Grantmakers in the Arts | Supporting a Creative America

CUAC Eviction: Utah City Council Wants Art Space Out?

Posted on August 2, 2012 by Steve

From Kathleen Massara at The Huffington Post:

The Central Utah Art Center (CUAC), one of the only nonprofit arts centers in the state of Utah, is facing eviction and serious funding cuts at an Ephraim city council meeting Wednesday night.

New Web Conference To Discuss K-12 Arts Education Policy

Posted on August 1, 2012 by Steve

A new session has been added to the 2012 Web Conference Series to discuss the new K-12 Arts Education Policy Agenda being worked on by the GIA Arts Education Funders Coalition (AEFC). GIA formed the AEFC in the spring of 2012 for funders concerned with arts education. One of the purposes of the group is to investigate ways to embed the arts into current federal education policy. Working with the Penn Hill Group, an education policy firm in Washington, DC, the coalition's Advisory Committee has created an agenda that encompasses several opportunities for arts education.

Can you make any kind of living as an artist?

Posted on August 1, 2012 by Steve

From Elizabeth Day at The Guardian:

The statistics make for uncomfortable reading. Almost a third of visual and applied artists earn less than £5,000 a year from their creative work, according to a survey conducted last year by Artists' Interaction and Representation (AIR); 57% of the 1,457 respondents said that less than a quarter of their total income was generated by their art practices and only 16% of them paid into a private pension fund, raising questions about how professional artists will support themselves once they reach retirement age.

When the Olympics Gave Out Medals for Art

Posted on July 30, 2012 by Steve

From Joseph Stromberg at Smithsonian.com:

For the first four decades of competition, the Olympics awarded official medals for painting, sculpture, architecture, literature and music, alongside those for the athletic competitions. From 1912 to 1952, juries awarded a total of 151 medals to original works in the fine arts inspired by athletic endeavors. Now, on the eve of the 100th anniversary of the first artistic competition, even Olympics fanatics are unaware that arts, along with athletics, were a part of the modern Games nearly from the start.

President Obama nominates Ranee Ramaswamy to National Council on the Arts

Posted on July 28, 2012 by Steve

From Marianne Combs at Minnesota Public Radio:

This week President Obama announced his intent to nominate Ranee Ramaswamy to the National Council on the Arts. The NCA advises the Chairman of the National Endowment for the Arts (currently Rocco Landesman) on agency policies and programs.

Research by CEP Underscores Challenges of Social Media

Posted on July 26, 2012 by Steve

New research by the Center for Effective Philanthropy (CEP) shows that when it comes to social media, nonprofits aren’t closely following their foundation funders or their funders’ staff. “While foundations and their grantees are both using social media—Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, and blogs—the nonprofits simply are not following their funders,” said Ellie Buteau, vice president of research for CEP and co-author of the report.

After Cuts, States Use The Arts To Boost The Economy

Posted on July 25, 2012 by Steve

From Micheline Maynard at Forbes:

As the recession grew deeper, states across the country took aim at budgets for the arts. In Kansas, Gov. Sam Brownback used his line-item veto power to eliminate funding for the for the Kansas Arts Commission, making his state the first to eliminate arts money altogether. At the time, Brownback called the commission a luxury his state couldn’t afford. Now, Brownback has quietly changed course — but in a different guise.

Reality is Not Perception

Posted on July 24, 2012 by Janet

What do you think the general public thinks these days when they hear the words “the arts?” Does it conjure up images of what they do on a daily basis: listening to music, watching television, singing in church choir, reading a book, attending the theatre? Or do most people think of an elite special interest group for people with money? I’m thinking about language again because it gets us into so much trouble.

Major Research on Construction of Arts Facilities 1994-2008

Posted on July 24, 2012 by Tommer

The University of Chicago Cultural Policy Center has published Set in Stone: Building America's New Generation of Arts Facilities, 1994-2008. This study of cultural building began in 2006 as a response to inquiries from arts consultants who had for some time been working on dozens of building projects across the country and found themselves confronting the same sets of problems with each new client.

Inventive capitalization program reaping benefits for theater festival

Posted on July 24, 2012 by Tommer

The Great River Shakespeare Festival (GRSF) in Winona, Minnesota has created an inventive capitalization instrument that will interest the broader field. The Festival’s “Legacy Bond Investment Program,” launched in September, 2011 is a state-approved investment offer for Festival patrons that provides GRSF with significant working capital.

