The following press release was sent to the Bloomingtonian Friday:
Arts Forward Bloomington and Arts Alliance of Greater Bloomington Merge
Arts Forward Bloomington (AFB) has merged with the Arts Alliance of Greater Bloomington
(AAGB) at the end of 2022.
AFB, formed in 2019, is a collective of artists, arts organizations, and arts supporters formed to
address public arts policy. Arts Forward provided a strong voice of arts leaders advocating for
the continued use of the Waldron Arts Center and support for the performing arts. That
advocacy was largely successful.
The Arts Alliance of Greater Bloomington (AAGB) is a nonprofit organization formed in August
of 2011 with a mission of strengthening and sustaining the arts by connecting artists, cultural
organization, and artistic endeavors with patrons and the community. One of the projects of
AAGB is the Arts Alliance Center at Simon Mall, a Gallery/Gift Shop as well as a Flex space for
performances and classes. Additionally, AAGB hosts a website with an online Arts Calendar,
Arts Directory, and Blog addressing local arts topics.
Learn more at https://www.bloomingtonarts.org
Given the largely successful arts advocacy by Arts Forward and the broader mission of AAGB,
Arts Forward has agreed to join AAGB as a special project, with a continued focus on the
performing arts. A current focus is identifying performance spaces in the Bloomington area, a
project that will integrate into the AAGB online artist support tools.
Currently Arts Forward and the Arts Alliance are hosting a Zoom quarterly meeting on the
topic of Promoting Your Art Event in Bloomington – on local online calendars and social media,
January 31 beginning at 5:30 pm. Guest speakers will include Connie Shakalis – HT,
Henry Leck- Arts Alliance, Ron Eid – Limestone Post, and Rodney Marginson – Bloom Mag-
azine. There will be time for questions and comments. Zoom link can be found at blooming-
tonarts.org online calendar listing or the Arts Alliance of Greater Bloomington Facebook page.
The next Arts Forward Quarterly Meeting topic will be Artists for the Environment. A call out to
artists of all arts genres that want to help coordinate a series of events of artists calling atten-
tion to protecting the environment – visual artists, songwriters, poets, theater and expressive
movement. Ben Bradson of the Brabson foundation will be our guest speaker. That zoom
meeting will be Wednesday, April 12th. Stay tuned.
To learn more or to join AAGB and the Arts Forward project contact
[email protected] or visit https://www.bloomingtonarts.org
Press may contact Henry Leck [email protected] for further information.
