GIA Blog

New Chief Cultural Officer Talks Philadelphia’s Creative Future
Posted on by Steve

From Brandon Baker, writing for Philly Voice:

With a new mayoral administration comes a new Chief Cultural Officer in the form of Kelly Lee, a 49-year-old Germantown native who previously served as CEO of now-defunct Innovation Philadelphia, communications director for the Pennsylvania Convention Center and director of economic development for PECO. Lee succeeds Helen Haynes in the position and joins an office that is essentially still in its infancy, re-established by Mayor Michael Nutter in 2008. Its official role is to promote the city’s cultural scene to the world, develop it as an economic engine, provide resources to artists and provide access to the greatest number of Philadelphians possible — though, its actual function is still in flux.
New from the GIA Reader: Investing in Change
Posted on by Steve

In an article from the latest issue of GIA Reader, Rebecca Thomas — a long-time partner with GIA’s Capitalization Initiative — lays out some key lessons in change capital for grantmakers in Investing in Change: Ten Lessons for Cultural Grantmakers.

Why Funding Overhead Is Not the Real Issue
Posted on by Steve

From Claire Knowlton at Nonprofit Quarterly:

Big strides have been made recently in the acknowledgment that overhead ratios are poor indicators of an organization’s impact or financial efficiency. Although the movement toward outcomes-based measurement offers a promising alternative to understanding impact, very little has been done to truly shift the sector’s understanding of what it takes — or even means — for nonprofits to be financially efficient and adaptable. The myths and misinterpretations of the true full costs of delivering vital programs have contributed to a chronically fragile social infrastructure for our communities.
NEA Releases Report on the Arts and Healthy Aging
Posted on by Steve

The Summit on Creativity and Aging is a report on the May 2015 convening of more than 70 experts co-presented by the National Endowment for the Arts and the National Center for Creative Aging (NCCA) that preceded the White House Conference on Aging, that was held July 2015. The report investigates three topics relevant to healthy aging: health and wellness and the arts, lifelong learning in the arts, and age-friendly community design.

Ford Foundation, Cannes Film Market Launch Docu Push Against Inequality
Posted on by Steve

From John Hopewell, writing for Variety:

The Ford Foundation’s and Cannes Film Market’s networking mini-mart Doc Corner announced Tuesday a two year-partnership to raise global awareness on social justice, working against inequality. Driving to hike the profile, market networking and distribution of social justice docu features at Cannes, the initiative was first mooted months before Hollywood began worrying about an All White Oscars. That debate, however, will only serve to focus more attention on the groundbreaking Ford Foundation-Cannes new push. Partnership establishes a large presence at Cannes for the Ford Foundation’s five-year-old JustFilms, a film financing, social awareness and education program that has backed visual story tellers, new media projects and organizations that work to this end.
Who’s Behind the Barr Foundation?
Posted on by Steve

Patti Hartigan of Boston magazine has a profile of the Barr Foundation:

Although the Barr Foundation has given out more than $710 million since 1999, chances are you’ve never heard of it. Until around 2010, donations were largely made on the condition of anonymity. Now that grants are given openly, Barr’s influence is finally visible. Established 29 years ago by Amos and Barbara Hostetter, who founded Continental Cablevision, it started as a kitchen-table family operation: Amos handled the investments, and Barbara managed the programs. In 2016, the foundation has assets totaling $1.6 billion and a mandate to focus its philanthropic endeavors on Boston and the region. Now, suddenly, you can’t turn around without coming across an organization or project bearing the Barr Foundation’s stamp of approval.
Who Should Pay for the Arts in America?
Posted on by Steve

From Andy Horowitz at The Atlantic:

The current state of the arts in this country is a microcosm of the state of the nation. Large, mainstream arts institutions, founded to serve the public good and assigned non-profit status to do so, have come to resemble exclusive country clubs. Meanwhile, outside their walls, a dynamic new generation of artists, and the diverse communities where they live and work, are being systematically denied access to resources and cultural legitimation.
Member Spotlight on Bonfils-Stanton Foundation
Posted on by SuJ'n

For the month of February 2016, GIA’s photo banner features art and projects supported by the Bonfils-Stanton Foundation in Denver, Colorado. In 2012, Bonfils-Stanton Foundation began the process of shifting support from a broad array of arts, human service, and science/medicine organizations to focusing all of their philanthropic funding to arts and cultural organizations. This grantmaking shift was completed in 2015 and that is when they became a more active member of GIA. In addition to arts funding, the Foundation also supports nonprofit leadership through its Livingston Fellowship Program.

Barr Foundation President Looks Forward
Posted on by Steve

James Canales, President of the Barr Foundation, posts about the foundation's next chapter:

One year ago, we introduced Barr’s new mission statement: To invest in human, natural, and creative potential, serving as thoughtful stewards and catalysts. Together, with the core values and approach to philanthropy articulated by our trustees, these principles provided the basis for planning across Barr’s core programs of Arts & Culture, Climate, and Education. I am excited to share the results of that planning.
Artist Janis Ian Discusses Recent Work and Philanthropy with John Killacky
Posted on by Steve

John Killacky interviews Janis Ian for vtdigger.org:

In 1969, Alma Routsong, under the pen name Isabel Miller, self-published a historical romance novel based on a true story of two lesbians in early 19th century New England. A folk painter and a young woman from a poor farming family fall unabashedly in love and forge a life together in Patience and Sarah. The book was awarded the first American Library Association’s Stonewall Award in 1971.

Read the full interview.