CULTURAL AGREEMENT  (CON'T)

arts agencies, private organizations, artists and arts administrators to help carry out its responsibilities.

"I am proud to be from a state that recognizes the interconnectedness of business and culture," said Wayne P. Lawson, executive director of the Ohio Arts Council. "Governor Voinovich has done a great deal to build trade and cultural exchanges between Ohio and Mexico. This agreement strengthens those efforts and endorses Ohio's corporate and cultural organizations as international leaders."

When the agreement was signed with the Instituto Nacional de Bellas Artes in 1994, Mexico and Ohio began administrative, exhibition and educational exchanges. Visions of America: Urban Realism 1900-1945, which premiered at the Columbus Museum of Art, Mexico Now: Point of Departure, an exhibition of contemporary Mexican art that is touring seven states, and two arts symposiums attended by Ohio and Mexican arts administrators were organized by the Ohio Arts Council and INBA. Coming events include a major exhibition of the work of Diego Rivera, organized by the Cleveland Museum of Art and INBA in partnership with the Ohio Arts Council. The Ohio Arts Council also is completing negotiations for a partnership with the U.S.-Mexico Fund for Culture to establish a residency program for artists, administrators and educators.

The Ohio Arts Council's International Program fosters long-term involvement in international cultural exchanges. The program encourages Ohio artists and arts organizations to form partnerships with arts professionals abroad. The International Program provides grants to help nonprofit educational, cultural and arts organizations, as well as individual artists, performers, educators, arts managers and administrators, develop exemplary international arts projects and innovative partnerships that increase Ohioans' access to international arts activities.

Diego Toledo, Epidermis, 1994-95, from Mexico Now: Point of Departure