Mongolia has an extremely rich culture, full of skilled and creative people. The country’s talented artists produce work as unique to Mongolia as Mongolia's cultural heritage is to the world. The Arts Council of Mongolia exists to ensure that the art and culture of Mongolia is sustainably developed, promoted and preserved, and we achieve this by carrying out activities in four program areas: Advocacy, Arts Education, Artist Development and Cultural Heritage.

ACM believes that art and culture play a crucial role in both the social and economic development of Mongolia. Our program areas and projects reflect this, and we seek to facilitate social change through art as well as encourage economic growth via the sector. We also want to help share Mongolia’s rich and unique artistic culture and heritage with the world.

The transition to democracy in 1990 brought new problems and new challenges for Mongolian society. Artists and art institutions now lack the funds and infrastructure necessary to carry out their projects and activities. In addition, the drastic reduction in government support for the arts combined with a lack of tax incentives that encourage private donations to the arts creates a major deficit in Mongolia's cultural development and the preservation of the nation's cultural heritage.

ACM was formed in 2002 by business, civic and arts leaders with generous support and initial funding by the Mongolian Foundation for Open Society (Soros Foundation) as a result of this.