dane arts

What dane arts does

Dane Arts, formally the Dane County Cultural Affairs Commission, is a government arts agency within Dane County Government in Madison, Wisconsin, established in 1976 during the U.S. bicentennial. The agency administers arts, culture, and local history grant programs—Project Grants, Short-Order Project Grants, and Capital Grants—distributed across two annual cycles and totaling more than $10.2 million across 2,400+ awards since 2007, which have leveraged approximately $68.2 million in additional community funds. Beyond grantmaking, Dane Arts operates a portfolio of community programs: Dane Arts Mural Arts (DAMA, 80+ murals since 2014), Dane Arts Buy Local Art Market (DABL, $250,000+ in art sold since 2015), Dane Arts Dance Arts (DADA, since 2016), the Business of Art Conference (annual since 2022), a public gallery in the City-County Building, the Behind Creative video series, and the Dane County Artist Directory online platform launched in June 2023.

The agency's revenue model is that of a public agency, funded primarily through Dane County Government appropriations and supplemented by product sales—an annual $15 desktop art calendar and a voluntary-donation annual art poster distributed through the danearts.com e-commerce storefront and approximately 16 in-person retail partners across Dane County—as well as individual donations at suggested tiers of $5 to $100. Governance is provided by an 11-member commission (10 citizens plus 1 County Board Supervisor) appointed by the Dane County Executive, with daily operations led by Director Mark J. Fraire (appointed 2014) and Cultural Affairs Specialist Augusta Brulla. Dane Arts is a public-sector entity operating exclusively within south-central Wisconsin; it has no investment rounds, external shareholders, or global footprint, and is not a candidate for conventional PE/VC/M&A activity.

Name

dane arts

Legal name

Dane County Cultural Affairs Commission

Website

https://danearts.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1976

Operating status

Operating

Short description

Dane Arts is the Dane County, Wisconsin government arts agency, established in 1976, that administers arts and culture grants, gallery exhibitions, community programs (murals, art markets, dance), annual calendars and posters serving Dane County artists, organizations, municipalities, and residents.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Public Arts Funding & Cultural Programs

NAICS

Museums, Historical Sites, and Similar Institutions (712), Art Dealers (459920)

SIC

Services-Amusement & Recreation Services (7900)

akta.pro primary industry

Public Art, Arts Councils & Grantmaking Programs (BPAGAHAH)

akta.pro secondary industries

Art Galleries & Exhibition Spaces (Commercial & Nonprofit) (THAJADAH), Arts Education & Community Arts Programs (BPAGAHAC)

Keywords

• Arts grant funding
• Cultural program administration
• Community arts programs
• Public art commissions
• Artist support services

Headquarters

HQ city

Madison

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B and B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Others

Revenue model

1. Government Funding & Grants: Dane Arts distributes grants funded by Dane County government and partnered public/private sources. The organization administers approximately 150 awards per year across two grant cycles, with individual grants ranging from $500 to several thousand dollars.
2. Sales Revenue: Revenue generated from sale of annual art calendars ($15 each), art posters (voluntary donation), and the $25 application donation for Calendar/Poster Call for Art.
3. Donations: Individual donations to support Dane Arts programs and operations, with suggested amounts of $5, $10, $20, $50, $75, and $100.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels7 records

Core offering

Dane Arts is the public arts and cultural affairs agency of Dane County, Wisconsin (officially the Dane County Cultural Affairs Commission). It administers arts, culture, and local history grant programs, operates a public gallery, produces an annual art calendar and poster featuring local artists, maintains an online artist directory, and runs community programs (DAMA murals, DABL market, DADA dance) and the Business of Art Conference.

Product overview

Dane Arts is a public arts funding agency within Dane County Government, operating as the Dane County Cultural Affairs Commission. The organization offers a portfolio of grant programs including Project Grants, Short-Order Project Grants, and Capital Grants distributed in two cycles per year. Beyond grants, Dane Arts operates the Dane Arts Gallery featuring rotating exhibitions of local artists, produces an annual Art Calendar and Art Poster showcasing Dane County artists, and maintains the Dane County Artist Directory online platform. Additional offerings include the Behind Creative video series, a Call for Art program, and manages grant applications through the WebGrants portal.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• DAMA (Dane Arts Mural Arts): Community mural arts program that has created over 80 community murals and 50 storm drain designs. Started in 2014 and is now its own nonprofit organization in partnership with Dane Arts.
• DABL (Dane Arts Buy Local Art Market)
• DADA (Dane Arts Dance Arts)

Products and services

• Project Grants Competitive grant program supporting specific arts, culture, and local history projects with distinct budgets, personnel, and timeframes, distributed in two cycles per year. Available to Dane County artists and arts organizations.
• Short-Order Project Grants Simplified grant program with smaller award amounts designed for first-time applicants or those new to the Dane Arts grant program.
• Capital Grants Grants supporting capital projects including equipment purchases, construction, permanent exhibits, building improvements, and historic preservation initiatives for Dane County nonprofit arts organizations.
• Dane Arts Gallery Public gallery space in the City-County Building showcasing local Dane County artists through rotating exhibitions open to the public during business hours and public meetings.
• Dane Arts Art Calendar Annual spiral-bound desktop calendar featuring artwork by Dane County artists, sold for $15 each to support arts programs and local artists.
• Dane Arts Art Poster Annual art poster (18" x 24") showcasing a selected Dane County artist, available for voluntary donation at locations throughout Dane County and through the online store.
• Dane County Artist Directory Online platform connecting visual artists, arts administrators, and audiences across Dane County, designed to foster equitable collaboration and increase visibility for local artists. Provides a resource for commissioning, purchasing, or showcasing local art.
• Call for Art Program Annual open call for Dane County artists to submit artwork for consideration in the Art Calendar and Poster, with honoraria awarded to selected artists.

