Grantmakers in the Arts

From Tyler Green at Artinfo.com:

Although you’d hardly know it from Americans’ comparative silence... decreases in U.S. government funding to arts groups are almost certainly going to be deeper than the ones that have provoked such a strong reaction in the U.K. At the federal level, President Barack Obama proposed 13 percent cuts for both the National Endowment for the Arts and the National Endowment for the Humanities

The issue of new business models is a topic with which I am losing patience. To me it’s a “red herring” actually, when we should be discussing new product delivery models that engage more audiences, both young and old, utilize technologies and update the organizational structures and attitudes that may have worked forty years ago but are not working today. These are huge issues of leadership, boards of directors, management, community relevance and understanding audience trends.

From Graydon Royce, writing for the Minneapolis StarTribune, an inspiring report on four Minnesota arts leaders who have turned their organizations around, through innovation and elbow grease. One featured leader, Laura Zabel, executive director of Springboard for the Arts, made a notable appearance at the 2010 GIA Conference in Chicago as a presenter at the Support for Individual Artists Preconference.

Many organizations are joining the effort to aid the thousands of people who were affected by the enormous outbreak of tornados in late April. The Actors Fund has recently compiled a list of resources for artists who need help.

Culturelab is a joint initiative of leading arts consultants and the Cultural Policy Center at the University of Chicago, a nationally recognized interdisciplinary research center dedicated to informing policies that affect the arts, humanities, and cultural heritage. On April 29, Culturelab staged the Emerging Practice Seminar 2011, billed as a concerted effort to bring forward promising new practices in the cultural sector and transmit them to the field.

The National Endowment for the Arts has announced a new grant category, Arts in Media, which will replace Arts on Radio and Television and expand the parameters of projects previously funded through that category.

Findings from a national survey released this week show that, contrary to widespread belief, most arts graduates are employed and holding jobs consistent with their educational goals. For example, 92% of those who wish to work currently are, with most finding employment soon after graduating. Two-thirds said their first job was a close match for the kind of work they wanted. And almost three-quarters (74%) of those who intended to work as a professional artist had done so at some point since graduating.

Chicago Mayor-elect Rahm Emanuel today named his Cultural Affairs Leadership Team, announcing that Michelle T. Boone will be the Commissioner of the Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events and David McDermott will serve as her Chief of Staff. The Mayor-elect also named the leaders of a reinvigorated Chicago Cultural Affairs Advisory Committee. Nora Daley will serve as the Committee’s Chair and Marj Halperin as the Vice Chair.