Board highlights outreach wins, one‑pager for legislators and new public newsletter

The Wisconsin Arts Board’s external relations committee reported progress on outreach tools aimed at improving visibility with legislators and the public, including a one‑page advocacy packet distributed to state lawmakers, development of web mapping to show grants by district, and the launch of a weekly public newsletter called Creative Copy.

Board members reported that committee-produced one‑pagers were delivered to every legislator; those materials were used during meetings with lawmakers, including an unplanned 45‑minute conversation with Rep. Novak that board members said helped raise awareness about state arts funding. George Sugross, executive director of the Wisconsin Arts Board, noted that stakeholders found the simple one‑page format useful for quick reference.

External relations members said they are exploring modern data‑visualization tools used by peer agencies (including a demonstration from Indiana) to make it easier for legislators and the public to view grant recipients in a given legislative district. The committee said the board’s existing website and Tyler Technologies-based site will be evaluated to ensure mapping and recipient data can be published and filtered by district.

The committee also announced the launch of Creative Copy, a weekly email newsletter that collects field resources for educators, artists and organizers. The committee said recent editions focused on arts-education resources and film‑sector activity and that each newsletter is archived on the Arts Board website as a page connecting readers to the resources.

Committee members said the external relations work is intended to support advocacy for the board’s budget priorities and to make grant activity more visible to legislators, funders and community partners. No formal action was taken; the committee will return with additional materials and technical plans for public mapping and district-level recipient views.