GIA News's blog

(9-2-10) Rocco Landesman, Chairman of the National Endowment for the Arts, today announced the 2010 NEA New Play Development Program’s Distinguished New Play grants. Five theaters will each receive a grant of $20,000 to support the early stages of development for a new play with strong potential to merit a full production:

• About Face Theatre (Chicago, IL)
  for Tanya Saracho’s The Albert Cashier Project
  
• Children’s Theatre Company (Minneapolis, MN)
  for Larissa FastHorse’s Fancy Dancer
  

(9-1-10) In an opinion piece for USA Today, Abigail Disney, great-niece of Walt, argues for the preservation of the estate tax, citing both financial and social benefits, including this statement on the charitable impulse:

...the estate tax incentivizes people like me to do good with our wealth because there is no estate tax on donations to charity.

(8-27-10) In yesterday's Guardian, British theater directors Adrian Jackson (Cardboard Citizens) and David Parrish (Creation Theatre) present the pros and cons of Arts Council spending cuts.

(8-25-10) In honor of CERF+’s first quarter century, an on-line anniversary auction has been launched with 25+ art works donated by long time friends of the organization. Bidding opens today, Wednesday, August 25, 3:00pm, and closes September 25, 10:00pm. Proceeds from the auction will support the programs and services of CERF+.

Visit the online auction here.

(8-24-10) On August 16, the Pew Center for Arts & Heritage announced more than $960,000 in project grants from the Philadelphia Theatre Initiative (PTI) to thirteen theater companies, presenters, and independent theater artists. PTI grants, which support innovative theater programming in the Philadelphia area, are awarded annually on a competitive basis through panel selection. On the 2010 selections, PTI director Pam Kumin notes, "This year's PTI grants support a diverse array of imaginative and ambitious projects aimed at varied tastes and ages.

(8-22-10) 49 school districts, nonprofit education organizations and institutions of higher education have been selected from among nearly 1,700 applicants to the US Department of Education for potential funding under the Investing in Innovation (i3) program. Three of the applicants were identified as arts-related by the USDOE. To receive a share of the $650 million in i3 grants, the winning applicants must secure a commitment for a 20 percent private sector match by Sept. 8.

(8-18-10) Last week, Piper Trust announced $1.2 million in Arts Restructuring and Transformation Fund grants. These "ART Fund" grants, comprising remaining funds from the wind-down of Metro Phoenix Partnership for Arts and Culture (plus $200,000 in uncommitted Trust funds), were awarded to eleven organizations to "develop new business models, streamline internal processes and create strategic alliances—all intended to help organizations increase revenue or reduce costs." Selected projects were prepared by Phoenix-area visual art, performance, and botanical garden venues.

(8-17-10) To assist its members, colleagues, and the field with leadership and guidance on global disasters, the Council on Foundations compiles timely, crisis-specific resources, available at www.cof.org/disasterresponse, including links to eight principles for disaster management, legal FAQs, and templates for your foundation’s disaster preparedness and recovery plans.

In addition, below are resources specific to the Pakistan floods:

(8-17-10) In a recent Financial Times column, John Kay outlines the sometimes overlooked (or skewed) factors in determining the economic benefit of the arts. An excerpt:

But bad economics has been allowed to drive out good. I am sympathetic to the well-intentioned people who commission studies of economic benefit, though not to those who take money for carrying them out. They are responding to a climate in which philistine businessmen assert that the private sector company that manufactures pills is a wealth creator, but the public sector doctor who prescribes them is not.

(8-16-10) The 2010 Edition of Foundation Giving Trends: Update on Funding Priorities shows a decline in support for half of the major funding areas. Arts & Culture registered 13% of grant dollars in 2008, 14% of the number of grants given. Other key findings:

• Foundations awarded a record 214 grants of $10 million or more in 2008. Of the 10 largest, six were made by the Gates Foundation mainly for health-related activities and international development.