GIA Blog

Why Philanthropy Should Steam Ahead and Support the Creative Economy
Posted on by Steve

Claudia Jacobs — Associate Director, Sillerman Center for the Advancement of Philanthropy, Heller School for Social Policy and Management, Brandeis University — writes for Huffington Post:

If we are to actively enrich our communities, arts should not be a stepchild of science, technology, engineering or math (STEM). In New England alone, over 53,000 people are employed in the “creative economy” and that sector, if it were considered in the North American Industrial Classification System (NAICS), which it is not, would rank just below the data and information sector and just ahead of the truck transportation sector, according to 2009 statistics compiled by the New England Foundation for the Arts.
St. Paul poet Wang Ping aims to take a “Kinship of Rivers” from Minnesota to China
Posted on by Steve

From by Susannah Schouweiler, writing for Knight Arts blog:

Have you heard of St. Paul-based writer Wang Ping’s “Kinship of Rivers” project? It’s an ongoing interactive public art endeavor intended “to build kinship among communities along the Mississippi and Yangtze, and bring awareness to the river’s ecosystem through art, literature, music, food and installations of river-flags made by river communities.”
Business Model: The Next Frontier
Posted on by Steve

Scott Walters posts to the blog The Clyde Fitch Report:

Business is obsessed with innovation, with change, with finding the Next Big Thing. Most of the books I listed above are about encouraging creative disruption in your organization, trying new business models to sell your products. Theatre? Not so much. I suspect one might argue that theatre people are too busy being innovative to take time to write about it. Fair enough. I don’t see much evidence of that, but then I live in North Carolina, and so unless somebody takes the time to write about it, I’m not going to know.
The Culture of Possibility
Posted on by Steve

Linda Essig reviews Arlene Goldbard's book, The Culture of Possibility for her blog, Creative Infrastructure:

The basic premise of the book is like the 100% full water glass: if we shift our perception, if we shift the background (culture) to the foreground, a world of possibilities will be open to us. She is asking for a complete paradigm shift – a phrase she uses throughout the book – “a radical revision of a model of reality, changing the meaning of all that we see and do.”
June Member Spotlight on Cuyahoga Arts & Culture
Posted on by Abigail

In June, the photo banner features groups and projects supported by GIA member Cuyahoga Arts & Culture. CAC was approved by Cuyahoga County voters in 2006, and since 2007, has invested over $95 million in more than two hundred Cuyahoga County arts and cultural organizations. CAC’s vision for its first ten years of public funding is to help build stronger, more resilient arts and culture organizations, create vibrant and energetic neighborhoods infused with culture, and establish Cuyahoga County as a hub of creative activity and a destination for artists.

The Paradox of the Literary MFA Boom
Posted on by Tommer

Never before have there been so many teachers telling so many students how to write. This is very good for the teachers. However meager the money, teaching is a paying gig and a subsidized education. Nothing helps you understand something like being forced to explain it.

California's $75 Million Arts Bill Frozen
Posted on by Tommer

A bill in Sacramento that would have decisively erased California’s longstanding dubious distinction as the stingiest state in the nation for arts-grant funding has failed for now. From Mike Boehm at The Los Angeles Times:

The bill would have secured $75 million in guaranteed annual funding for the California Arts Council but was frozen last week without a vote. Now advocates aim to persuade legislators and Gov. Jerry Brown to give the agency at least a modest increase as they determine the state budget for the coming fiscal year.
Denise Montgomery to Head San Diego Arts Commission
Posted on by Steve

From James Chute at UT San Diego:

Mayor Bob Filner has appointed Denise Montgomery executive director of the city of San Diego’s Commission for Arts and Culture. Montgomery, who held a similar position with the Denver Office of Cultural Affairs, starts on June 12. She succeeds Victoria Hamilton, founding director of the 25-year-old commission.

Filner, before introducing Montgomery, outlined his vision for the arts, which he compared t o his vision for binationalism: “We want to infuse it into everything we do.” He said Montgomery was prepared to “ratchet things up,” and he expects her to join in his effort to have the arts and the arts commission assume a broader, more pronounced and important role in the life of the city.

Cultural Policy Center Produces Scholarly Research Periodical
Posted on by Steve

The Cultural Policy Center at the University of Chicago has published the first issue of The Digest, its new online publication for the cultural sector. The Digest identifies important academic research that is often inaccessible — due to paywalls or jargon — and presents it in summary form for a broad audience of scholars, practitioners, and policymakers. It's available online at http://culturalpolicy.uchicago.edu/digest/.

Nonprofit Transparency - Often Opaque
Posted on by Janet

By Janet Brown from her blog Better Together

“Relevance” and “transparency” are two words I use frequently when talking with staff or board members of grantmaking and nonprofit arts organizations. Both are core values needed to foster arts participation in our communities and prosperity for artists and our organizations. This blog focuses on transparency...financial transparency.