The AEFC Forum, Every Child, Every School was held in Minneapolis in early May. Attendees were treated to great presentations and reports, including the release of Foundation Funding for Arts Education: An Update on Foundation Trends, a new report from GIA and Foundation Center that looks at data from 1999-2012. Links to the reports, as well as materials from the presentations, are available on the forum page.
Grantmakers in the Arts
by Steve
From Sara Guaglione at iSchoolGuide:
A new NAMM Foundation study reveals a majority of teachers and parents believes music and arts education is important for children, and most even believe that music education should be required in middle school. A nationwide study, titled "Striking a Chord: The Public's Hopes and Beliefs for K-12 Music Education in the United States 2015," surveying 1,000 teachers and 800 parents found strong support for music education at all grade levels.
by Steve in Arts Education
Grantmakers in the Arts and Foundation Center are pleased to announce the release of a new report that provides an update to the state of arts education funding by private foundations. Foundation Funding for Arts Education: An Update on Foundation Trends puts together data from 1999 to 2012. The report was authored by Steven Lawrence and Reina Mukai of Foundation Center.
by Steve
From Mike Boehm, reporting for the Los Angeles Times:
California has long ranked at or near the bottom nationally in per capita taxpayer funding of its state arts agency. The $5-million increase from the $1.1 million in Brown’s initial arts budget would push the state’s arts spending to about 24 cents for each state resident. The national per capita average is $1.09, according to the National Assembly of State Arts Agencies. To reach it California would have to increase the arts council budget to $42.3 million.
by Steve
The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation has announced that Jessica Mele will join the Foundation as a program officer for Performing Arts. Mele will begin work at the Foundation in early August were she will work to provide philanthropic support to arts organizations throughout the greater Bay Area. As a program officer, she will manage approximately 80 grants, including many focused on arts education delivery, advocacy, and policy.
by Steve
The Spring 2015 edition of Responsive Philanthropy is just out from the National Committee for Responsive Philanthropy (NCRP), and it delivers a great set of article covering Racial Equity issues and bias in philanthropy and grantmaking. From Aaron Dorfman’s introduction:
Like most white people in the United States, I grew up completely oblivious to the many privileges I enjoy because of the color of my skin. It wasn’t until I took courses in college like “Race, Power and Inequality in America” from Paul Wellstone or “Race, Reform and Rebellion” from Manning Marable that I began to develop an understanding of how our nation, its institutions and the experiences of its people are overwhelmingly shaped by race and racism. Serving as a community organizer for 15 years, primarily working with communities of color, deepened that understanding.
by Steve
Featured in the current Reader, Lynne Connor, Ph.D., from the Department of Theater and Dance at Colby College, explores the recent evolution, and possible future, of audience engagement in her essay, Replacing Arts Appreciation with Arts Talk.
by Steve
The Greater Philadelphia Cultural Alliance has just released an in-depth study of patron loyalty in the arts. The new report, 2014 Patron Loyalty Study: Loyalty By the Numbers examined the financial transactions (including ticket sales, memberships and donations) of almost a million Greater Philadelphia households, using seven years of data from 17 major cultural attractions in the region. One of the key findings of the report is that, despite the sector’s focus on developing new audiences, the erosion of current audience loyalty represents one of the most significant financial risks for cultural groups.