GIA Blog

So it seems that the Big Government blog and Big Hollywood blog have been making big noise in the blogosphere about the NEA, the White House and artists. They have turned a small conversation to encourage “volunteerism in America” into a conspiracy of grants for political support. Of course, anyone who has any real working knowledge about the NEA knows how distorted and false these allegations are.

GIA’s Economic Turmoil and Change blog was originally conceived in early 2009 as a place to round up recession-related news and share information about the ways that funders were responding. That remains this blog’s focus, but as the year goes … Continue reading →

As much as I dislike increasing their web stats by publishing the links, it is worth reading what the far right is saying about the arts (now including arts funders), and the Obama administration this week. – Tommer Michael van … Continue reading →

“White Gold,” the ragged musician turned rock god thanks to the transformational powers of milk — is back in the spotlight. Today, White Gold launches his very own rock opera, Battle for Milkquarious, and the White Gold Milkdonkulous Giveaway — … Continue reading →

Today (10-2-09) an ambitious, first-of-its-kind National Summit on Arts Journalism takes place 9:00 a.m. – 1:00 p.m. (PDT) at the Annenberg School for Communication at the University of Southern California. The summit will be streamed live at www.najp.org/summit and simulcast … Continue reading →

In what seemed a cultural coup, Seattle Art Museum officials opened a glistening glass-and- metal-paneled, $86 million addition in January 2007, just months after completing an acclaimed sculpture park. The arrangement with Washington Mutual Inc. even offered the museum space … Continue reading →

“The U.S. Department of Education is seeking recommendations for reviewers for the $4.35 billion Race to the Top Fund competitive grant program. This program presents an unprecedented opportunity to support far-reaching improvement in schools across the country. Therefore, we hope … Continue reading →

Here’s an interesting conversation between Andrew Taylor, Director of the Bolz Center for Arts Administration in the University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Business, and choreographer Elizabeth Streb. Streb discusses her work reimagining the ways that performers and audiences interact and … Continue reading →

Barry Hessenius asked me and several others to answer some questions about the role of the National Endowment for the Arts. He's running this multi-week huge series in his blog at WSTAF's site. There are interesting ideas and thoughts by many people lots smarter than me. You can read it at Barry's Blog.

John McCann proposes consolidating the major arts service organizations for efficiency and a single voice. The efficiency part seems reasonable. The single “influential” voice part seems a bit at odds with the healthy growing trend of hearing and valuing the … Continue reading →