Together with our partners, we create and strengthen connections between the socially and culturally diverse communities along the South Shore through:

• the everykid program,
• quality arts instruction,
• regional, national and international exhibitions, and
• funding for the arts.



The everykid program
South Shore Arts provides visual art, music, drama and dance instruction for over 15,000 children and their families each year. We partner with schools, social service agencies, and municipal parks and recreation departments to provide these programs primarily in underserved communities.

We also offer many exciting children’s performances including multi-cultural puppetry and story-telling for Black History Month. These popular shows are attended by approximately 5,000 area school children each year. The annual Beaux Arts Ball fundraiser helps support the everykid program.

Quality Arts Instruction
We conduct over 400 classes each year in all media for all ages, including ceramics, photography, painting, drawing, cartooning and acting. We have fully equipped studios
and classrooms in Munster, Crown Point and Hammond. (In Hammond, residents receive classes at half price.) Our free art appreciation programs such as “Art in Focus”
are popular with adults of all ages.

Regional, National & International Exhibitions
More than 20 exhibitions fill four South Shore Arts’ galleries each year, showcasing regional, national and international artists and cultures. Exhibitions have included Andy Warhol, Norman Rockwell and artwork from Bilbao, Spain. This year, we are pleased to present "Peanuts at Bat: The Art of Charles M. Schulz." We are also launching our Outstanding Midwest Artists Series featuring Michael Noland.

Funding for the Arts
We award approximately $125,000 in grants annually with funds provided by the Indiana Arts Commission. In 2007, 33 non-profit arts providers received these grants.

South Shore Arts Gift Shop
The Gift Shop is the largest national retailer of South Shore Posters. These posters promote the artistic identity of Lake Michigan’s South Shore. The shop also offers original artisan-designed gifts for personal and corporate giving.

Serving the South Shore
In 1997, South Shore Arts was appointed as the Regional Arts Partner for the Indiana Arts Commission. In this capacity we serve Lake, Porter and LaPorte counties. Besides awarding grants, we perform cultural needs assessment and planning. We created a South Shore Arts Chamber of Commerce to bring people together for the purpose of building the regional arts community through awareness and collaboration throughout the South Shore.

The annual Regional Arts Summit, attended by artists, arts organization leaders and art enthusiasts, provides assistance with management and organizational issues. We create awareness of arts events and opportunities through Convergence magazine, our monthly e-newsletter, our online regional arts calendar and Lakeshore Public Television’s “Eye on the Arts.”

About Us
South Shore Arts has been improving the quality of life along the South Shore for over 70 years. It all started in the hat department of Minas Department Store in downtown Hammond, Indiana with an annual exhibit of regional artists, known today as the Salon Show. Located in the Center for Visual and Preforming Arts, Munster, South Shore Arts opened two branch locations—Substation No. 9, an inner-city art center in downtown Hammond, and the Crown Point Community Art Center in Crown Point—in 1998.

South Shore Arts is governed by a 36-member volunteer board of directors and is managed by a staff of eight full-time and two part-time employees. The fiscal year 2007 budget is $1.4 million. Funding is derived from individual and corporate memberships and contributions, program underwriting, public and private grants, the Beaux Arts Ball, income-producing programs such as classes and performances, and annual distributions from the South Shore Arts Endowment Fund.

South Shore Arts is a not-for-profit organization fully exempt from federal income tax under section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code (federal I.D. #23-7049722).

Recognition
South Shore Arts was awarded the 2006 Great Lake Award for Excellence in Non-Profit Management.