GIA Blog

(11-10-10) Michael Boehm on Culture Monster:

“Let me tell you about the very rich,” F. Scott Fitzgerald wrote in 1926. “They are different from you and me.”

The facts support him still, judging by a study of rich folks’ charitable habits released Tuesday. One of the things that most differentiates them from the rest of us, it reveals, is that they give to the arts.

(11-8-2010) At the GIA annual conference in Chicago, we rolled out the work we’ve done so far on capitalization. Capitalization is defined as financial, human and physical resources that lead to the fulfillment of an organization’s mission. This has been a yearlong journey that started initially as a discussion between national foundations. It quickly became evident that Grantmakers in the Arts had a responsibility to share the research, literature review and thoughtful conversations about the financial stability of the nonprofit arts sector.

(11-8-10) From Alabama Live:

A $3 million grant from the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation will complete the most significant structure of the Ohr-O’Keefe Museum of Art, the gallery that displays the work of the celebrated Mississippi potter George E. Ohr.

(11-5-10) Kathleen P. Enright, President and CEO of Grantmakers for Effective Organizations released this statement this week:

(11-5-10) The Nonprofit Loan Fund helps nonprofit organizations in our 23-county service area meet short-term funding needs by providing bridge loans. Building upon the success of the Arts Loan Fund, The Community Foundation is expanding loans to stabilize the funding of nonprofit organizations.

(11-3-10) Arts advocates from across Canada met in Ottawa yesterday at "Artists: Powering the Creative Economy?," an event designed to act as a group critique and rethink of economic impact-based arts advocacy. A CBC News post outlines the day's discussion. Worth a read are the multiple reader comments following the main story.

(11-2-10) Derek Gordon and Jack Weiss have been named this year's winners of the Baton Rouge Brotherhood & Sisterhood Award. Gordon is president and CEO of the Arts Council of Greater Baton Rouge as well as a member of the GIA Board of Directors. He and Weiss, chancellor of LSU's Paul M. Hebert Law Center, will be honored at a dinner Nov. 11 at the Hilton Capitol Center.

(11-2-10) In an article for The Chronicle of Philanthropy, Suzanne Perry outlines the potential outcome of today's polls and their likely effect on nonprofit oversight. Senator Charles Grassley, the Senate's "leading nonprofit watchdog," is expected to move to the top Republican post on the Judiciary Committee and Orrin Hatch is expected to assume Senator Grassley's role on the Finance Committee.

(10-30-10) This untitled poem by Robbie Q. Telfer was part of the opening performance at the GIA 2010 conference, performed by the Speak'Easy Ensemble under the direction of Marc Kelly Smith.

(10-29-10) This NEA report combines key results from two investigative efforts—an online, national survey of outdoor arts festivals and seven case studies—to examine the range and variety of arts festivals in the U.S., the artists they employ, the communities they serve, and the roles they play in our cities, towns, and neighborhoods. The survey collected, for the first time, comprehensive data on a large cross-section of U.S.