal tradition to show how the creative arts can stimulate the full learning, thinking and doing activities of children." Each school maintained an artist-in-residence who also brought visiting artists and performing groups to schools.

Artists-In-Schools Program materials consist mainly of school files relative to the program. The Artists-in-Schools program, funded by the National Endowment for the Arts, related the creative process of practicing artists to students in an educational setting.

Educational materials, 1967-1976, relate to the arts in Connecticut schools, including material relative to the Teacher's Project Assistance Program (TPAP), 1974. TPAP, a subdivision of VAP (Visiting Artists Program), gave teachers a source of funding and technical assistance for their own innovative planning.

Music materials, 1973-1977, include records of the Contemporary Music Circuit and the Capitol Concert Series.

Also present are materials related to the 1976 Bicentennial celebration; arts calendars from 1966 to 1978; the Environmental Awareness Project, whose program was to stimulate concern with the physical environment; Executive Director's correspondence from 1966 to 1969; and news clippings from 1962 to 1978.

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Arrangement

Arranged into twelve series as follows: 1. "300 Years of Connecticut Architecture" Exhibit, 1968-1974; 2. Dance, 1965-1977; 3. Bicentennial Materials, 1974-1976; 4. Project Create, 1967-1970; 5. Artist-In-Schools Program; 6. Educational Records, 1967-1976; 7. Music, 1973-1977; 8. Arts Calendars, 1973-1977; 9. Environmental Awareness Project, 1969-1970; 10. Internship Program, 1974-1976; Executive Director's Correspondence, 1966-1969; 12. News Clippings, 1962-1978.

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Restrictions

Restrictions on Access

These records are stored at an off-site facility and therefore may not be available on a same-day basis.

See the Rules and Procedures for Researchers Using Archival Records and Secured Collections policy.

Restrictions on Use

See the Reproduction and Publications of State Library Collections policy.

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Related Material

None.

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Index Terms

Organizations:

Subjects:

Document Types:

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Administrative Information

Provenance

These records were transferred to the State Archives in October 1978 and April 1979.

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Container List