GIA Blog

With the recent downturn in the economy, the negative impacts on foundation endowments, and the interest of foundations to continue critical grantmaking at 2008 levels, many foundations are now contemplating whether they should be looking into additional sources of funding, … Continue reading →

It feels that there isn’t a lot that one can do these days to plug the dike. Organizations are hurting, foundations are cutting back and public arts agency budgets are prime targets for invasion by elected officials. What’s pretty obvious is that there is no bailout for the nonprofit arts sector. Private foundations cannot replace public dollars and governmental agencies don’t have the resources to substitute for private philanthropy. If we are all in this together…how are we strategizing together to maintain a level of support for the arts in our communities?

There’s a difference in being in denial about the state of the economy and projecting an optimistic attitude. Can institutions take a cue from human psychology? “I have a new client, a laid-off lawyer, who’s commuting in every day — … Continue reading →

Are museums the talking-motion-pictures of this recession? The recession is hitting museums hard from coast to coast, forcing directors to boost admission fees, cut budgets and staff, and put ambitious projects on hold. But in a twist on the bleak … Continue reading →

Reported today in the NYTimes: The Juilliard School’s music-training program for poor minority schoolchildren — a rigorous curriculum that the conservatory holds up as a national model — has been slashed, disappointing dozens of children preparing to audition…. Mr. Polisi … Continue reading →

New York City will expand loan opportunities and find ways to help the city’s 40,000 nonprofit organizations reduce costs and find new donors in the midst of the economic downturn, Mayor Michael Bloomberg said. The program will focus on nonprofits … Continue reading →

I spent most of last week in Washington DC. The highlight was the Nancy Hanks Lecture given by Wynton Marsalis and his quintet. “The Ballad of the American Arts” was an incredibly moving piece that interspersed music and poetry to give form to the power of the arts in America to us as a people, collectively and individually. Believe me, it was magic.

April 6, 2009 – Arts program director Vickie Benson provides professional analysis on the need for a strategic statewide distribution plan for arts funding. In November 2008, Minnesota voters passed the Clean Water, Land and Legacy Amendment to our state … Continue reading →

In 1998, Southern California Grantmakers — a regional membership association of private and public sector philanthropies — conducted its first survey of public and private arts funders in Los Angeles County. Ten years and four additional surveys later, this year’s … Continue reading →

Those present reported that Marsalis gave a deep and moving speech, as did Newsweek: The impeccably cool artistic director of Jazz at Lincoln Center had come here to deliver the Nancy Hanks Lecture on Arts and Public Policy. His speech, … Continue reading →