2025 Impact Report

Explore Arts New Orleans’ 2025 Impact Report and message from our President and CEO, Joycelyn Reynolds, and Board Chairman, Edwin Bragg

Dear Friends, Supporters, and Partners,

As Arts New Orleans marks its 50th anniversary, we pause to reflect on what half a century of dedicated service to our city truly means, and to celebrate the artists, advocates, community members, and partners who have made this work possible. Since our founding in 1975, we have had the privilege of serving as New Orleans’ official community arts agency, and that responsibility has never felt more vital than it does today.

As a local arts council, Arts New Orleans occupies a unique and essential place in the city’s cultural ecosystem. We serve as a connector: between artists and opportunity, between community and creative expression, between the city’s storied cultural legacy and its dynamic future. From the more than 500 permanent public artworks we have facilitated across our neighborhoods, to the many private public art commissions we have developed working with developers, to the hundreds of nonprofit arts organizations we have supported through grantmaking made possible with city and state funds since 1983, to the 500+ young people empowered through the Young Artist Movement, our work touches every corner of this city. And through LUNA Fête, we have transformed November into a celebration of all our work through this three-day community festival, a gathering place for light, wonder, and shared civic pride in downtown New Orleans.

We are operating under a 2025 to 2029 Strategic Plan, a bold, community-informed roadmap developed in collaboration with our staff, board, funders, and partners. This plan reflects our collective commitment to delivering exemplary programs, strengthening our resource base, expanding team capacity, advancing the arts as a public priority, and scaling our impact through innovation. It is grounded in the belief that art is not a luxury; it is infrastructure for thriving communities.

Central to everything we do is a commitment to equity and inclusion in who we serve. New Orleans is one of the most culturally rich and diverse cities in the world, and our programs are designed to reflect that richness in full. We are intentional in ensuring that artists of all backgrounds, across race, ethnicity, neighborhood, discipline, career stage, and lived experience, have meaningful access to resources, recognition, and opportunity. From our Community Arts Grants Program to our public art commissions to the Young Artist Movement, we work to ensure that the full spectrum of our city’s creative community is seen, supported, and celebrated. A thriving arts ecosystem is one where no voice is left out.

The report that follow tell the story of our 2025 impact: the artists supported, the youth inspired, the public spaces transformed, and the communities connected. These outcomes are only possible because of you, your generosity, your partnership, and your shared belief in the transformative power of the arts.

As we look toward the next fifty years, we carry forward the energy of this milestone with gratitude and with purpose. New Orleans has always known what the rest of the world is still learning: that culture is not the backdrop to civic life; it is civic life. We are honored to steward that legacy, and we invite you to help us build what comes next.

With deep gratitude,