Illinois first celebrated Illinois Arts Week in 1978 when then Governor James R. Thompson and the Illinois Arts Council also mounted the first Governor’s Awards for the Arts. Since that time, the Illinois Arts Council has requested the Governor to proclaim one week each year as Illinois Arts Week, set aside to focus attention on the importance of the arts and how the arts enrich our lives.

Over the years, Illinois Arts Week has been celebrated in large and small ways. For that first Arts Week, 100 billboards, generously donated by the Outdoor Advertising Association of Illinois, dotted the Illinois landscape to announce the news to all passersby. The Arts Council has adopted various themes to promote Arts Week including – Take a Front Row Seat, Join an All-Star Cast and Step Into the Arts Week Picture. Depending on the IAC’s budget, from year to year the agency produced and hung banners, distributed buttons, balloons and proclamation copies, and created posters as well as a variety of other materials emblazoned with visual images to help bring public attention to the week. One year, a unique construction was created to match that year’s theme of “Putting It Together.”

For Illinois Arts Week 1998, the IAC created a logo announcing the theme of “The Arts Are All Around Us,” bringing the message that communities already have a multitude of arts activities and events taking place at theaters, park districts, museums, galleries, libraries, schools, concerts, community centers, festivals and more. Jewel Food Stores generously agreed to print this logo on thousands of its grocery bags thereby achieving distribution to a public not often reached by the Arts Council. And 200,000 bookmarks carrying this theme were sent to all Illinois Public Libraries, IAC ArtsLinks and various other sites. ArtsLinks are sites located throughout Illinois that display Illinois Arts Council publications in order to increase Illinois citizens’ accessibility to these materials.

The Illinois Arts Council has also partnered with the Illinois Department of Tourism which has had artists working and demonstrating at several Highway Visitors Centers during Illinois Arts Week. In 2000, First Lady Lura Lynn Ryan and IAC Chairman Shirley R. Madigan made the first TV Public Service Announcement promoting Illinois Arts Week.

2001 was an especially exciting year in that more communities than ever participated by promoting events and partnering with others to bring even greater attention to their region. These partnerships included arts organizations, park districts, commercial galleries, and local and regional tourism groups, bringing the arts together in new and different ways.

The momentum of Illinois Arts Week gained more and more energy during 2002, with ambitious arts programs developed throughout the state and new organizations getting on board. The message of “The Arts Are All Around Us” has caught on, as more traditional and non-traditional arts settings embrace Arts Week to help build relationships, encourage community and above all, bring greater public appreciation to the arts. This has been the Arts Week theme since 1998 and the IAC believes more than ever that it truly captures the essence of Illinois Arts Week.