Quantifiable outcome

• $350 million in local economic impact from arts and culture (FY22)
• +4 more outcomes

Named customers5 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Seven partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Americans for the ArtscoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 October 2023Partnership for the Arts & Economic Prosperity VI (AEP VI) study conducted in October 2023. Americans for the Arts is a national arts advocacy organization that produced the comprehensive arts and economic impact study. Dane Arts participated by collecting 939 surveys from May 2022 to May 2023.
• Wisconsin Arts BoardcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 October 2023State arts agency partner in the AEP VI study. Wisconsin Arts Board is a state-level arts funding and advocacy organization that collaborated on the economic impact research.
• Wendy SchneiderminorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2022Award-winning filmmaker who produces the 'Behind Creative' artist profile series for Dane Arts. Each episode features a local Dane County artist sharing their creative process and inspiration.
• Dane Arts Business of Art ConferencecoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2022Annual conference created by Dane Arts in 2022 to provide workshops and presentations for working artists across disciplines on the business of their art. The fifth annual conference took place in April 2026.
• StartingBlock MadisoncoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2019StartingBlock Madison is a local co-working hub for startups. In 2019, Dane Arts initiated an artist-in-residence program with StartingBlock Madison, including setting up a gallery space. The partnership continues to foster intersections between entrepreneurship and the arts with artists in residence.
• Forward Madison FCminorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2019Professional soccer team partnership for the Forward Madison Game Day Poster program. Initiated in 2019, the program pays local artists to create game day posters for soccer matches.
• Dane Arts Mural Arts (DAMA)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2014DAMA began as a community arts program created by Dane Arts in 2014 and has since spun off as its own non-profit organization while maintaining a partnership with Dane Arts. The program has created over 80 community murals and 50 storm drain designs countywide.

Scale indicators9 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Wisconsin Arts Board: Wisconsin's state arts agency and direct Dane Arts partner on the AEP VI study. Operates the same core functions (grantmaking, advocacy, arts funding administration) one tier up at the state level, distributing public and private arts funding across Wisconsin — a structural analogue to Dane Arts' county-level mandate.
• Americans for the Arts: National arts service organization that partnered with Dane Arts on the AEP VI economic impact study. Operates arts advocacy, research, and grants programming for arts organizations and agencies — directly comparable mission and overlapping programs (economic impact research, grantmaker resources, policy advocacy).
• Minnesota State Arts Board: State arts agency with analogous structure and programmatic offerings (grant cycles, community grants, creative support). Operates one tier up (state level) in a neighboring Upper Midwest state with similar demographics, providing a near-identical operational template to Dane Arts' county-level model.
• Illinois Arts Council Agency: Midwest state arts agency distributing public grant funding to artists and organizations, with similar grant cycles, capacity-building programs, and publicly funded arts advocacy functions. Comparable to Wisconsin Arts Board and Dane Arts in operational scope and economic development mission.
• Los Angeles County Arts Commission: County-level arts agency for Los Angeles County — one of the few U.S. county government commissions dedicated to arts funding, civic art, and cultural programming. Operationally identical to Dane Arts at much larger scale (population ~10M vs Dane's ~550K), making it a relevant structural and programmatic peer.
• Greater Pittsburgh Arts Council: Regional arts council serving southwestern Pennsylvania with grant administration, artist services, and community arts programming. Offers similar programmatic architecture (project grants, professional development, public art support) and serves as a comparable local/regional peer to Dane Arts.

Regional players

• Milwaukee County Cultural, Arts & Entertainment Fund: County-level arts funding program in Milwaukee County, Wisconsin — another of the few Wisconsin counties with dedicated arts infrastructure (per Dane Arts' claim of being one of only three Wisconsin counties with such an agency). Operates in a different geography but with directly analogous county-government arts commission structure.

Broad incumbents

• Arts Midwest: Regional arts organization serving Midwest states including Wisconsin with grant programs, touring, and cultural leadership programming. Operates at a broader geographic scale than Dane Arts but with overlapping artist-support and community-development functions.
• National Assembly of State Arts Agencies: Membership organization representing the 56 U.S. state and jurisdictional arts agencies (including Wisconsin Arts Board). Provides funding advocacy, research, and professional services — peer infrastructure for the network of public arts agencies that includes Dane Arts as a county-level affiliate.
• Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events: Municipal government cultural affairs department operating galleries, public art, grants, and cultural programming for the City of Chicago. Operationally and structurally analogous to Dane Arts as a public-sector cultural affairs body, though at much larger city scale.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xtwitter.com/danearts
• YouTubeyoutube.com/@DaneCountyArts
• Facebookfacebook.com/danearts
• Instagraminstagram.com/dane.arts
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/dane-arts

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles2 records

Subsidiaries3 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about dane arts