GIA Blog

Posted on October 23, 2012 by Janet

By Janet Brown from her blog Better Together

Grantmakers in the Arts (GIA) met in Miami October 14-17 to share knowledge, debate issues and discover new pathways to supporting artists and arts organizations. As with all convenings, I wanted to be everywhere and hear everything. That’s the frustration of having diverse programming that speaks to a diverse audience. And we are a very diverse group. I wasn’t able to be in every room but here are some personal highlights.

Posted on October 23, 2012 by Steve

Alberto Carvahlo, Superintendent of the Miami-Dade County School District, presented a keynote address last week at the annual GIA conference in Miami on the importance of the arts in schools. Today, his district was named the recipient of the 2012 Broad Prize for Urban Education. The $1 million Broad (rhymes with “road”) Prize is an annual award that honors the four large urban school districts that demonstrate the strongest student achievement and improvement in student achievement while reducing achievement gaps among low-income and minority students.

Posted on October 23, 2012 by Steve

Grantmakers in Aging will host a free webinar, The Boomer Explosion: A Creative Look at Aging and Communities - Conversations with GIA, Monday, November 5 at 2:00 pm EST/11:00 am PST. The webinar is co-sponsored by Grantmakers in the Arts. Participants will take away key information about “boomers” who are redefining the second half of life, as well as opportunities for cultural and aging organizations to meaningfully engage this demographic.

Posted on October 23, 2012 by Steve

Sphinx, the Detroit-based performing arts organization, is launching its inaugural international convening on diversity, SphinxCon, which will take place in Detroit, February 15-17, 2013. The event will bring together leaders from all disciplines of the performing arts to share ideas, challenges, successes and lessons learned in pursuit of increased diversity in all aspects of the sector. SphinxCon aims to illuminate the critical topic of diversity, doing so in an unprecedented manner and scope.

Posted on October 22, 2012 by Tommer

Grantmakers in the Arts and Melanie Beene are pleased to provide this republished digital edition of the seminal report, Autopsy of an Orchestra. Originally published in 1988, before the advent of digital technology, for years this research has been available only in hard copy, and has been largely unseen by a generation of funders and orchestra management professionals. The post-recession economy has left many orchestras and other arts nonprofits struggling to find new models of operation, and the lessons of the past have never been more timely.

Posted on October 22, 2012 by Steve

The Grantmakers In Health (GIH) Board of Directors has selected Faith Mitchell, Ph.D. as the organization's next president and CEO. She will assume the position on December 1, 2012, succeeding Lauren LeRoy, who has led GIH for the past 14 years.

Posted on October 15, 2012 by Steve

From Heather Gillers at the Chicago Tribune:

City officials Monday morning announced two plans aimed at supporting increased arts programming — one for the city as a whole and one for Chicago Public Schools. The citywide plan — a draft of which was hailed as "an amazing document" by National Endowment for the Arts Chairman Rocco Landesman in July — calls for more flexibility in city regulations governing the arts and aims to use Chicago's arts attractions to draw international tourists.
Posted on October 9, 2012 by Steve

From Matthew Lasar for Ars Technica:

He appeared before the Personal Democracy conference in New York City on June 12 of this year. Such was the tension in the audience as Cary Sherman approached the stage that the moderator offered some cautionary words.
“The world changed this winter with the fight over SOPA and PIPA, and everybody is evaluating what that means,” his introduction to the guest began. “To some degree it is a cliche; it is a little bit like Daniel entering the lion's den... I also think we owe him the same civility that we would respond to any controversial speaker no matter how controversial their views, so I'm expecting you all to treat him with respect.”

With that, the CEO of the Recording Industry Association of America took the podium and, to no one's surprise, inveighed against copyright infringement and piracy. No sparks flew. The audience treated Sherman in a cordial and friendly manner. They even laughed at his jokes, which is probably why his presentation didn't get much immediate news play.

One factoid from the speech, however, has taken on a life of its own. Sherman offered it alongside a chart about 14 minutes into the speech.

Posted on October 8, 2012 by Abigail

On Barry's Blog Sunday, a post by Barry Hessenius on the upcoming Grantmakers in the Arts 2012 Conference in Miami, including an overview of session topics, his experience of the last two GIA conferences, and comments on GIA's new capitalization, arts education, and equity initiatives. Also included is an interview with GIA Chair and Senior Program Officer at The Kresge Foundation Regina Smith, who discusses GIA's evolving programs and Kresge's Creative Placemaking initiatives.

Posted on October 3, 2012 by Steve

Rocco Landesman, chairman of the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA), will present the 2012 National Accessibility Leadership Award to the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts (PCA) on October 5, 2012 at the National Assembly of State Arts Agencies (NASAA) annual conference in Washington, DC. Sponsored by the NEA and NASAA, the National Accessibility Leadership Award recognizes exceptional initiatives or programs that make the arts accessible and inclusive for older adults and individuals with disabilities. The award comes with a $25,000 grant.