Media and the arts thrive best when they have the backing of both government agencies and industry groups that speak for the sector and encourage its growth. Here is a closer look at two entities that offer support for arts organizations and practitioners of the arts in Delaware.
Delaware Division of the Arts
In Delaware, the foremost state agency supporting creatives is the Delaware Division of the Arts (DDOA). “Our main function is to grant out federal and state funds to support art and creativity in the First State,” said DDOA Director Jessica Ball. “We do that through about a dozen grant programs.”
What makes Delaware’s grant programs unique is that in addition to supporting arts organizations, community organizations and schools, the DDOA also funds individual artists.
“There are a lot of states that either never developed those types of grant programs or have cut them back, so we’re proud that Delaware still offers them,” Ball said.
Support for individual artists comes in two forms: an opportunity grant of up to $1,000 and annual artist fellowships in three categories ($5,000 for emerging, $8,000 for established and $12,000 for master artists).
“The only requirement is one opportunity for the public to see your art,” Ball said. “Either a public performance if you’re a performing artist, or one show if you’re a visual artist.”
Around 20 fellowships are awarded each year. “Artists can put that on their resume, and they then find themselves able to go after more national awards,” Ball said. “It’s a professional stamp of approval.”
The opportunity grants have an application deadline each quarter and are meant to help artists go after a specific opportunity. “Let’s say they get invited to train with a master artist, or to attend a professional development conference — the grant can help them with that,” Ball said.
Funding from the DDOA is only available to Delaware residents, but new residents become eligible after just one year of paying taxes in Delaware.
The DDOA also supports artists with events. The Delaware Art Summit is a conference that brings together artists, art patrons and educators, while the Writers Retreat allows poets and writers to workshop with renowned peers from across the country. (The two events alternate, with each taking place every two years.) Recently, the DDOA contracted with Minerva Financial Arts to organize a seminar that is designed to help artists with crucial questions such as “how do you pay your taxes as an artist, how do you plan for a busy season or a slower season in terms of cash flow, and how do you position yourself as a business person?” Ball said.
In addition, artists can gain exposure by creating a free profile on the DDOA’s Artist Roster website at arts.delaware.gov/roster. “It’s a very visual platform where artists can feature themselves and their work, and kind of show the state and others that they’re ready and available to work,” Ball said. “We’ve had several artists tell us recently that the roster has been a big game changer in terms of getting a big client or big commission.”
Another key DDOA resource for artists is the Mezzanine Gallery located in a state-owned building in Wilmington. “We offer Delaware artists solo shows, and for many of them, it may be their first time exhibiting publicly,” Ball said. “We spend a lot of time promoting the shows as part of the Wilmington Art Loop on first Fridays.”
For any artists considering Delaware, Ball said, “One of the wonderful things about Delaware is that there are so many talented artists here. There’s already a vibrant creative community that people can be welcomed into. Delaware is also just a great state to live. The cost of living is lower here than other metropolitan areas nearby, but it’s so close that as an artist, you’re very near to New York, Philly, Baltimore and DC. It’s easy to get to these places, pursue opportunities and broaden your network.”
Delaware Arts Alliance
The Delaware Arts Alliance is a nonprofit created in the wake of the 2008 financial crisis to advocate for the arts. It works in partnership with the DDOA as well as the Delaware Department of Education.
“Our state and country were going through an economic downturn and the state was considering cutting all funding for the arts,” said Executive Director Neil Kirschling. “A group of about 15 arts, civic and business leaders got together to create unified advocacy for the arts in Delaware.”
That initial core group has since grown to just nearly 60 organizations from across the state, he said. “Having an organization that focused on the big picture and building the relationships that we need to advance the arts has been helpful,” he said. “Our policymakers are already inclined to be supportive of the arts, but it takes an interest group to push for change sometimes.”
During the COVID pandemic, the Arts Alliance was at the forefront of ensuring that the arts would benefit from federal relief dollars. In fact, the Alliance was able to use funding from the American Rescue Plan Act to craft its signature achievement: the CREATE Plan.
“The CREATE Plan has been a rallying cry for advocates and leaders, and a north star for us to move towards,” Kirschling said. “We had been looking for a while to do some sort of strategic plan for the arts sector that we could all coalesce around.”
