Grantmakers in the Arts

(6-17-10) James N. Wood, the J. Paul Getty Trust President and Chief Executive, was found dead of natural causes in his Los Angeles home last Friday. Wood, who is credited with increasing the trust's stability and credibility in the art world after taking the helm in early 2007, was an art historian with nearly 30-years experience in curatorial and executive positions at prominent art institutions, including the Metropolitan Museum, the St. Louis Art Museum, and, from 1980-2004, the Art Institute of Chicago.

(6-15-10) Agnes Gund for the Huffington Post:

Where do the arts fit in relation to other important parts of our society? Where are they situated in the consciousness of our time? I find myself thinking about this a lot, worrying that the fit is, in a word, bad. All too often in our society, the arts are shut out; they are left to stand alone, at an uncomfortable angle away from the experiences and events we otherwise share as citizens, as thinkers, as advocates and as agents of change.

(6-14-10) I’ve been executive director of Grantmakers in the Arts for 18 months. During that time I’ve learned so much about the dedication, courage and passion of our members for improving the state of artists and arts organizations. Our members believe strongly in their work and actively advocate for the arts within their own institutions, which represent state and local government, private and community foundation presidents and boards and corporate decision-makers. It’s a big and sometimes stressful job these days.

(6-14-10) The Doris Duke Charitable Foundation has awarded a two-year, $3.3 million grant to the New England Foundation for the Arts (NEFA) to support NEFA's National Dance Project. The grant increases the foundation's total support of the National Dance Project, over a thirteen-year period, to $21 million.

(6-11-10) Produced by the League of American Orchestras and funded with grants from MetLife Foundation and the National Endowment for the Arts, Fearless Journeys: Innovation in Five American Orchestras is a first-of-its-kind case study about innovation in orchestras. The five stories featured in the book are only a few examples of how the orchestra field is testing important new approaches to administrative/artistic organization, community partnerships, and artistic initiatives. The Conclusion focuses on the factors that have enabled innovation in all five orchestras in the study.

(6-11-10) A gift of $25 million has reinvigorated the multi-year capital campaign for what was formerly called the Performing Arts Center Eastside (PACE) and will now be called the Tateuchi Center. Sited in downtown Bellevue, the largest municipality in Seattle's suburb-cum-global technology center, the Eastside, the venue will house a 2,000-seat theater and a 250-seat cabaret-style venue. With the new gift, the center has raised $60 million towards its $160 million goal.

(6-10-10) From Ken May, Executive Director of the South Carolina Arts Commission:

(6-10-10) From the blog, Larry Cuban on School Reform and Classroom Practice: