Conference Proceedings: Break-out Sessions

Mass migration and population displacement, technological change, and the globalization of commerce are all forces contributing to the changing face of our communities. Such forces require funders to question accepted definitions of minority, multicultural, or international arts. How do funders effectively support increasingly diverse and unfamiliar cultural activity in our communities? How do we address conflicting definitions of quality and authenticity? How do we support artists and artistic traditions that increasingly move with ease across national boundaries?

This interactive session explored the cultural landscape in the US and provided a forum for examining what democracy means in this country today. Radio journalist Tony Kahn presented stories and personal observations drawn from people's daily lives. Bill Ivey joined Kahn for a discussion of how artistic expression, arts enjoyment, and arts discourse had gone beyond the traditional nonprofit definitions that have shaped the work of grantmakers, as well as the obstacles and opportunities presented by this broadened cultural landscape.

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There is growing recognition that arts education is beneficial for children and can play a role in school reform efforts. But what about arts education makes the most difference for children? Should we simply be teaching the various disciplines or should the arts be inte-grated with other academic subjects? What role should community arts organizations play? What level of exposure makes a difference? We heard from researchers who recently completed work that answers some of these questions.

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Foreign perceptions of United States' values and policies have changed markedly in the post-9/11 world. The use of US “soft power” has been ardently debated of late, and the role of art and culture could figure prominently in changing external perceptions.

Over the past two years, Creative Capital has designed a professional development workshop to deliver skill-building opportunities to artists across the country. This program seeks to build the capacity of individual artists, many of whom operate as one-person organizations. The workshop uses an integrated approach to fundraising, marketing, and public relations with an emphasis on individualized strategic planning. Professional consultants and trained Creative Capital grantees co-lead the workshops so that participants benefit from expertise and first-hand experiences.

We are poised at a moment of shifting ground at the edge of a Network Age...an age of distributed culture. We have witnessed a reorganization of the social, political, and economic infrastructure of our world around electronic networks. This session will explore how artists and their communities have been transformed by the Network Age. Leading new media curator Steve Dietz and JC Herz, former New York Times writer and author of the seminal book Joystick Nation, will be joined by virtual panelist Ann Doyle, manager of arts and humanities initiatives for Internet2.

ABUNDANCE is a community arts performance project, gathering stories and exploring ways that people of different classes, races, and ages negotiate economics in their daily lives. The heart of ABUNDANCE is a series of nation-wide interviews with millionaires and minimum-wage workers coupled with a year-long New York-based civic dialogue group including participants ranging from undocumented workers to the very wealthy.

From varying perspectives, panelists will give an overview of the future of technology as it affects all aspects of people's lives (home, work, and play). Their perspectives on the future are tied to trends in the technologies currently being adopted and used by consumers, including wireless devices, tablet pc, media pc, smart phone, auto pc, and ultra mobile.

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   The Leading Edge of Technology (427Kb)

In the current economic and social environment, funders from both public and private sectors are challenged to compellingly articulate the case for arts support and funding. The challenges in these discussions are reflected in the healthy and sometimes difficult tension that funding organizations face in juggling 1) the mission 2) the capacity to fulfill the mission and 3) the authorizing environment that controls and distributes the resources for the arts.

Major metropolitan areas - Atlanta, Cleveland, Denver, and Portland to name a few - are moving aggressively to position arts and culture at the forefront of their strategies in an increasingly competitive environment where cities vie for desirable high-tech industries and workers. Some have found a new welcome to sit at the public-policy and economic-development table, indeed to be a guest of honor. A variety of regional initiatives, some in implementation, others in formative stages, have resulted.