Founded in 1976 as the official Arts arm of the City of Shreveport, SRAC’s mission is to develop, nurture, produce and present, promote, engage and educate the citizens of Northwest Louisiana about the Arts, thereby maximizing access to the Arts. SRAC continues to serve as the official arts Arm of the City of Shreveport and the State of Louisiana for Northwest Louisiana, operating by contract with both entities, working to support the Arts Community, sustain Community Based Arts Education, and create Innovative and Accessible Programming.

SRAC serves 9 parishes of Northwest Louisiana, supporting the work of 2,400 artists and 159 arts organizations with an economic impact of $90 million and $13 million returned in state and local tax dollars. 99% of SRAC programs are free and there are no required membership fees.

SRAC strengthens Arts organizations and artists by administering a competitive local, state and federal grants process; providing technical assistance; providing paid public art, education, and creation of new work commissions to Artists; providing paid opportunities teaching arts for K-12 students; providing opportunities for juried exhibitions and performances at artspace, SRAC’s center for the creation, production and presentation of all the Arts; developing artists’ registries and creating and promoting a juried artists’ roster; and awarding annual Artists’ Fellowships. SRAC develops residencies that bring nationally respected artists to Shreveport to work alongside local emerging and professional artists to learn new techniques and approaches to the creative process. SRAC cultivates new audiences for the Arts; sustaining their involvement as life-long supporters of the Arts.

What does SRAC have to do with ArtBreak?

SRAC created the ArtBreak Festival in 1984 when funding cuts threatened to eliminate the Arts instructors’ positions and the community arts partnerships in Caddo Parish Public Schools. A team of administrators, teachers, students, parents, and community leaders joined with SRAC to develop a means of promoting the importance of Arts Education as a key component of the total curriculum.

The Shreveport Regional Arts Council’s Annual ArtBreak Festival is now considered the largest showcase of Student Art programs in the South. The festival features the art from Caddo Parish, private, and home-schools, features more than 50 hands-on S.T. learning activities, hosts more than 100 school and community performances, celebrates more than 4,000 student works of visual and literary art, and awards almost $25,000 in savings bonds and cash prizes to hundreds of students. A free, hands-on family festival weekend welcomes almost 50,000 students, parents, teachers, and festival goers.