Grantmakers in the Arts | Supporting a Creative America

NEA Presents a New System Map to Guide Research Agenda

Posted on September 12, 2012 by Steve

The NEA will host a forum to announce and discuss the topics raised in a new report. How Art Works describes the agency's five-year research agenda, framed and informed by a groundbreaking “system map” and measurement model. Andrew Taylor, assistant professor at American University's Arts Management Program, and author of the blog The Artful Manager, will lead the panel which also will include NEA Chairman Rocco Landesman, NEA Director of Research & Analysis Sunil Iyengar; and Tony Siesfield, lead project consultant and partner, Monitor Institute.

The public forum takes place on Thursday, September 20, from 2:00 pm to 5:30 pm at the Abramson Family Recital Hall in the Katzen Arts Center at American University.

RIP Derek Gordon, CEO of the Arts Council of Greater Baton Rouge and Recent GIA board member.

Posted on September 10, 2012 by Tommer

"We are sad to lose one of the great champions for the arts in our community, " said Kathy Scherer, acting director of the arts council. "Derek's work elevated Baton Rouge's profile on the national stage. His legacy will continue through the signature programs that he created including the River City Jazz Masters series, revitalization efforts of the Old South Baton Rouge community through the arts, and through providing greater access to the arts for the entire community."

Alex Aldrich On Assessment

Posted on September 7, 2012 by Steve

From Alex Aldrich, executive director, Vermont Arts Council:

For the sixth time since arriving in Vermont I am working on the Arts Council’s Partnership Application to the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA). It is, in the truest sense of the word, a labor of love. When else does one have the opportunity to cram what could easily amount to a 150-page discourse on programs and services offered to artists, arts organizations, schools, and communities into a mere 11 pages?

In Memory of Lee Dennison

Posted on September 7, 2012 by Steve

From Vickie Benson, Arts Program Director, The McKnight Foundation:

In the early 1990s, I worked for the legendary Advancement Program at the National Endowment for the Arts. I loved that program. It had its flaws, but it was a trail blazer for all of the other adaptive capacity building programs. I loved working at the NEA then. Lee Wick Dennison, the Assistant Director of Challenge and Advancement, was my supervisor. Lee taught me how to read the notes to the audit before looking at the line items. Although Lee was a Certified Public Accountant, she always looked for the story in the numbers and in the notes. I learned this from Lee. She also imparted her understanding of the many challenges of successfully running an arts organization--she dealt with them all, small and large. Her deep knowledge of organizational development and finance combined with humor and patience has stayed with me for more than twenty years. I became a thoughtful and discerning grantmaker because I had strong mentors. I will never forget Lee Wick Dennison and the wonderful, whimsical way that she walked in the world.

It Is Broke, We Should Probably Fix It: The Nonprofit Model and the Arts

Posted on September 6, 2012 by Steve

From Alexis Clements at Hyperallergic:

It can be a subtle thing — the way in which an organization or collective comprised of ambitious and purposeful people working toward a clear set of goals starts to slip into something a bit murkier; something that seems to be more about self-perpetuation and outsiders’ goals than about that original impetus to come together. Oftentimes growth is the reason for change. Our society applauds and encourages growth at every level — personal, familial, organizational, economic and political — despite the increased time and resources that growth demands. And many people in the US take the corporate structures of most businesses and nonprofits for granted, without questioning the ways that hierarchical models concentrate power among small groups of people and can easily get in the way of achieving goals and benefits for society.

Fiscal Sponsorship By the Numbers

Posted on September 5, 2012 by Steve

From Ian David Moss at Fractured Atlas Blog:

This Friday, new research on fiscal sponsorship in the dance world will be released. Produced by Fractured Atlas for Dance/NYC as an extension of last year’s State of NYC Dance report, “Discovering Fiscally Sponsored NYC Dancemakers” examines quantitative and qualitative data from five fiscal sponsors that collectively represent more than 250 “dancemaker”-led projects in New York City, and makes comparisons where possible to information on nonprofits from the Cultural Data Project.

Warhol Foundation Will Donate or Sell Its Whole Collection

Posted on September 5, 2012 by Steve

From Robin Pogrebin at The New York Times:

Beginning this fall the Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts will disperse its entire collection of Warhols, donating some and selling others through Christie’s auction house as it shifts almost exclusively into a grant-making organization, foundation officials said in interviews. The sales will take several years to complete and are expected to garner about $100 million, increasing the foundation’s endowment, from which it makes grants to nonprofit arts organizations.

National Conference Call: This is What Democracy Looks Like!

Posted on September 5, 2012 by Steve

The Arts & Democracy Project is hosting a conference call on Thursday, September 20 at 1pm EST. Participants are encouraged to share nonpartisan election work or listen in to learn about opportunities to get involved. The Project's intent for this call is to help connect civic participation opportunities with creative organizing by artists and cultural organizations, both before the election and after.

Flashback to 2007: Four Short Plays, Four Big Ideas

Posted on September 5, 2012 by Steve

Grantmakers in the Arts commissioned a play for the Council on Foundations Conference in the spring of 2007 from KJ Sanchez that was called Four Short Plays, Four Big Ideas. The performances of those four plays was release later on DVD. But if you've not seen Four Short Plays, you can now stream the entire performance from our website. Check it out here. And remember that Sanchez, as part of the American Records Theater Company is producing a new short play, Duck Soup: A Play on Equity as part of the Monday Plenary session at the 2012 GIA Conference, next month in Miami Beach. We hope to see you there!