The CREATE Plan, which was crafted with input from more than 600 Delawareans, entailed three key deliverables:
- An economic impact analysis “to show for the first time the total impact of the state’s creative sector in terms of employment and economic output. We had some statistics before that covered nonprofits, but this was the first time including for-profits and individual artists as well as the downstream effects of investing in the arts — such as jobs supported in other sectors,” Kirschling said.
- A set of 25 policy recommendations “that can be implemented at the local, county or state level to make Delaware a more attractive place for artistic talent,” Kirschling said. “They’re all aimed at the belief that Delaware’s creative economy shouldn’t just be a nice-to-have thing after we’ve taken care of all our other issues. It takes the view of how can the arts be embedded in economic development and be a tool to address our challenges as a state? That mindset shift is one that we’re excited to help the state realize.”
Find a summary of the CREATE Plan and its key findings at www.delawareartsalliance.org/creativeeconomy.
In the year since the CREATE Plan was published, Kirschling has already observed some key progress. “We’ve seen increased participation in the Arts and Culture Caucus” of Delaware’s General Assembly, he said. “About 40% of General Assembly members engaged in the caucus in some way this past year. The group includes all three counties, both chambers and both parties.”
The caucus also helped pass a resolution to kickstart an exploration of how Delaware’s career and technical education programs can better support the creative workforce. “This starts the process of how we can support students and have the same recognition as industries like IT and healthcare so that students realize you can make a living in the arts in Delaware,” Kirschling said. “A few high schools have already developed this sort of coursework for students. They’re not just taking an art course, but also taking a business class or interning for a local design firm or museum to get a sense of the job options.”
Another key step, Kirschling said, has been the creation of a public arts commission in New Castle County, which requires that every public capital project in the county set aside a percentage of its budget for purposes of public art and beautification.
“The commission is in charge of shepherding those funds and promoting new public art, with the idea that we want Delaware to visually be a place you want to come visit,” Kirschling said. “Economic development without beauty and art can be dry or disconnected, so how do you place-make in a creative way?”
The commission has already begun to solicit proposals from artists.
However, the Arts Alliance’s work is far from done. “We’re not the only group in town that can advocate,” Kirschling said, “but we’ve tried to position ourselves as a hub and a clearinghouse for folks that are looking to change policy.”
The CREATE Plan: Key Statistics
In 2021, Delaware’s creative economy had a total output of $3.7 billion and a total Gross Value Added of $2.5 billion.
Every $1 of output in the creative economy equals an additional output of $0.60 for the rest of the economy.
The creative economy supports 18,551 jobs (4.1% of Delaware jobs), including jobs that supply goods and services to the creative economy and jobs created by the spending of creative economy workers.
2.35% of Delaware’s workforce is directly employed in creative and cultural tourism sectors, surpassing industries like wholesale trade and agriculture.
Why Delaware?
For businesses in the arts and media sector, just as for businesses in other sectors, Delaware offers very attractive advantages. There is a reason why more than 1.9 million business entities from around the world call Delaware their legal home — including two-thirds of Fortune 500 companies.
Here is why doing business in Delaware is a good choice.
Low Cost
Delaware has no sales tax, no inventory tax and no value-added tax, significantly reducing the cost of doing business in any sector.
Convenient Location
Delaware lies at the heart of the U.S. East Coast. The principal roadway of the Atlantic Coast, I-95, runs through Wilmington and directly links the state with Washington, DC, Baltimore, Philadelphia, New York and Boston. High-speed passenger rail connects these cities as well. Nearby airports such as Wilmington Airport (ILG), Philadelphia International Airport (PHL) and Baltimore/Washington International Airport (BWI) make Delaware an easy destination to get to from both domestic and international destinations.
Foreign Trade Zone
Port Wilmington is a full-service deepwater port and marine terminal with the ability to handle a wide range of cargo. It is also part of Delaware’s Foreign Trade Zone (FTZ) #99, a key advantage for companies doing international business in Delaware.
FTZ #99 consists of several sites and areas around the state that are considered outside the U.S. for duty and tax purposes. These sites include Delaware Freeport (delawarefreeport.com), the only FTZ location geared exclusively toward the storage of artworks.
For more about foreign trade and investment in Delaware, see choosedelaware.com/why-delaware/foreign-direct-investment.
Grants and Incentives
Delaware offers a wide range of financing and funding options, including site readiness grants, workforce training programs and low-interest commercial loans. For a complete list, see choosedelaware.com/why-delaware/tax-incentives.