GIA Blog

The arts: a venue for bipartisanship
Posted on by Steve

Opinion from Paul Tetreault at Politico:

Amid today’s rancorous political climate, many of us are searching for a venue of bipartisanship, a place where we can find common ground, where we can search for what unites us, instead of what divides us.

I offer up the arts as an important starting place. Across the country, countless arts venues open their doors each night to offer thought-provoking work, forcing us to wrestle with our pre-conceived notions of other times, other cultures and other beliefs.

Stage Left: The History of Theatre in San Francisco
Posted on by giarts-ts-admin

Grantmakers in the Arts will screen this documentary during the conference in San Francisco, Oct. 9-12. It's a fascinating look at how theatre evolves from radical to mainstream reflecting and directing the culture of the community.

In Public School Reform, What Can Private Money Buy?
Posted on by giarts-ts-admin

"Bill Gates has donated more than $5 billion to improve U.S. schools. But he sees little bang for all those bucks.

Dodge Foundation 2012 Grant Guidelines
Posted on by Steve

The Dodge Foundation’s 2012 guidelines reflect a continuing evolution of grantmaking in the areas of the Arts, Education, Environment and Media. For the Arts:

Pursue and demonstrate the highest standards of artistic excellence in the performing and visual arts; enhance the cultural health and richness of communities; inspire learning and understanding; and contribute to New Jersey’s creative economy.
Authors Explore How to 'Give Smart' to Charities When Every Dollar Counts
Posted on by Steve

PBS Newshour interviews the authors of the book Give Smart: Philanthropy That Gets Results:

Even in a sluggish economy, Americans still give away billions of dollars to charitable causes. With this in mind, Judy Woodruff spoke with the authors of a new book aimed at making charitable giving more effective. Titled Give Smart: Philanthropy That Gets Results, the book is motivated by new thinking about the urgency of getting the most out of every dollar given away.

One author is Tom Tierney, co-founder of the Bridgespan Group, a nonprofit focused on helping donors and nonprofit leaders to act in ways that accelerate social change. The other is Joel Fleishman, a Duke University professor of law and public policy, and a long-time expert on philanthropy.

New Research Illustrates California’s Arts Ecology
Posted on by Steve

California has 11,000 arts and culture nonprofits, a number that places the state ahead of most nations in the world. Californians are more likely to participate than other Americans — but arts involvement and nonprofit organizations are unevenly spread across California’s geographic and demographic communities.

New findings generated by Markusen Economic Research and commissioned by The James Irvine Foundation offer fresh illustrations of the California nonprofit arts sector and the people who take part in it. Released today, California’s Arts and Cultural Ecology details the research and its findings.

ArtPlace Could Make The Difference in Communities Across America
Posted on by Steve

From John M. Eger at Huffington Post:

...the ArtPlace idea is big, certainly bigger than anything ever done before, and has the potential to be a "game changer" if—and it's still an if in many cities—ArtPlace not only gets artists and art and cultural organizations and community leaders to think differently about renewing their downtowns, but acts as the catalyst America so badly needs to awaken to the challenges of working, playing and living in a new economy—a creative and innovative economy.
20th Century Fox Joins NAfME to Award $1 Million in Grants to 73 High Schools Nationwide
Posted on by Steve

Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment (TCFHE) and the National Association for Music Education (NAfME) on September 9 announced GLEE Give a Note, a campaign to donate $1 million to school arts programs across the country. Eligible high schools are invited to submit videos about why their school deserves a grant at www.GleeGiveANote.com. In December 2011, after two rounds of voting, Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment will name the 73 schools that will receive grants ranging from $10,000 to $50,000.

Diversity now a key tool in the fight for the creative class
Posted on by Steve

From Gail Johnson at The Globe and Mail:

Increasingly, demographic diversity—ethnic, gender, sexual, religious and so on—is proving crucial to the success of local economies. In other words, it’s no longer enough for cities to subscribe to the “if you build it, they will come” theory to attract top talent. Rather, they need to roll out the welcome mat to one and all.

“There’s no question about it any more; one of the greatest competitive advantages for any city is tolerance,” says Tom Jones, director of Smart City Consulting in Memphis, Tenn.

Metropolitan Museum’s Exhibitions Stimulate $908 Million Economic Impact for New York
Posted on by Steve

The Metropolitan Museum’s concurrent presentation of four acclaimed and widely attended exhibitions in the summer 2011 season generated $908 million in spending by regional, national, and international tourists to New York, according to a visitor survey the Museum released on September 12. Using the industry standard for calculating tax revenue impact, the study found that the direct tax benefit to the City and State from out-of-town visitors to the Museum totaled some $90.8 million.