Day 1 of the main conference has been pretty spectacular. The opening plenary inspired with three local artist presentations centering cultural organizing, innovation, and love. The sessions themselves were brilliant – a confluence of ideas and grappling with critical issues that the philanthropic community must consider, unpack and engage through action and accountability.
GIA Blog
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by Steve
GIA has a pair of bloggers reporting from the Los Angeles conference. Barry Hessenius has turned in his first post with some consideration of the themes that the conference is putting forth:
It will be interesting — to me — to try to get a handle on where the funding people’s thinking is at this juncture on the financial picture and the equity equation. Most of the other issues we face are arguably offshoots of these two elephants in the room. Every funder has different priorities and ranks differently the challenges out there. There are geographic territories where the equity issue isn’t as front burner as it is elsewhere; there are communities where survivability is still manageable, relatively speaking, and communities where the available resources are increasingly obviously inadequate to do much of anything about those organizations that are living still on borrowed time. No one segment of any field agrees on everything, including the nonprofit arts sector. But over the last five years, there has been remarkable consensus on what is critical, and even on some of the nuts and bolts of how to approach these issues. More over the next three days.
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by Steve
The GIA 2015 Conference is underway in Los Angeles. We have a pair of bloggers reporting on the proceedings. The initial post from Lara Davis, Seattle Office of Arts and Culture, covers the Investing in Filmmakers: Arts and Media preconference on Sunday:
Documentary filmmakers pursue diverse support, pulling together resources from many supporters, as the level of funding needed to bring projects to fruition is greater than any one grant they may be able to garner (notwithstanding the already limited funding for film from the philanthropic field). Additionally, budgeting and timing for projects vary. Cori Shepherd Stern, producer of Bend the Arc – which centers on global health equity and was eleven years in the making (five just to secure the rights) – puts it this way, “Some stories can happen quickly. Some are about a deep personal relationship over time, which takes more time to develop and bring to fruition.” Cara Mertes (Ford Foundation, JustFilms) posed this response to the funders in the room, “What are the places where you can leverage effectiveness at various points across an endeavor vis a vis this process of storytelling, when it can take years to complete a project?”
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by Barry Hessenius
Once again I am covering the GIA Annual convening of the nation’s arts funding community as they gather in Los Angeles. Completely SOLD OUT, this conference is apparently the largest conference in the umbrella organization’s history. Congratulations! There is a long list of issues that challenge those funding the arts. Two years ago I listed a Top Twenty of those issues, and having reread that post, I think all those issues are still on the table for public and private funders alike.
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by Lara Davis
The preconference session Investing in Filmmakers: Arts and Media drew primarily funders from across the nation to discuss, as framed by Janet Brown in her opening statement: how can we move forward in a way that advances filmmakers as individual artists? Participants from organizations and foundations where opportunities for filmmakers are minimal to embedded in general artist-funding programs were eager to discuss and find ways to more intentionally invest in these artists. This included ideas for cross-sector work, such as film and community development, and supporting current grantees to engage storytelling thru film making. Those with more established artist funding and development programs in media spoke to the benefits of filmmaking beyond an advocacy and communications focus to one of tangible social impact, followed by comments on artist access to power and decision-making in these processes.
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by SuJ'n
The National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) announced today that Jax Deluca will join the NEA as the director of media arts beginning on January 11, 2016. Deluca will manage NEA grantmaking in media arts and represent the agency to the media arts field. Deluca joins the NEA after her tenure as executive director of Squeaky Wheel Film & Media Art Center in Buffalo, NY, a nonprofit serving western New York state which promotes innovation in media arts through access, education, and exhibition. At Squeaky Wheel, Deluca has overseen major expansion efforts, including fundraising, new jobs and media equipment, an updated youth media arts curriculum, and relocation into new, upgraded facilities.
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Grantmakers in the Arts is cited regarding racial equity in arts philanthropy in this article by Mike Boehm at the Los Angeles Times:
A new national study paints a bleak economic picture of African American and Latino nonprofit museums and performing arts companies and suggests that donors may have to let weaker organizations wither so that the strongest ones can grow. Funders may need to support “a limited number of organizations,” says the report by the University of Maryland’s DeVos Institute of Arts Management, “with larger grants to a smaller cohort that can manage themselves effectively, make the best art, and have the biggest impact on their communities.”
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by Steve
MK Wegmann has announced that she will retire from her position as President and CEO of the National Performance Network, one she has held for 15 years. The NPN board of directors have launched a national search process to have a new President/CEO in place July 1, 2016.
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by SuJ'n
For the month of October, GIA's photo banner features artists and programs supported by the California Arts Council. Established in 1976 by Governor Jerry Brown, the council's mission is to advance California through the arts and creativity. California Arts Council is a Presenting Sponsor for the annual GIA conference happening this month in Los Angeles.
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Recognizing 24 exceptionally creative individuals with a track record of achievement and the potential for significant contributions in the future, the MacArthur Foundation has named the 2015 MacArthur Fellows. Each will receive an unrestricted stipend of $625,000, allowing recipients maximum freedom to follow their own creative visions.