The National Assembly of State Arts Agencies has announced the release of the State Arts Agency Fiscal Year 2017 Legislative Appropriations Preview report. This document summarizes how state arts agencies fared during this year's budget deliberations and includes information on the appropriations each state arts agency expects to receive for FY2017.
GIA Blog
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by Monica
In a recent blog post, Arleta Little, program officer for the arts at The McKnight Foundation, discusses racial disparities in arts philanthropy and how McKnight and other organizations are working to address it:
Given historic inequities and shifting demographics, increasing arts funding alone does not address the structural issues affecting how these funds are distributed. We must change the minds (leadership and decision making) and the mechanisms (the institutional policies and practices) that prevent more equitable distributions of resources. This is racial equity work.
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by Monica
In a recent article in the Harvard Business Review, Dan Pallotta makes a case for fundraising as an important and often overlooked part of nonprofit capacity building:
Of all of the various sub-categories in capacity-building, one and only one has the potential to multiply the amount of money that a funder puts into it, and that category is fundraising – the least loved of them all. It doesn’t belong in the bunch as an equal among the others. It has super powers. It’s time [funders] recognized this and funded fundraising at their favorite grantees as a priority.
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by Steve
New on the GIA Podcast, we speak with author and educator Eric Booth about the field of teaching artistry and what the US can learn from abroad to increase arts education access for all children.
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by Monica
A new report published by the National Council of Nonprofits outlines the challenges nonprofits with government grants and contracts could face in implementing the Department of Labor’s new overtime regulations. A national survey of over one thousand nonprofits revealed widespread concern over increased costs which are not supported by existing contracts. The report concludes that government funders should help nonprofits fill in the gaps by offering short-term transitional resources and providing grantees the opportunity to renegotiate their contracts to account for the financial, operational, or programmatic changes needed for nonprofits to comply with the law.
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by Monica
By Shia Kapos, writing for the Chicago Sun-Times:
Michelle Boone, commissioner of the city’s Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events, is stepping down and will be replaced by Mark Kelly, the vice president for student success at Columbia College Chicago. . . .
“For five years Michelle has worked tirelessly to expand and innovate arts across the city. She has successfully reimagined our most revered cultural traditions — including the Taste of Chicago and Blues Fest — and brought new experiences like the Architectural Biennial to our city . . .” [Chicago Mayor] Emanuel said in a statement issued by his staff.
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by SuJ'n
For the months of July and August, GIA’s photo banner features artists and work supported by Barr Foundation. Based in Boston, Barr is among the largest private foundations in New England. The foundation focuses regionally, and in select cases nationally, on partnerships that elevate vibrant, vital, and engaged communities; advance solutions for climate change; and expand educational opportunity.
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by Roberto Bedoya
For a number of years, Grantmakers in the Arts has worked to advance racial equity in the cultural field and among its membership. These efforts can be seen throughout many of GIA’s activities: sessions at its annual conferences, day-long preconferences, articles in the GIA Reader, policy positions and papers, required board and staff training on how to unpack racism, and, last year, a national forum on supporting African, Latin@, Asian, Arab, and Native American (ALAANA) artists and arts organizations.
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by Steve
Hundreds of orchestra administrators, musicians, trustees, and volunteers gathered in Baltimore for the League's 71st National Conference in June. A funder panel on supporting racial equity included Edwin Torres, deputy commissioner, New York City Department of Cultural Affairs; Marian Godfrey, cultural advisor, Berkshire Taconic Community Foundation; Susan Feder, program officer, performing arts, The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation; and Janet Brown, president & CEO, Grantmakers in the Arts. You can watch a video of the presentation below.
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by Steve
From Michael Dale, writing for Broadway World:
[T]he educational program #EduHam, which makes select Wednesday afternoon performances of Lin-Manuel Miranda’s Broadway smash Hamilton available to New York City schools with a high concentration of students from low-income families for the ticket price of only $10, has been an extraordinary success. Originally funded by a $1.46 million grant by The Rockefeller Foundation...(the foundation) has announced an additional $6 million grant which will provide 100,000 students in select cities, including Chicago, Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Washington D.C., the same opportunity. Additional cities will be announced as touring proceeds.