Cultural Policy

Under Marian Godfrey's direction, GIA held a pre-conference immediately before its 2005 conference called "New Directions in Cultural Policy Research." As part of that meeting, four well-respected individuals were asked to assess the impact and importance of research in the arts. They were asked to specify the big ideas currently in play and to speculate about the future of those ideas. Predictably perhaps, the four argued for the importance of research to the cultural sector. More surprisingly, they agreed that the platform for cultural research needs serious re-planking.

May 2005, The Urban Institute, 2100 M Street, N.W. Washington, DC 20037, (202) 833-7200, www.urban.org

"The idea that expressive activities contribute to building and preserving communities has become an increasingly important part of economic development and community revitalization discourse in cities, towns and nations around the world."
Carole Rosenstein, Ph.D.

Immigrant and refugee communities historically have played key roles in the Bay Area's growth and rich diversity. As California enters the twenty-first century, demographic figures reflect significant increases in immigrant pop-ulations. Amongst these communities are myriad performance ensembles, in-dividual artists, teachers, and participatory arts events that strengthen comm-unity ties, reinforce a vibrant cultural heritage, and enrich the lives of Bay Area residents.

2005, 256 pages, ISBN 0-252-07208-1. University of Illinois Press, 1325 Oak Street, Champaign, IL, 68120-6903, 217-244-4689, www.press.uillinois.edu

In the author's own words, "This book is a report card on American Culture. Not the culture of Wal-Mart and the cineplex, but culture as it is lived closer to the ground, local culture, neighborhood culture... It is about dancing, not about watching somebody else dance on television. There is a big difference."

2005, 17 pages. University of Chicago Cultural Policy Center, 1155 E. 60th Street, Chicago, IL, 60637, 773-702-0926, culturalpolicy.uchicago.edu (Also published in New Left Review, No.17, September-October 2002)

Download pdf: http://culturalpolicy.uchicago.edu/pdfs/sassoon_paper.pdf

July 2004, 68 pages. Center for Arts and Culture, 4350 N. Fairfax Drive, Arlington, VA, 22203, 703-248-0430, center@culturalpolicy.org

Download pdf: www.culturalpolicy.org/pdf/Grassroots.pdf

2003, 67 pages. Arts Policy and Administration Program, Ohio State University, 128 N. Oval Mall, Columbus, OH, 43210, 614-292-5356

Download pdf: www.culturalpolicy.org/pdf/MJWpaper.pdf

2004. National Arts Strategies, 1156 15th Street NW, Suite 805, Washington, DC, 20005, 202-223-5454, www.artstrategies.org

Download pdf: Key Findings: http://www.artstrategies.org/downloads/ManagingTheCreativeSummary.pdf

2004, 16 pages. National Performance Network, 225 Baronne Street, Suite 1712, New Orleans, LA, 70112, 504-595-8008

Download pdf: http://www.npnweb.org/wp-content/content/files/CulturalPolicy.pdf

As Tia Oros Peters so eloquently states in her essay that follows, there is no particular word for art in the thousands of Indigenous languages of the world. While there are hundreds of Native American languages, the same holds true; Native Americans do not and cannot separate the importance of art and culture from everyday life. It is one goal of GIA's Indigenous People's Network to bring this important way of life to the fore of grantmakers' thinking.