Steve's Blog

The James Irvine Foundation has released details of a revamped strategy for the foundations arts funding:

Flat Earth Direct, an Australia-based agency focused on fundraising and social action, will host a free webinar on Tuesday, July 19 titled Online fundraising is dead… but online prospecting is alive and well. Presenters are Eric Rardin, Director of nonprofit services at Care2.com, and Jonathon Grapsas is the founder and director at Flat Earth Direct.

ArtsReady, a project of SouthArts, is a collaborative and interactive website with emergency preparedness tools to protect artists and their artwork from floods, tornadoes, and other calamities. Users have access a shared calendar, discussion forums, member profiles, photo gallery, file storage, etc. Check it out at http://artsready.groupsite.com.

At the 173rd meeting of the National Council on the Arts today (which can be viewed here), NEA Chairman Rocco Landesman will announce the 18 artists who are receiving lifetime honorific awards for their significant contributions to their respective fields of jazz, folk and traditional arts, or opera. The NEA is awarding $450,000 to this group of remarkable artists, recognizing both their artistic achievements and supporting their ongoing work as performers, crafts people, teachers, mentors, scholars, and/or advocates.

From The Wall Street Journal:

Diane Frankel announced she will step down as Executive Director of the Artists’ Legacy Foundation (ALF) at the end of August 2011.

Before coming to ALF, Frankel had twenty-five years of experience in the non-profit cultural arena, serving as the director of graduate programs in museum studies at John F. Kennedy University (1980-85) and the founding director of the Bay Area Discovery Museum (1986-93). As an appointee of President Clinton, she headed the Institute of Museum and Library Services in Washington

Professional basketball player and art collector Grant Hill has signed on as a Campaign Spokesperson for The Choice is Art, a promotional campaign for the arts in Arizona. Already airing on COX Media television stations, Mr. Hill is featured in a donor-sponsored public service announcement wherein he offers support to the campaign, and personal testimony about the impact of the arts on the lives of Arizona’s youth.

From The Chronicle of Philanthropy:

Video is now online of today's opening keynote from the Americans for the Arts Conference in San Diego. The speaker was Santa Monica City Council Member Bobby Shriver.

View the keynote address here.

The New School, in New York City, announced a variety of new appointments today, including the appointment of Richard Kessler as dean of Mannes College, The New School for Music. The New School comprises seven distinct schools focusing on social sciences, liberal arts, administration and management, design and performing arts.