awards for arts achievement

Mayor Mitch Landrieu has had arts and culture at the center of his platforms for office for the past 24 years. As Lt. Governor of Louisiana he created the Cultural Economy Initiative for which he received the 2006 Lt. Governor Public Leadership in the Arts Award.

In 2012, Mayor Landrieu hosted the World Cultural Economic Forum as an initiative of the City of New Orleans in partnership with the U.S. Conference of Mayors. The Forum welcomed nearly 50 delegations representing cities and countries from around the U.S. and the world.

Mayor Landrieu charged his office with creating the first Cultural Economy Report for the City of New Orleans. This groundbreaking report quantified the role/impact of culture on the city's economy and workforce. Cultural enterprises are the second largest direct employers in the city with over 12% of the city's workforce with wages of over $1 billion.

When elected Mayor of New Orleans in February 2010, he created the city's first Office of Cultural Economy and housed it within the Mayor's Office and he increased funding for the city's Community Arts Grants for the first time in more than 8 years. Mayor Landrieu coordinated efforts that made arts and culture part of his place-based planning, including provisions for cultural development in successful grants to HUD (Choice Neighborhoods) and the Department of Transportation (TIGER II). 

New Orleans Mayor Mitch Landrieu receives the 2013 Americans for the Arts and The United States Conference of Mayors National Award for Local Arts Leadership for cities with a population of 100,000 or more.