(Oakland, Iowa) -The Iowa West Foundation recently awarded $32,500 to Golden Hills Resource Conservation & Development for continued development of Arts & Culture in Rural Southwest Iowa. Golden Hills RC&D is a non-profit organization based in Oakland, that serves residents and communities of southwest Iowa.

The funding is designed to build solid capacity for the newly formed Southwest Iowa Art Council, including visioning, member recruitment, board development, event promotion and community outreach. It will also provide technical assistance to expand the 2016 Southwest Iowa Art Tour, and create Porchlight, an online hub for rural arts and culture promotion.

Golden Hills RC&D will work in partnership with the new Southwest Iowa Art Council to develop a written plan and solid structure for the group to operate into the future. A key project of the Southwest Iowa Art Council is the Southwest Iowa Art Tour, to be held September 17 and 18, 2016. The goals for the 2016 Southwest Iowa Art Tour are participation of 12 communities in the region, 50 participating artists and 1,000 documented visitors on the tour.

The initial 2015 event was well received, with 9 communities, 40 artists and over 500 visitors. The University of Iowa will also partner on this project to develop a coordinated marketing and events online hub, Porchlight. Porchlight will serve as an arts and culture hub, museum without walls, and maker-to-market venue for the rural southwest Iowa region. Through the development of coordinated marketing and events via Porchlight, this increased exposure will entice visitor-ship to rural communities from surrounding metro areas.

The Southwest Iowa Arts Council and Golden Hills RC&D are working in partnership to build a creative and supportive climate for area artists in rural southwest Iowa. Funding support from Iowa West Foundation will jump-start a coordinated and collaborative arts and culture environment and enhance community efforts towards increased livability and economic growth for rural Iowa.

About the Iowa West Foundation: The Iowa West Foundation is one of the largest private foundations in the Midwest. It has distributed more than $300 million in grants to non-profits and governmental agencies through southwest Iowa and eastern Nebraska since the inception of its grant program in 1996. Funding for the grants comes from investment earnings and the Iowa West Racing Association, which receives contractual fees from casino operators, Ameristar and Harrah’s.