Arts Council England

Creative Campus Initiative had the great fortune of hosting the Arts Council England during their American visit in October of 2007. Two Arts Council executives met with representatives of UA administration, faculty, state arts leaders, Tuscaloosa business advocates, Creative Campus interns, and former intern Erica Mossholder, now proprietor of Artique in downtown Tuscaloosa.

The Arts Council's goal was to learn about the innovative ways American higher education institutions support the arts and cultural development. They requested the meeting with Creative Campus because they were interested it the intiative's efforts to create "synergy between the campus and the community in using arts and culture to reengage the citizenry of both." They believed greater knowledge of such partnerships could help to inform their organization’s approach to supporting arts and higher education in England.

UA was one of few stops on the Arts Council's illustrious tour of American institutions, which also included Stanford, UCLA, The Getty Institute, San Jose Institute of Technology, The National Association of Arts Presenters, and New York University.

Creative Campus Director Scott Bridges called the meeting "a signal call event" in that "CCI was acknowledged as being a national leader in the area of innovative student centered engagement and leadership." Bridges noted that new friendships were forged, and "both groups had a prosperous intercourse with future sharing in the offing."