President Barak Obama has nominated Maria López De León, executive director at the National Association of Latino Arts and Culture (NALAC), to become a member of the National Council on the Arts. The fourteen-member National Council advises the chair of the National Endowment for the Arts, who acts as chair of the council, on agency policy and programs.

Trends in Northwest Giving is Philanthropy Northwest's biennial report on organized philanthropy in our six state region (Alaska, Idaho, Montana, Oregon, Washington and Wyoming). The 2012 edition analyzes over $1.08 billion in grants made to Northwest nonprofits in 2010, offering the first in-depth look at the recession's effect on giving to the region.

An update on the state of arts education, a primer on how to engage in public policy and an inspirational speech by GIA's Janet Brown about the rewards of doing so were on tap in Trenton on Thursday, where nearly 200 artists and arts, civic and political leaders came together for "ArtsDay 2012."

With concerns over job creation and business growth holding a prominent—and persistent—position on policy agendas today, governors are increasingly finding innovative ways to support economic growth, according to a new report, New Engines of Growth:  Five Roles for Arts, Culture, and Design  from the National Governors Association (NGA).

In memory of Maurice Sendak, who wrote In the Night Kitchen just in time for child me to adore it, an entry in the exceptional blog Letters of Note on Sendak's publisher's response to the news that public librarians were censoring the book, which features a sometimes nude child protaganist. Some books were burned, others were doctored by hand, with tiny diapers added to the illustrations. Included in the post (here) are publisher Ursula Nordstrom's letter to one of the offending librarians and a formal press release.

Jeff Chang examines music pre- and post-LA riots in the Los Angeles Review of Books in I Gotta Be Able to Counterattack: Rap and the Los Angeles Riots.

The Radio program Studio 360 explores the Obama administration's Turnaround Arts Initiative in an interview with Diane Ravitch.

From Peter Plagens at The Wall Street Journal:

The Cleveland Foundation has partnered with EmcArts through the Engaging the Future program to work with 12 Cleveland cultural institutions that range from Museum of Contemporary Art to Karamu House as they generate innovative approaches for engaging younger and more diverse audiences. To explore their journeys so far, 12 short audio postcards were produced about their starting conditions and current priorities, featuring images from each group with audio narration.