ABOUT US

The Embracing Arlington Arts Board of Directors approved its 3-Year Strategic Plan. We achieve our mission through three primary strategies: inform others about the importance and diversity of the arts, artists and arts organizations in our community; spearhead initiatives that maintain and grow the County’s cultural identity; and spread the word about the diverse performance and cultural events held in Arlington.

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Strategy 1 – Informing Others About Importance of the Arts:

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In an effort to inform others about the importance of the arts in Arlington, Janet Kopenhaver, Founder and President of Embracing Arlington Arts, hosts a weekly 30-minute podcast each Tuesday at noon which features an arts organization representative, visual artist, arts expert, dancer, musician, actor and everyone in between to talk about their profession, productions, events, economic and health benefits of the arts, and many other topics.

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She also has had and will continue to feature several dignitaries on the show, including Arlington County’s “First Lady” Megan Beyer, former NEA Chair Jane Chu, DC FOX News Reporter Anjali Hemphill, and Arlington County Board members Katie Cristol and Christian Dorsey.

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The organization issues Press Releases and outreach to media outlets when important news about the benefits of the arts is released. Several releases have been picked up by the local media.

Finally, Board members attend numerous functions and networking events throughout the year to talk about the arts with County leaders, residents and arts patrons. They also serve as expert speakers on the arts throughout the region at numerous events.

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Strategy 2 – Spearhead Initiatives:

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Over the last several years Embracing Arlington Arts organized workshops for non-profit organizations to help them be more successful and therefore grow the County’s cultural identity. They focused on social media, fundraising, meeting local concierges and strategic planning.

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For four years in a row, Embracing Arlington Arts has underwritten a media package on behalf of the non-profit arts organizations in Arlington that allows each of them to publish a column once a year (with an estimated readership of 400,000) to help them spread the word about upcoming events and performances.  Feedback from the arts organizations indicates that they have been very successful thus far.

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In 2019, Embracing Arlington launched an annual “Theater/Arts Management Educational Podcast Series.” Each podcast series focuses on and highlights a certain aspect of the arts industry. The first series featured advice from the five top Artistic Directors in the DC region. The second focused on Diversity and Cultural Equity and feature several leading voices of the BIPOC Theater community, as well as EDI professional and experts. The third focused on the “Health Benefits of the Arts” featuring three leading researchers in the field. In 2022, the series detailed how the theater industry was spurring and keeping the conversation going about racial justice.

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Strategy 3 – Spread the Word About Arts Events:

 

Since its inception in February 2017, Embracing Arlington Arts has developed and cultivated its email listserv from a little over 100 to now over 1200. Each month, Embracing Arlington Arts sends out an Update to these arts supporters and patrons about arts developments, new studies or reports on the arts, and much more. Each Update  includes a comprehensive three-month calendar of all the events and productions being held in Arlington by arts organizations and artists. The organization also is very active on social media and is constantly promoting events each day.