by Mario Garcia Durham (bio), president and CEO, Association of Performing Arts Presenters Holly Sidford begins her report Fusing Arts, Culture and Social Change: High Impact Strategies for Philanthropy by quoting Dudley Cocke of Roadside Theater: “Art holds a mirror … Continue reading
GIA Blog
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by giarts-ts-admin
Grantmakers in the Arts designed the Forum to expand the dialogue around funding equity in the arts and to encourage a response to the systemic issues of equity identified during sessions at the recent GIA national conference and in Fusing … Continue reading
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by Tommer
VP for Research at the Foundation Center, Larry McGill, shares some cogent thinking on the limits of measuring impact.
In an op-ed piece in the Chronicle of Philanthropy earlier this year, William Schambra asserted that "measurement is a futile way to approach grantmaking." He further argued that foundations' track record when it comes to outcome and impact measurement has been unimpressive over the years, and that the costs and burdens such measurement places on both foundations and nonprofit organizations heavily outweigh any benefits gained.
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by Steve
From Narric Rome at ARTSblog:
Last month, I wrote a post that described the work of the U.S. Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee on a bill reauthorizing the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, last authorized as the No Child Left Behind Act of 2002. Since that time, we have gathered new information through further examination of the bill text and through meetings with congressional staff.
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by Steve
From Zak Stone at Good Culture:
“Libraries are the one American institution you shouldn’t rip off,” urges a character in Barbara Kingsolver’s novel Animal Dreams. That may be true, but municipalities around the country are taking axes to the budget of their public libraries—along with community arts organizations—to close gaping deficits. Now, a group of future librarians hopes to transform libraries' reputation through a new website celebrating the ways that they nurture arts communities around the country.
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by Steve
The Henry Luce Foundation has awarded 57 American Art Renewal Fund (AARF) grants to museums across the country for a total of nearly $5.5 million. The AARF initiative was established in 2010 to strengthen museums’ American art programs in response to the economic downturn that forced widespread layoffs, cancellation of exhibitions, modified capital projects, deferred building maintenance, shortened public hours and increased admission fees. It was completed in November 2011.
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by Steve
A set of articles on philanthropy was published in today's Wall Street Journal, including the article “Should Philanthropies Operate Like Businesses?,” which offers a view from each side of the question:
It's your money, and you're willing to give some of it away to a worthy cause. But you want to see results. Measurable progress toward agreed-upon goals. Regular proof that your investment is achieving maximum impact. That's the way businesses operate, and charities should be no different. That's one way to look at it, anyway.
Others argue that things work differently in the world of nonprofits and social change. Tackling some of society's biggest problems is unlikely to produce anything like the steady, chartable path of progress that investors require. And that's simply something donors have to live with if they want to help those most in need.
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by Steve
Weekday, a news program from KUOW, the public radio station out of the University of Washington in Seattle, uses an hour today to discuss the issues surrounding Arts Education in the Seattle Public School system. Also discussed is the Wallace Foundation Arts Learning Initiative grant of $1 Million which aims to boost quality learning opportunities for all students, especially those with the least access to the arts.
Joining the program host, Steve Scher, is Carri Campbell, visual and performing arts manager of the Seattle Public Schools, who is responsible for distributing a $1 million grant that the Wallace Foundation gave to Seattle Public Schools for arts education planning; Sandra Jackson–Dumont, adjunct curator at the Seattle Art Museum and the chair of the Arts Education Committee of the Arts Commission; and Elizabeth Whitford, executive director of Arts Corps, a nonprofit arts education organization in the Seattle area. Arts Corps seeks to foster creative habits of mind in young people by bringing teaching artists into Seattle's classrooms.
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by Steve
Diane Ragsdale, in her new post for Jumper, asks why data already in front of us fails to affect behavior:
I finally had found some time this week to read Scott Walter’s excellent second post in his trilogy (all three now published, here's the first and the third) looking at the 1% vs 99% issues in the US arts and culture sector. A compelling string of comments follows this post, led by one of my other favorite bloggers, Clayton Lord, who argues two points: (1) Is it effective to turn against the ‘top’ arts organizations at a time when the arts generally are under attack? and (2) We need to collect more data to understand how to improve the system.
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by Steve
The Board of Directors of Grantmakers in Film + Electronic Media announced today the appointment of Vincent Stehle as executive director. Mr. Stehle has served on the GFEM Board of Directors since 2008.