Cross-disciplinary arts

Imagine throwing an arts event and the entire community shows up. This is oftentimes what takes place in the towns delightfully portrayed in Bright Stars, a publication from the McKnight Foundation in Minneapolis, Minnesota. In Neal Cuthbert's foreword to this award-winning piece, it is underscored that rural communities in Minnesota are suffering in several ways due to listless econo-mies and dramatically shifting demographics.

Background
The cultural sector does not exist in a vacuum. It is being challenged by major demographic, economic, technological, and social factors outside its immediate control. While the commercial arts and individual artists are also struggling to adapt to these changes, for a variety of reasons the nonprofit arts sector has been particularly slow to respond effectively.

2006, 12 pages. Alliance of Artists Communities, 255 South Main Street, Providence, RI 02905, 401-351-4320, aac@artistscommunities.org

"I believe that if we can keep our values close, our imaginations open, and our stories fierce, we can and will win." - Thenmozhi Soundararajan

Introduction

2005, 158 pages. Arts Education Partnership , One Massachusetts Avenue, Suite 700, Washington, DC 20001-1431, 202-336-7016, aep@ccsso.org

The Arts Education Partnership's new book, Third Space: when learning matters, should be required reading for anyone involved in what promises to be a lively and contentious debate around the 2007 reauthorization of the federal No Child Left Behind Act.

2006, 114 pages. Published by the University of Minnesota, Humphrey Institute of Public Affairs, Project on Regional and Industrial Economics (PRIE). Funded by the McKnight Foundation and the Fesler-Lampert Chair in Urban and Regional Affairs, University of Minnesota.

2005, 65 pages. Institute for Innovation in Social Policy, Vassar College, Box 529, Poughkeepsie, NY 12604, 845-452-7332. For copies contact opdycke@earthlink.net

The second in a series based on a national survey (the first was 2002), this report looks at participation in artistic and cultural experiences in the US in quantifiable terms as well as in ways such experiences affect the well-being of participants. One key finding is that 78 percent of respondents "believe that attending art events helped them to see things from other people's perspectives."

2005, 78 pages. McKnight Foundation, 710 Second Street South, Suite 400, Minneapolis, MN 55401, 612-333-4220

Beginning with an honest appraisal of the way changing economic factors have reshaped Minnesota's rural communities, this elegant publication highlights artistic projects and the individuals who have helped maintain or restore cultural vitality to different towns throughout the state.

122 pages. Western States Arts Federation (WESTAF), 1743 Wazee Street, Suite 300, Denver, CO 80202, 888-562-7232 or 303-629-1166, staff@westaf.org

Download pdf: http://artspolicy.colum.edu/DVProfiles.html

This unusual literary series of profiles about artists and art leaders explores how their work exists at the "interstices of the arts and democratic life." Featured in the series so far are T. Allan Comp, Umberto Crenca, Liz Lerman Dance Exchange, Franco Dragone, and Jay Allison. Coming soon is "Nonconforming Uses: Architect Teddy Cruz on the Border of Tomorrow" by Rebecca Solnit.