GIA Blog

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.

Can Theatre Help Us to Better Understand the Elderly?
Posted on by Steve

From Allison Meier at Hyperallergic:

Despite the regular way it ticks by, time doesn't always seem to move at a logical pace. Days blur gradually from one to the next, yet it can also feel like years have escaped in a sudden flash. This paradox of time is central to Sprat Theatre Company's One Day in the Life of Henri Shnuffle, which is currently transporting audiences to the experience of time for the elderly.
Collection of Detroit Institute of Arts Cannot Be Sold, Its Director Says
Posted on by Steve

From David Itzkoff, writing for The New York Times:

The director of the Detroit Institute of Arts said on Friday that he believed the museum’s collection was “held in the public trust” and could not be sold by the city to help pay down its multibillion-dollar debt, and that he expected the city’s emergency manager and his office to reach the same conclusion.
PRIs Popular But Not Widely Understood, Study Finds
Posted on by Steve

From Philanthropy News Digest:

Although program-related investments are becoming more popular with foundations looking to advance their charitable purposes while generating financial returns, their use remains limited, a new study by the Indiana University Lilly Family School of Philanthropy finds.
How Data Can Help Create Better Communities: A Re-Cap
Posted on by Steve

From Natasha Isajlovic-Terry for the Foundation Center's Transparency Talk blog:

Data is used in many different ways in the social sector. We know that nonprofits collect and analyze their data to measure the effectiveness of their services, and that strategic nonprofits use open data to better position their outreach and services. The same is true for foundations, but these applications are often conducted within the silos of the organizations. Data espouses positive effects when it is shared, or, to put it in more familiar terms, when we are transparent with it.
Finding opportunities and addressing needs in Silicon Valley’s capital
Posted on by Steve

From Elizabeth R. Miller on Knight Blog:

Most of the world sees San José, Calif. as the capital of Silicon Valley, a creative tech hub drawing extraordinary talent to some of the world’s largest media companies like Google, Facebook and more. Yet the country’s 10th largest city faces significant challenges, including gaping economic disparity and a significant digital divide. Richard Florida, a leading intellectual on economic competitiveness, writes that wage inequality in San José, Calif. is the second largest in the country. We recently asked several of the community’s leaders from philanthropy, government and the arts what they see as their city’s greatest assets and biggest challenges.
Preparing Students for the Next America
Posted on by Steve

Arts Education Partnership, a national coalition of more than 100 education, arts, business, cultural, government, and philanthropic organizations, has recently released "Preparing Students for the Next America: The Benefits of an Arts Education." This research bulletin offers a snapshot of how the arts support achievement in school, bolster skills demanded of a 21st century workforce, and enrich the lives of young people and communities.

Valuable as Art, but Priceless as a Tool to Launder Money
Posted on by Steve

From Patricia Cohen at The New York Times:

It is hard to imagine a business more custom-made for money laundering, with million-dollar sales conducted in secrecy and with virtually no oversight. What this means in practical terms is that “you can have a transaction where the seller is listed as ‘private collection’ and the buyer is listed as ‘private collection,’ ” said Sharon Cohen Levin, chief of the asset forfeiture unit of the United States attorney’s office in Manhattan. “In any other business, no one would be able to get away with this.”
25 Things About Music Teaching and Education
Posted on by Steve

Brian Wis deep-dives into the practice of music education on the Teaching and Music blog:

It is unusual to be empowered to do great teaching. Good teaching is not only easier, but in many schools it is actually preferred. I think some leaders think great teaching is taking place when all the teachers are doing things in a consistent/compliant manner, and with minimal internal or external (parent) conflict. While that could be a trait of a productive teaching community, it's more often detached conformity. I think many school districts see conformity as the goal instead of empowering great teaching where the uniqueness of each teacher and content area is valued. And when I say "valued" I mean in action, not in words. All leaders will say they value the great teaching, but what we truly value is seen in what we do not what we say.
Gates and Knight Foundations Fund New Project to Improve Measuring Media Impact
Posted on by Steve

From Dan Green and Mayur Patel, writing for the Impatient Optimist blog to announce the new Media Impact Project that will be established at the Norman Lear Center, part of the USC Annenberg School of Communications:

Both (the) Knight and Gates Foundation share a belief in the power of informed and engaged communities for many reasons – from strengthening democracy and civil society to helping address some of the world’s most challenging social problems. In this context, the possibilities of learning how storytelling connects people and inspires action are more exciting than ever. There is now a wealth of data generated by people’s consumption and production of digital media that can be used to improve how we understand engagement and when that leads to greater awareness, knowledge and even changes in behavior.