The Massachusetts Cultural Council received a budget increase from $11.1 million to $12 million. The bump-up appears to indicate a growing awareness of the importance of arts and culture to the economic health of the state. As originally recommended by the House Ways and Means Committee, the budget would have actually cut arts spending — by 13 percent, from $11.1 million to $9.6 million.
Grantmakers in the Arts
by Tommer
Chamber Music America (CMA), the national network for ensemble music professionals, today announced the appointment of Richard Kessler as the new chair of its board of directors, effective July 1, 2014. Before joining the Board in 2013, Mr. Kessler facilitated CMA’s “National Conversations,” a research project involving musicians and presenters across the country to better understand how their lives had changed since the Great Recession began in 2008.
by Tommer
Poetry is no longer something we curl up to with a cup of tea. Instead, we take it in through earbuds. And America has never loved it more. One hears a certain baleful cry regularly in writerly circles that Americans don’t care about poetry anymore. A widely read Atlantic piece by Dana Gioia in 1992 was a signature statement.
by Steve
The Digital R&D Fund for the Arts, a £7 million fund created to support collaboration between organizations supported by the Arts Council England along with the organizations Nesta and Arts & Humanities Research Council have begun a new publication, Native: Magazine of the Digital R&D Fund for the Arts. Though digital is the word here, there is a limited print edition that you can request (presumably on a per-issue basis). Both describe the projects being funded currently by the publisher as well as features profiling people and organizations, including a piece about Diane Ragsdale.
by Steve
From Keith Schneider, for The New York Times:
The Arts and Design District set the stage for much of Carmel’s development over the last decade. Since 2005, just over $70 million has been invested by the city and private developers in nearly 300 new residences and dozens of new businesses that encompass almost 900,000 square feet of renovations and new construction, according to city records. The district is anchored by the $25 million, 156,000-square-foot Indiana Design Center…
by Tommer
NASAA is pleased to announce the release of the State Arts Agency Fiscal Year 2015 Legislative Appropriations Preview report. This document summarizes how state arts agencies fared during this year's budget deliberations and includes information on the appropriations each state arts agency expects to receive for FY2015.
by SuJ'n
During the months of July and August, GIA’s photo banner features artists and projects supported by Arts & Science Council (ASC) of Charlotte-Mecklenburg, North Carolina.
Culture connects people and strengthens communities. With the public and private sectors investing more than a billion dollars in arts, science, history and heritage since 1977, cultural development has played a significant role in the growth, globalization and long-term economic prosperity of the Charlotte-Mecklenburg community and the work of the Arts & Science Council (ASC).
by Tommer
"Changing the course of conversations has been at the heart of Jennings' work at the foundation and her career with philanthropic organizations.Over that career, she has become widely known in arts and social justice circles for focusing conversations on the power of art in empowering women and disenfranchised populations.