The Chronicle of Philanthropy reports on the presidential candidates

Posted on September 5, 2012 by Noah

The Chronicle of Philanthropy has put together reports on where the presidential candidates stand on issues of importance to nonprofits and foundations, including their positions on arts and culture funding.

September Member Spotlight on the Cleveland Foundation

Posted on September 4, 2012 by Abigail

In September, GIA's website photo banner features organizations supported by the Cleveland Foundation. Established in 1914, the Foundation is the world's first community foundation and one of the largest, with assets of $1.8 billion and 2011 grants of nearly $80 million.

Becoming a Networked Nonprofit

Posted on September 4, 2012 by Steve

From Beth Kanter, writing for Stanford Social Innovation Review:

The environment in which nonprofits are doing their social change work has changed dramatically over the past five years. It’s more complex, online networks are central to our lives and work, and stakeholders want more involvement. Seeing tangible results from your organization’s social change efforts now requires two things to be successful: leading with a network mindset, and using measurement and learning to continuously improve.

Science and Art Go Hand-in-Hand

Posted on September 3, 2012 by Steve

From Steven Ross Pomeroy, assistant editor for Real Clear Science, for Scientific American:

Despite the profound connection between art and science, art programs across the nation are on the chopping block. In June, the U.S. House of Representatives proposed significant funding cuts to the National Endowment for the Arts. Schools nationwide are eschewing art programs to instead focus on teach-to-the-test courses catered to math and reading. The problem here is that a narrow focus on testing reinforces narrow-minded thinking. Young Americans are being educated out of creativity.

Creative Placemaking and the Politics of Belonging and Dis-Belonging

Posted on September 3, 2012 by Steve

A blog post from Roberto Bedoya, Executive Director of the Tucson Pima Arts Council, for Arts in a Changing America:

A favorite song of mine is “Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered…” the Ella version that is warm, radiant, where your feel each word in pure tones. Ella sings about love; a blind love and the escape from that bewitchment. This is the song that plays for me in the background when I think about the practices of “Creative Placemaking”, which as an arts manager and policy maker, I define as those cultural activities that shape the physical and social characteristics of a place. I embrace Creative Placemaking and its aspiration as is manifests in a variety of methods – from city planning to art practices with a goal of advancing humanity. But I am bothered by what I consider a significant blind spot – a blind love of sorts – in the Creative Placemaking discourse and practices.

Mitt Romney And The Arts

Posted on August 30, 2012 by Steve

From Lucas Kavner at Huffington Post:

If the federal budget were an American high school, defense spending would be the football team — untouchable, un-cuttable, popular by default — and cultural spending would be the chess club — the wallflowers at the dance, constantly picked on and pushed aside in the hallways.

The Economist Hosts Online Debate Over Government Funding of Arts

Posted on August 29, 2012 by Steve

The Economist launched an online debate on the question: Should governments fund the arts?. Opening statements were posted on August 22 and the debate concludes on August 30 with some continuing post-debate material after that. Debate Proposer is Alan Davey, Chief executive of the Arts Council England while the opposer is Pete Spence, a research associate at the Adam Smith Institute. The debate is being moderated by Emily Bobrow, a culture editor for The Economist.

Autopsy of an Orchestra

Posted on August 29, 2012 by admin

Download:

Autopsy of an Orchestra (12.7Mb)

Grantmakers in the Arts and Melanie Beene are pleased to provide this republished digital edition of the seminal report, Autopsy of an Orchestra.

Olga Garay-English on Broadway Cultural Corridor

Posted on August 27, 2012 by Steve

From Artplace:

Broadway in Los Angeles is a nine block area listed on the National Register of Historic Places that boasts the largest concentration of historic theaters on one street in the nation, with 12 movie palaces as well as blocks of stunning art-deco buildings. Through the 1930s, the area was LA’s premier entertainment and retail destination. Post World War II to the present day, however, the area has witnessed decline and most theaters remain inactive. While adjacent areas in Downtown LA have seen a renaissance, Broadway continues to struggle with a 15-20% ground floor vacancy rate and more than 1 million square feet of vacant space on the upper floors of these historic commercial buildings.

South Carolina Arts Commission continues survey of tradition bearers

Posted on August 27, 2012 by Steve

The South Carolina Arts Commission’s Folklife and Traditional Arts Program, in collaboration with the University of South Carolina’s McKissick Museum, has launched the third phase of the Survey of South Carolina’s Tradition Bearers. Tradition bearers practice traditional arts handed down from generation to generation in an informal manner and not in a classroom.

2012 Fifty Most Powerful and Influential People in the Nonprofit Arts

Posted on August 27, 2012 by Steve

From Barry Hessenius at Barry's Blog:

This is the fifth annual Barry’s Blog listing of the Most Powerful and Influential Leaders in the Nonprofit Arts. It has become far and away the most popular of my postings (last year it attracted 5,000 page hits in addition to the subscriber base circulation)... This year there are a couple of changes in the format. First, this year’s list includes 50 people. And rather than do a rigid ranking (in past years the list has been a ranking of 1 - 25 — including in the past couple of years — multiple people under some of the numbers