The Governor’s Council for the Arts was founded in Wisconsin in 1963 in response to a decline in the national government’s funding for arts through the National Endowment for the Arts and Humanities (NEAH). In 1973, the Governor’s Council for the Arts was reorganized to form the Wisconsin Arts Board. The fifteen-member board was responsible for assisting state artistic and cultural activities, assisting communities in the development of their own arts programs, and planning and implementing funding programs for groups and individuals engaged in the arts (“Arts Board,” State of Wisconsin Blue Book 2003-2004, pp. 499-500).

In 1975, the Wisconsin Arts Board encouraged arts groups in the Coulee region of western Wisconsin to organize a regional arts alliance. That autumn, the Western Wisconsin Regional Arts Board, Ltd. (WWRA) was formed. The alliance included the seven counties of Buffalo, Crawford, Jackson, La Crosse, Monroe, Trempealeau, and Vernon (Richland County was added later). The headquarters for the alliance was the city of La Crosse. The WWRA was established to coordinate and promote regional arts projects, evaluate and assist in the formation of proposals for grant applications, and serve as a general advisory board on Arts, Civic, and Environmental projects.

The United Fund for the Arts (UFA) was formed at the WWRA’s March 1983 annual meeting as a sub-committee devoted to providing fundraising leadership and services to member organizations supporting the arts in the La Crosse Community. Prior to the committee’s formation, organizations solicited businesses individually for funds to support operations. Organizations wishing to participate in the UFA program were asked to submit an application that included information regarding their programs, organizational structure, by-laws, directors and terms of office, membership, and sources of revenue.

The UFA’s annual fund drives were generally launched in May of each year and concluded by late summer. By mid September of each year, the UFA Allocations Committee began the distribution of monies to the member organizations.

By 1985, the UFA had expanded its range of activities beyond its annual pledge solicitation, calling for its eventual separation from the WWRA in May 1985. Soon thereafter, the Board of the United Fund for the Arts voted unanimously at the November 8th, 1985 meeting to change the name to the United Fund for the Arts and Humanities (UFAH), in order to better reflect the composition of its membership. As its mission, the United Fund for the Arts and Humanities “enhances the cultural life of this area by encouraging and providing opportunities for businesses to invest in the programs of local arts and humanities organizations in an efficient and effective way.”

Within thirteen years after its inception in 1983, the United Fund for the Arts grew from its original six members (Great Rivers Festival of Arts, La Crosse Community Theatre, La Crosse County Historical Society, La Crosse Symphony Orchestra, La Crosse Youth Symphony, Western Wisconsin Regional Arts, Ltd./Pump House) to ten organizations (Mississippi Valley Archaeology Center-1985, La Crosse Boy Choir-1988, Coulee Chordsmen-1993, and La Crosse Chamber Chorale-1996). In the twenty-five year period from 1983 to 2008, a total of $3,113,619 was raised with 93% of the amount allocated to the UFAH member organizations in support of arts programs.