Private Foundation

I am pleased to report on a new initiative to be launched in November 2003. I first got wind of this proposal at an event in Canada House in London where the organizers were sounding out representatives of the arts-on-television community as to their interest and enthusiasm for an annual gathering to be held in different places around the world. This is an initiative of the Banff Television Foundation based in Alberta, Canada and enjoys the support of IMZ (The International Music Zentrum, in Vienna), U.S. Independents (a Washington, D.C.

The Fund for Folk Culture, based in Santa Fe, New Mexico, has initiated a series of gatherings, supported by a grant from the NEA, to examine topics relevant to folk arts and traditional culture. The first of those meetings was held in its home town at the Wheelwright Museum on March 13 and 14 to discuss the needs and concerns of individual artists in the folk and traditional arts field.

2003, 8 pages, single issue $20, subscription $50. National Center for Family Philanthropy, 1818 N Street N.W. Suite 300, Washington, DC 20036, 202-293-3424

The latest article in the National Center for Family Philanthropy's Passages series is a glass half-empty/glass half-full look at how family foundations are coping with the current economic downturn.

2002, 60 pages. American Assembly, 475 Riverside Drive, Suite 456, New York, NY 10115, 212-870-3500, amassembly@columbia.edu

Art, Technology, & Intellectual Property provides an excellent summary of intellectual property questions faced by the arts community, both nonprofit and for-profit.

Spring 2002, 43 pages. Surdna Foundation, 330 Madison Avenue, 30th floor, New York, NY 10017-5001, 212-557-0010, powerfulvoices@surdna.org

In early 2001, Emc.Arts completed its two-volume review of five years of the Surdna Foundation's arts program grants with the catchy title, "Evaluation of the Surdna Foundation Arts Program: Investigation and Diagnostic Findings." This spring, Surdna did us all a service by providing a useful distillation of its findings in an economical, easy-to-read report, Powerful Voices

June 2002, 368 pages (executive summary, May 2002, 21 pages). The Chicago Center for Arts Policy at Columbia College, 600 South Michigan Avenue, Chicago, IL, 60605, 312-344-7985. The executive summary and full report can be downloaded here.

2002, double-sided poster/brochure. The McKnight Foundation, 600 TCF Tower, 121 South 8th Street, Minneapolis, MN 55402, (612) 333-4220.

July 2002, 48 pages. The Canadian Conference of the Arts, in collaboration with the Cultural Human Resources Council. CCA, 804-130 Albert St., Ottawa, Ontario K1P 5G4 Canada, 613-238-3561.

2002, 108 pages. The McKnight Foundation, 600 TCF Tower, 121 South Eighth Street, Minneapolis, MN 55402, 612-333-4220.

True or false?
• The suburbs have never been as homogenized as their reputation suggested
• Stereotypes about vapidity and uniformity in suburban communities have been left unchallenged
• Suburban arts resources need to expand to meet the needs of growing communities
• The need to enhance the livability of suburban communities hasn't been acknowledged as openly as it deserves

Do funders and journalists of art have anything in common? Surprisingly, quite a lot. Both have the power to dispense coveted resources; are presumed to possess expertise equal to the task; operate within opaque systems that can be a source of confusion to their intended beneficiaries; receive little in the way of honest, constructive feedback; and have difficulty measuring and describing their success.