Corporate Philanthropy

To California's great Central Valley they have come from the highlands of Oaxaca, the cities of eastern Pakistan, the relocation camps of Thailand—political refugees and new immigrants from around the world aspiring to build a future for their children, grands, and greats.

For three days in October these new U.S. Americans gathered in Fresno's Tower District for their second Tamejavi Festival. Everyone was welcome; the historic Tower Theatre's marquis proclaimed, “Tamejavi: It's Still Free.”

Early in 2004, the Graduate Center of the City of New York convened ten small to mid-sized arts organizations to talk about what had happened to them in an experimental, internet-based project funded by the Ford Foundation. The ten, from across the country, are community-based cultural organizations; they share a commitment to emerging and experimental artists and art forms, and a commitment—equally firm—to their local or nearby communities. Despite their similarities of mission, the ten were not familiar with each other's work.

On December 2 and 3, 2004 the University of Chicago's Cultural Policy Center held a conference on “The Future of Public Television” at the Museum of Contemporary Art in downtown Chicago. The Center convened a star-studded series of presenters and key speakers to illuminate the current condition of public television and to make some predictions about its future. The speakers and panelists included Kathleen Cox, president and CEO, Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB); Pat Mitchell, president and CEO, Public Broadcasting System (PBS); Kenneth P.

January 7, 2005. Hosted by the Ford Foundation and organized by Grantmakers in Film and Electronic Media's (www.gfem.org) Working Group on Electronic Media Policy. Co-sponsored with Grantmakers in the Arts, the Funders Network on Trade and Globalization (www.fntg.org), and the New York Regional Association of Grantmakers (www.nyrag.org).

The lines between arts and environmental grantmaking often are sharply drawn. However, in the life of thriving communities, the two are integrally linked. As part of a roundtable discussion at last October's GIA conference, it was heartening to share vivid examples of how GIA members are exploring the intersections of environment and art.

December 2003, 11 pages. Published by Americans for the Arts, 1000 Vermont Avenue NW, 6th floor, Washington, DC, 20005, 202-371-2830, info@artsusa.org, www.AmericansForTheArts.org

This monograph describes variations on the united arts fund model of providing arts support and provides a number of statistics from 2002 on arts fund fundraising and grantmaking.

June 2004, 16 pages. Published by Performing Arts Research Coalition, 1156 15th Street, Suite 810, Washington, DC, 20005, 202-293-4466 x214, parc@operaamerica.org, www.operaamerica.org/parc

Download pdf: http://www.operaamerica.org/parc/PARCSummaryRpt.pdf

May 2004, 53 pages. Published by Battelle Memorial Institute

Download pdf: http://www.flinn.org/docs/Vibrant_Culture-Thriving_Economy_full_213.pdf

The product of a multi-disciplinary task force in the greater Phoenix metropolitan area, this report makes the case, from an economic development point of view, for a central role for arts and culture in the region's future planning initiatives.

http://www.culturalpolicy.org/index.cfm

The Center provides a variety of publications on cultural policy, their own as well as others, news links and online discussion forums in the "cultural commons."

http://www.culturalpolicy.arts.gla.ac.uk/

The Center's own research and publications focus on the UK, but the searchable database of cultural policy resources and links is international in scope.