New Report from Philanthropy Northwest

Posted on July 23, 2012 by Tommer

Philanthropy Northwest has published Journey Into Indian Country, a new report that chronicles five years of work to build and strengthen relationships between organized philanthropy and Native Americans and First Alaskans in the region. With pictures, poetry and stories, the report explores how Philanthropy Northwest members are seeking to better understand Native history and culture, and to expand opportunities for deeper, strategic philanthropic partnerships between Natives and non-Natives.

Making Cities Sing

Posted on July 22, 2012 by Steve

From the Aspen Ideas Festival, held recently in Aspen, Colorado, comes this session panel discussion with NEA Chairman Rocco Landesman, the Knight Foundation's Dennis Scholl, and the Ford Foundation's Darren Walker with facilitator Richard Florida. The 50-minute discussion titled “Making Cities Sing” focuses on urban development and the arts, the creative economy and placemaking. Video of the full discussion is now available.

Swiss Freeports Are Home for a Growing Treasury of Art

Posted on July 21, 2012 by Steve

From David Segal at The New York Times:

How much art is stockpiled in the 435,000 square feet of the Geneva Freeport? That’s a tough one. The canton of Geneva, which owns an 86 percent share of the Freeport, does not know, nor does Geneva Free Ports and Warehouses, the company that pays the canton for the right to serve as the Freeport’s landlord. Swiss customs officials presumably know, but they aren’t talking. Suffice it to say, there is wide belief among art dealers, advisers and insurers that there is enough art tucked away here to create one of the world’s great museums.

Center for preservation of protest art receives federal funding

Posted on July 18, 2012 by Steve

From Chris Barton at the Los Angeles Times:

In a move whose timing feels appropriate as we head into an election season sure to draw many voices to campaign rallies, the Center for the Study of Political Graphics announced that it received its first federal funding to present protest posters in exhibitions and online.

In Tough Economic Times, Does Public Art Make Sense?

Posted on July 18, 2012 by Steve

From Elysabeth Alfano for Huffington Post:

In tough economic times, it is hard to justify large expenditures on art -- or is it? This summer, the city of Chicago has several large scale temporary art sculptures installed in the heart of the city, paid for by non-governmental organizations.

Europe Grapples with Deep Culture Cuts

Posted on July 17, 2012 by Steve

From Robert Everett-Green at The Globe and Mail:

For Canadian artists, Europe often looks like the land of plenty, where governments subsidize cultural activities on a fantastic scale. But these days, European culturati are an embattled lot, especially in the euro states now writhing under the austerity diktats of the IMF and the euro zone’s own bailout agency. While they hack away at pensions, welfare and unemployment benefits, some governments feel they have no choice but to do a hard prune of cultural spending too.

League of American Orchestras Announces Six Appointments to Board of Directors

Posted on July 17, 2012 by Steve

League of American Orchestras Chair Lowell J. Noteboom has announced the appointment of Burton Alter, Angelo Fatta, Jim Hasler, John Hayes, James Mabie, and Robert Peiser to the League’s Board of Directors. The six new board members, who will each serve three-year terms, were elected by the League board during its annual meeting in June.

Paul Allen, Microsoft co-founder, honored for arts philanthropy

Posted on July 16, 2012 by Steve

From David Ng at the Los Angeles Times:

Paul Allen, a co-founder of Microsoft with Bill Gates, is being honored for his cultural philanthropy at this year's annual National Arts Awards. The list of honorees also includes stage actor Brian Stokes Mitchell, artist James Rosenquist, singer Josh Groban and arts patron Lin Arison.

Can the Arts Help Curtail the Killing?

Posted on July 16, 2012 by Steve

From Theater Critic Chris Jones at the Chicago Tribune:

Last week in Chicago, we all seemed to suddenly hit a kind of tipping point when it comes to shootings. It has taken a long time coming, in part because of the concentrated nature of the gang-related violence in certain areas of the city that are easy for some to ignore, and that allow more privileged lives to continue, seemingly unaffected, in the parallel beauty of a sunbaked city with its summer-turquoise lake.

Still, last week, the steady drumbeat finally became a more widespread alarm. You could hear it ringing all over town.

Draft of Chicago Cultural Plan 2012 Released

Posted on July 16, 2012 by Steve

Michelle T. Boone, Commissioner of the Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events has announced a draft version of the Chicago Cultural Plan 2012.

The Plan describes the major needs identified in the process that must address:

A focus on neighborhoods
Accessibility
Capacity growth of the cultural sector
Global cultural positioning
Profound civic impact
Broad commitment to cultural sustainability