Monica's Blog

From The New York Times:

Congress has passed, and President Trump has signed into law, the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2017, which funds the federal government through the end of the current fiscal year. Included in the spending bill is increased funding for the National Endowments for the Arts and Humanities, an additional $2 million more than the 2016 budget for … Continue reading Trump Signs FY2017 Spending Bill, Includes Additional NEA and NEH Funding →

Congress has passed, and President Trump has signed into law, the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2017, which funds the federal government through the end of the current fiscal year. Included in the spending bill is increased funding for the National Endowments for the Arts and Humanities, an additional $2 million more than the 2016 budget for each agency.

From The Washington Post:

A recent article in Relix magazine outlines why the Affordable Care Act is important to the lives and livelihoods of musicians. “Most musicians rely on the ACA. Repealing it would affect everyone around me,” says Jon Dindas, producer of events such as Christmas Jam and Wilco’s Solid Sound Festival. “These musicians are not covered under … Continue reading Musicians Discuss the Importance of the Affordable Care Act →

Eloise Damrosch, the executive director of the Regional Arts & Culture Council (Portland, OR), has announced her plans to retire on June 30, 2017. Damrosch has earned a local and national reputation as a respected arts administrator while helping create one of the best-known public art collections in the country.

In a recent letter address to the field of philanthropy, President & CEO Sharon Alpert of The Nathan Cummings Foundation writes about how the foundation is adapting its practices to serve grantees on the “front lines” of injustice: Our board was clear that this was no time for business as usual.  Gathered around our board table, … Continue reading Nathan Cummings Foundation Increases Grantmaking, Plans Policy Changes to Support Grantees on the ‘Front Lines’ →

In an op-ed in Nashville Arts Magazine, Jennifer Cole, executive director of Metro Nashville Arts Commission, addresses questions and debunks some of the myths about federal arts funding such as: “The arts are only for ‘certain people’ and others shouldn’t subsidize programs for the wealthy.” “If artists can’t make it as a business, why should … Continue reading Op-ed: Jennifer Cole on Why We Need the NEA →

The Center for Effective Philanthropy (CEP) conducted a survey of foundation leaders about how they are reacting to the new administration, and the degree to which they are making changes as a result. Based on survey responses from 162 CEOs of US independent and community foundations making at least $5 million in grants annually, CEP has … Continue reading Survey: Foundations Respond to a New Political Context →

From The Washington Post: The new federal spending bill would spare — and even slightly increase — funding for three arts-related agencies that President Donald Trump has proposed eliminating: the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, the National Endowment for the Arts and National Endowment for the Humanities.The agreement announced Monday calls for the CPB’s budget to … Continue reading Federal Budget Agreement for FY 2017 Would Slightly Increase Funding for NEA, NEH →

From The Washington Post: