Steve's Blog

Posted on April 7, 2016 by Steve

In an article from the latest issue of GIA Reader, Cara Mertes of the Ford Foundation discusses the role of film and filmmakers in creating social change in Telling it Slant: Leadership, Justice, and the Art of Film.

Posted on April 5, 2016 by Steve

Regina R. Smith has been named managing director of The Kresge Foundation’s Arts & Culture Program following a national search. Smith has been with the The Kresge Foundation since 2008 as a program officer and senior program officer, working to advance the deliberate integration of arts and culture into community development through creative placemaking. She has been interim managing director of the Arts & Culture Program since July 2015.

Posted on March 31, 2016 by Steve

The latest issue of the GIA Reader features our annual Arts Funding Snapshot, with foundation data analysis from Steven Lawrence and Reina Mukai of Foundation Center. This and past snapshots are available in our online library.

Posted on March 28, 2016 by Steve

In Unmasking the Hidden Attraction of the Arts, Bill O’Brien of the National Endowment for the Arts discusses the growing role of artists and the arts in cross-sector work, including in healthcare and science.

Posted on March 16, 2016 by Steve

The Winter 2016 edition of the GIA Reader is now available from our online library. You will find our annual snapshot of arts and culture funding data from Foundation Center, plus a report from The Summit on Creativity and Aging in America, and articles on Building Equity in the Arts, Crowdsourcing Cultural Policy, the field of Teaching Artists, Arlene Goldbard on The U.S. Department of Arts and Culture, and more.

See the full issue here.

Posted on March 14, 2016 by Steve

From John McGuirk, announcing the release of a report, “Moving Arts Leadership Forward: A Changing Landscape” on The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation blog:

At the heart of the findings is a challenged definition of “leadership.” Members of younger generations often see leadership as the fostering of a culture of connectedness, collaboration, and change—they believe leadership is rooted in the efforts of many. This view is in contrast to the more traditional, hierarchical structures and practices of many arts organizations and funders.
Posted on March 7, 2016 by Steve

By Shawn Lent, Katie Ingersoll, Michael Feldman and Talia Gibas, posted to Createquity:

Opinions about the nonprofit arts model — the fundamental legal and business structure in which arts nonprofits in the United States work — are as numerous and varied as 501(c)(3)s themselves… While that system may seem “fossilized” to some, the truth is that most arts nonprofits today are younger than most of our parents. The boom of arts nonprofits has been a relatively recent phenomenon, and it came about thanks in large part to a handful of individuals who intentionally put it into motion.
Posted on March 7, 2016 by Steve

From Doug Borwick, posted to his blog Engaging Matters:

2016 marks the 50th anniversary of the start of The Arts in the Small Community project led by Robert E. Gard, and we invite you to celebrate with us! Robert E. Gard was a visionary in the field of community arts. While many people in the 1940’s and beyond were talking about “access” to the arts for people, typically, that meant that Everyman should be in the audience or the gallery to witness America’s finest artists.
Posted on March 7, 2016 by Steve

From Tricia Tongco, Social Media Editor for Arts & Culture at The Huffington Post:

Since 1985, the Guerrilla Girls have been raising a much-needed ruckus over gender and racial inequality in the art world, under the leadership of seven anonymous, masked women. For over 30 years, they've publicly condemned museums that fail to collect or showcase women artists and artists of color, using facts, humor and "outrageous visuals." After decades of work, they show no signs of stopping.
Posted on March 4, 2016 by Steve

The National Performance Network, including the Visual Artists Network (NPN/VAN), has named Caitlin Strokosch as its new President and CEO. Strokosch will assume responsibilities in July 2016 and will succeed MK Wegmann, who is retiring after 15 years of leading NPN/VAN. She is currently executive director of the Alliance of Artists Communities and serves on the GIA Board of Directors.

Strokosch has served the Alliance of Artists Communities, ­­an international association of artist residency programs since 2002, and was named executive director of the organization in 2008. Her selection comes after an national search that generated a pool of qualified candidates.