Grantmakers in the Arts

(6-24-10) This morning on KUOW's Weekday:

When schools face budget crunches, arts programs often find themselves on the chopping block. But as the sluggish economy continues to tighten school purse strings, many scientists and educators are emphasizing the tangible benefits of bringing creativity to the classroom. New brain research shows that teaching art can make it easier for students to learn other subjects, like math and science. Some arts advocates say we shouldn't need such ulterior motives — they say art is an end in and of itself. We'll hear both points of view, and we'll find out why Microsoft is interested in bringing creativity into the classroom (here's a hint: it has something to do with the workforce of tomorrow.)

(6-23-10) In a blog post on The Los Angeles Times website, Howard Blume reports that Los Angeles Unified School District officials are expected to restore $5 million to elementary arts programs that were cut in half as part of efforts to balance next year’s budget. With the increase, the budget is still one-third less than the current funding level, however.

(6-23-10) From a June 15 Pew Charitable Trusts press release:

The Pew Charitable Trusts today announced $3,846,000 in unrestricted general operating support to eight Philadelphia-area arts and culture organizations. Pew provides the grants under its Philadelphia Cultural Leadership Program (PCLP), which annually rewards organizations in the five-county region that demonstrate excellence in operations, fiscal management and programming....

(6-21-10) Arena Stage in Washington DC, is hiring playwrights as employees, with salaries and health benefits -- and even access to office supplies. The venture is part of a major change at Arena, which is preparing to open a $125 million three-theater campus in the fall and to try to rebrand itself as a national center for American theater.

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(6-18-10) Should BP's arts and other philanthropic programs be reconsidered in light of its post-Deepwater Horizon drop in market value (45 percent) and the $20 billion fund the company is establishing to pay damages to spill victims? For now, the answer is no.

(6-18-10) Warren Buffett and Bill Gates called Wednesday on their billionaire peers to give away half of their wealth.

The pronouncement by Messrs. Buffett and Gates stems from a series of dinners the two men held over the past year to discuss the effects of the recession on philanthropy with some of the nation's richest people, including New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, investor Ronald O. Perelman and David Rockefeller, his family's patriarch.

(6-17-10) What questions should performing arts leaders be asking themselves right now? Economic shifts, global and individual reach in technologies, the pursuit of strong and delineated national identities and the appetite for a voice from younger people are all changing how the performing arts are viewed, created and consumed. Fifty performing arts leaders from around the world gathered in February 2010 for a Salzburg Global Seminar focused on opportunities for reinventing the performing arts at a time when many factors are contributing towards a large-scale disruption of the arts.

(6-17-10) James N. Wood, the J. Paul Getty Trust President and Chief Executive, was found dead of natural causes in his Los Angeles home last Friday. Wood, who is credited with increasing the trust's stability and credibility in the art world after taking the helm in early 2007, was an art historian with nearly 30-years experience in curatorial and executive positions at prominent art institutions, including the Metropolitan Museum, the St. Louis Art Museum, and, from 1980-2004, the Art Institute of Chicago.