arts infrastructure in the U.S.

Anne just reviewed the founding of the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) which occurred in 1965 as part of the Kennedy / Johnson Great Society program. This piece of legislation provided matching grants to state agencies. Prior to this legislation, there were only a small handful of agencies. Overnight, this legislation sparked much more infrastructure to develop over the past 50 years.

Can't find an exact number of agencies today, sorry. There's a Wikipedia article here dealing with Great Society, but not a lot of useful information related to the points that Anne has highlighted. Check back later; the CCA may have links to more information for those who are interested.