Salina Arts & Humanities

Salina Arts and Humanities was established by city ordinance in 1966, in response to local interest in guiding and coordinating an already active cultural landscape in Salina. Growing from a contract relationship with the City, a part-time director, and a budget of under $10,000, SA&H has developed into a full department of the City of Salina with a staff of fifteen and a budget of over $1.1 million.

Salina Arts and Humanities serves the community through the mission of the cultivation of this place through the power of the arts and humanities to change lives and build community. Service to Salina and the region is implemented through the program areas of Arts Education, Community Art and Design, Horizons Grants Program, and the arts-based Smoky Hill River Festival, now in its 35th year.

SAH involves nine citizens serving as the policy-making body of this department of City government. A City Commissioner and a student from a local high school also serve as liaisons to the Commission.

The component Salina Arts and Humanities Foundation, a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit corporation, was formed in 1989. In service to the mission, the Foundation increases public/private interaction by enhancing fund-raising ability; leveraging public funds in a way not otherwise possible.

Participation in the Americans for the Arts Economic Development III study of Americans for the Arts established the value of arts and culture in Salina is a $23.75 million-dollar industry – one that supports 815 full-time jobs.

Financial support for department infrastructure is being made available by City government in support of the Big Ideas cultural planning process, a collaborative work of 31 cultural organizations, 177 artists, the Salinans who participated in public opinion surveys and 801 people who attended community meetings and forums.

Committees from across the community actively work to address each of the five goals of the plan.

1. Make arts, culture and heritage offerings welcoming, affordable, and accessible to all Salinans.
2. Make our community a more beautiful place in which to live, work, and visit.
3. Use the arts as an engine to drive economic development, and downtown and community revitalization.
4. Make Salina a model community for cultural sector coordination, unity, and support.
5. Guide Salina's cultural development with enthusiasm, skill, excitement, and vigor.

The City of Salina received the accolade of the 2009 Kansas Governor's Arts Award for Arts Community.