Grantmakers in the Arts began work on capitalization in 2010. Ever since then we’ve debated not using the word “capitalization,” but it has prevailed. In our work, the term is synonymous with financial health and the resources needed to meet an organization’s mission. In 2010, GIA published recommendations for grantmakers regarding actions they could take that would improve the undercapitalized nature of the nonprofit arts sector.
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The GIA Library is an information hub that includes articles, research reports, and other materials covering a wide variety of topics relevant to the arts and arts funding. These resources are made available free to members and non-members of GIA. Users can search by keyword or browse by category for materials to use in research and self-directed learning. Current arts philanthropy news items are available separately in our news feed - News from the Field.
About four years ago I attended an extraordinary meeting in Philadelphia. Susan Nelson, principal of Technical Development Corporation (TDC), was presenting the draft of Getting Beyond Breakeven to the Greater Philadelphia Cultural Alliance and many other stakeholders associated with the work.
Creative placemaking is electrifying communities large and small around the country. Mayors, public agencies, and arts organizations are finding each other and committing to new initiatives. That’s a wonderful thing, whether or not their proposals are funded by national initiatives such as the National Endowment for the Arts’ Our Town program or ArtPlace.
Rocco Landesman’s Can of Worms
This essay is the keynote address delivered at the GIA 2010 Conference, October 19, 2011.
I believe that this cause and its implementation has a worldwide application; for as our cultural life is enhanced and strengthened, so does it project itself into the world beyond our shores. Let us apply renewed energies to the very concept we seek to advance: a true renaissance — the reawakening, the quickening, and above all, the unstunted growth of our cultural vitality.
The presentation of the National Capitalization Project (NCP) engendered a robust discussion at the October 2010 GIA conference in Chicago. GIA heard a range of responses from attendees. While some were very positive — agreeing that capitalization principles are a critical consideration in grantmaking — others felt differently. They wondered whether a discussion of capitalization was only relevant to large foundations or to large arts institutions.
Order is not sufficient. What is required, is something much more complex. It is order entering upon novelty; so that the massiveness of order does not degenerate into mere repetition.
— Alfred North Whitehead, Process and Reality
— Alfred North Whitehead, Process and Reality
There is nothing more difficult to take in hand, more perilous to conduct, than to take a lead in the introduction of a new order of things, because the innovation has for enemies all those who have done well under the old conditions and lukewarm defenders in those who may do well under the new.
As the Twentieth Century approaches a finale, the arts in America exist in a vast array of styles, disciplines and organizational structures. The purpose here is to examine one major organizational component of the American arts scene, the nonprofit sector, as an organic system that has progressed through three distinct stages over the past century.
Following are excerpts from an interview with John Kreidler (San Francisco Foundation) conducted by Kathleen Cerveny (Cleveland Foundation and CIA board). The paper that Kreidler discusses in the interview provides a background for his "Flight Simulator," a computer program designed to demonstrate the arts ecosystem. The "Simulator" will be available for hands-on experimentation at the upcoming GIA conference.