ArtServe's History

In 1988, the Broward County Division of Cultural Division completed its Cultural Master Plan. One recommendation was to improve business involvement in the arts by starting a Broward County Affiliate of the very successful national program, Business Volunteers for the Arts® (BVA). With leadership from the Cultural Arts Task Force of the Greater Fort Lauderdale Chamber of Commerce and the Broward Cultural Affairs Council (BCAC) this recommendation was realized in July 1988, when BVA/Broward was incorporated as a non-profit organization in Florida. With the receipt of 501(C)(3) status from the IRS BVA/Broward, Inc. began operations in January of 1989.

By 1991, a Volunteer Lawyers for the Arts (VLA) program was established, followed by the ArtServe Business Center (ABC), which was made possible by a three-year, $150,00 National Endowment for the Arts grant award. The three programs, BVA, VLA and ABC, were merged in 1993 under the umbrella of ArtServe.

ArtServe has been housed in the Fort Lauderdale branch library for 10 years, where it provides low-cost, shared office space to other nonprofit organizations, each with at least one cultural component. The Fort Lauderdale branch library location houses a multi-purpose auditorium, the JM Family Enterprises Gallery, a dance rehearsal space, the Bienes Business Center, conference rooms, an artists work space and a computer lab complete with a flat-bed poster printer. The facilities are provided at low rates to artists and nonprofit organizations.

In addition, ArtServe opened a second location, the ArtServe Gallery and Gift Shop (AG&GS), in the Broward County Main Library in downtown Fort Lauderdale in 2002.  The AG&GS is a year-round venue for local artists to exhibit and sell their wares.  All media are included, such as hand-painted note cards and furniture, photography, books by local authors, fine art, musical CD's, ceramics and sculpture.

ArtServe's scope of services has expanded and numerous programs have been added to meet the demands of the South Florida arts community. Through private and public funding, ArtServe has developed a series of programs aimed at strengthening and assisting local artists and nonprofit cultural groups in their business-related and marketing efforts. ArtServe has become a national model for other arts supporting organizations.