GIA Blog

Hackathon Experiments with Arts
Posted on by Steve

From Nancy Dahlberg for The Miami Herald:

The LAB Miami, the Wynwood co-working space that stands for Love Art Business, says Miami’s first hackathon for the arts will take place Sept 14-16. Hack The Bass will be a weekend-long event in partnership with the Bass Museum of Art and Knight Foundation to develop a mobile app for Bass’ Temporary Contemporary art project, where various public art will begin surfacing starting Nov. 2 in Miami Beach — in parks, on the sides of buildings, in stores, etc.
Orchestras Locked Out Across The Country As Contract Disputes Continue
Posted on by Steve

From Lucas Kavner for Huffington Post:

This hasn't been a good month for concert musicians. As orchestras across the country continue to tighten their belts, players are being asked to make do with less. And if agreements aren't reached soon, mounting tensions could leave a handful of America's top orchestras without any actual players on their stages in the coming season.
NEA Presents a New System Map to Guide Research Agenda
Posted on by Steve

The NEA will host a forum to announce and discuss the topics raised in a new report. How Art Works describes the agency's five-year research agenda, framed and informed by a groundbreaking “system map” and measurement model. Andrew Taylor, assistant professor at American University's Arts Management Program, and author of the blog The Artful Manager, will lead the panel which also will include NEA Chairman Rocco Landesman, NEA Director of Research & Analysis Sunil Iyengar; and Tony Siesfield, lead project consultant and partner, Monitor Institute.

The public forum takes place on Thursday, September 20, from 2:00 pm to 5:30 pm at the Abramson Family Recital Hall in the Katzen Arts Center at American University.

RIP Derek Gordon, CEO of the Arts Council of Greater Baton Rouge and Recent GIA board member.
Posted on by Tommer

"We are sad to lose one of the great champions for the arts in our community, " said Kathy Scherer, acting director of the arts council. "Derek's work elevated Baton Rouge's profile on the national stage. His legacy will continue through the signature programs that he created including the River City Jazz Masters series, revitalization efforts of the Old South Baton Rouge community through the arts, and through providing greater access to the arts for the entire community."

Alex Aldrich On Assessment
Posted on by Steve

From Alex Aldrich, executive director, Vermont Arts Council:

For the sixth time since arriving in Vermont I am working on the Arts Council’s Partnership Application to the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA). It is, in the truest sense of the word, a labor of love. When else does one have the opportunity to cram what could easily amount to a 150-page discourse on programs and services offered to artists, arts organizations, schools, and communities into a mere 11 pages?
In Memory of Lee Dennison
Posted on by Steve

From Vickie Benson, Arts Program Director, The McKnight Foundation:

In the early 1990s, I worked for the legendary Advancement Program at the National Endowment for the Arts. I loved that program. It had its flaws, but it was a trail blazer for all of the other adaptive capacity building programs. I loved working at the NEA then. Lee Wick Dennison, the Assistant Director of Challenge and Advancement, was my supervisor. Lee taught me how to read the notes to the audit before looking at the line items. Although Lee was a Certified Public Accountant, she always looked for the story in the numbers and in the notes. I learned this from Lee. She also imparted her understanding of the many challenges of successfully running an arts organization--she dealt with them all, small and large. Her deep knowledge of organizational development and finance combined with humor and patience has stayed with me for more than twenty years. I became a thoughtful and discerning grantmaker because I had strong mentors. I will never forget Lee Wick Dennison and the wonderful, whimsical way that she walked in the world.
It Is Broke, We Should Probably Fix It: The Nonprofit Model and the Arts
Posted on by Steve

From Alexis Clements at Hyperallergic:

It can be a subtle thing — the way in which an organization or collective comprised of ambitious and purposeful people working toward a clear set of goals starts to slip into something a bit murkier; something that seems to be more about self-perpetuation and outsiders’ goals than about that original impetus to come together. Oftentimes growth is the reason for change. Our society applauds and encourages growth at every level — personal, familial, organizational, economic and political — despite the increased time and resources that growth demands. And many people in the US take the corporate structures of most businesses and nonprofits for granted, without questioning the ways that hierarchical models concentrate power among small groups of people and can easily get in the way of achieving goals and benefits for society.
Fiscal Sponsorship By the Numbers
Posted on by Steve

From Ian David Moss at Fractured Atlas Blog:

This Friday, new research on fiscal sponsorship in the dance world will be released. Produced by Fractured Atlas for Dance/NYC as an extension of last year’s State of NYC Dance report, “Discovering Fiscally Sponsored NYC Dancemakers” examines quantitative and qualitative data from five fiscal sponsors that collectively represent more than 250 “dancemaker”-led projects in New York City, and makes comparisons where possible to information on nonprofits from the Cultural Data Project.
Warhol Foundation Will Donate or Sell Its Whole Collection
Posted on by Steve

From Robin Pogrebin at The New York Times:

Beginning this fall the Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts will disperse its entire collection of Warhols, donating some and selling others through Christie’s auction house as it shifts almost exclusively into a grant-making organization, foundation officials said in interviews. The sales will take several years to complete and are expected to garner about $100 million, increasing the foundation’s endowment, from which it makes grants to nonprofit arts organizations.
National Conference Call: This is What Democracy Looks Like!
Posted on by Steve

The Arts & Democracy Project is hosting a conference call on Thursday, September 20 at 1pm EST. Participants are encouraged to share nonpartisan election work or listen in to learn about opportunities to get involved. The Project's intent for this call is to help connect civic participation opportunities with creative organizing by artists and cultural organizations, both before the election and after.