GIA Blog

Poetry Organizations from Across the US Join Together to Form Historic Coalition
Posted on December 13, 2016 by Monica

From American Academy of Poets:

Twenty nonprofit poetry organizations from across the United States have formed a historic coalition dedicated to working together to promote the value poets bring to our culture and communities, and the important contribution poetry makes in the lives of people of all ages and backgrounds.

With support from Lannan Foundation, the poetry organizations convened last November in Santa Fe, New Mexico, to begin discussing how they might join forces to enhance the visibility of the art form and its impact on people’s everyday lives.

NEA Publishes Online Research Guide for Arts and Health
Posted on December 8, 2016 by Monica

In recognition of a growing movement to integrate the arts with health in community-based programs, the National Endowment for the Arts has published an online guide for researchers and practitioners. The National Endowment for the Arts Guide to Community-Engaged Research in the Arts and Health is a blueprint for collaboration among academic researchers, arts organizations, and artists aiming to study the arts’ effects on health and extend this research to arts programs or therapies.

Rip Rapson on the Arts as Part of Comprehensive Community Development
Posted on December 7, 2016 by Monica

Kresge Foundation President and CEO Rip Rapson delivered the keynote address, "Why Comprehensive Community Development is Essential Now, and Why the Arts Must be at the Table," at the Wilson Center in Washington, D.C. on Dec. 6, 2016. The talk was part of the 50th anniversary celebration of the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA), at a conference on Creative Placemaking and Community Development sponsored by the NEA, The Kresge Foundation, ArtPlace America, Art Works and Partners for Livable Communities. The conference drew artists, community development experts, and policymakers to examine the role of the arts in shaping neighborhoods, towns and cities.

New from the GIA Reader: Can Art Change How We Think about Climate Change?
Posted on December 7, 2016 by Steve

In an article in the latest issue of the GIA Reader, Alexis Frasz, codirector of Helicon Collaborative, interviews Anthony Leiserowitz, PhD, director of the Yale Project on Climate Change Communication at the Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies.

Rainin and Hewlett Foundations Launch $1.7M Grant to Help Keep Artists in Oakland
Posted on December 7, 2016 by Monica

From KQED:

On Tuesday, Oakland officials announced the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation and the Kenneth Rainin Foundation are providing Oakland with a $1.7 million grant to help arts groups stay in Oakland in a viciously competitive real estate market.

The Community Arts Stabilization Trust (CAST), an organization which helps broker real estate deals for cultural organizations, will administer the grants. “The assumption is not that artists or arts organizations are un-businesslike, but simply the making of art is a different core business than real estate development,” CAST executive director Moy Eng says.

Janet Brown to Step Down as Grantmakers in the Arts President & CEO
Posted on December 5, 2016 by Monica

In a letter to members today, Grantmakers in the Arts President & CEO Janet Brown announced that she will step down from her position at the end of 2017. Brown has been CEO of GIA since January 1, 2009.

“GIA is in a great position to move to another level of effectiveness, and I feel new leadership will do that best,” Brown explained. “It has been an honor to lead an organization that has such a passionate board, staff, and membership who believe in the power of artists and the arts to reflect and change us. Although I am leaving GIA, I am not leaving the field and am excited about the opportunities that may present themselves for my involvement.”

The board will conduct a national search for Brown’s replacement led by incoming board chair Angelique Power, president of The Field Foundation of Illinois.

Read the press release.

NEFA Report Evaluates 20 Years of the National Dance Project
Posted on December 1, 2016 by Monica

New England Foundation for the Arts (NEFA), in collaboration with Metris Arts Consulting, released Moving Dance Forward: NEFA’s National Dance Project at 20 & Critical Field Trends. This study evaluates the historic contributions of the NEFA’s National Dance Project to the development of the dance field, and investigates how choreographers today create their work and economically sustain themselves, as well as their motivations for touring.

Read the report.

NEA Publishes Creative Placemaking Book, Holds National Convening
Posted on December 1, 2016 by Monica

The National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) has recently published How to Do Creative Placemaking: An Action-Oriented Guide to Arts in Community Development. The book features 28 essays from thought leaders active in arts-based community development as well as 13 case studies of projects funded through the NEA’s creative placemaking program, Our Town.

Trump selects Betsy DeVos as Education Secretary
Posted on December 1, 2016 by giarts-ts-admin

President-elect Donald Trump has selected Betsy DeVos as his nominee for Secretary of Education. “DeVos, 58, chairs the American Federation for Children, an advocacy group that has aggressively pushed to expand charter schools and school voucher programs that provide families with public money to spend on private school tuition,” according to Politico. Read the article.

New from the GIA Reader: Arts and Environmental Sustainability Thought Leader Forum
Posted on November 30, 2016 by Steve

In an article in the latest issue of the GIA Reader, Alexis Frasz, codirector of Helicon Collaborative provides a summary of GIA’s Arts and Environmental Sustainability Thought Leader Forum, which brought together arts and environmental funders to discuss cross-sector work.