Grantmakers in the Arts

(4-14-10) In an interview with Alliance Magazine, Geraldine Kunstadter of the Albert Kunstadter Family Foundation discusses her grantmaking practices, while urging larger foundations to take risks and pare down assessment practices. Kunstadter, who regularly visits her foundation's grant recipients (16 in the U.S. and abroad per annum), has a very personal relationship to the granting process and offers a unique perspective on the funder-grantee dynamic: "If you trust people enough to give them money, you have to trust that they know best how to spend it."

(4-13-10) Secretary of Education Arne Duncan gave a speech at the Arts Education Partnership National Forum on Friday, April 9. A full transcript is now online. Some highlights:

(4-13-10) Statement from Lance E. Lindblom, Nathan Cummings Foundation

After serving for more than sixteen years as the director of the arts and culture program at the Nathan Cummings Foundation, Claudine Brown will be leaving the Foundation to become the Director of Education for the Smithsonian Institution.

(4-13-2010) Grantmakers in the Arts begins a new series of Web Conferences in May designed for emerging leaders and veteran grantmakers alike. You can see the six sessions we’ve put together on the GIA website. They are free to members and pretty inexpensive for nonmembers. This is an opportunity for colleagues from the same department, office and organization to share a learning experience on various topics offered up by some pretty smart people in the field of philanthropy and nonprofit arts.

(4-13-10) Dennis Scholl has been named the Vice President of Arts for the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation. Scholl previously held the position of Miami Program Director for the foundation. In his new role, he will develop a nationwide cultural arts program for Knight.

Read More.

(4-12-10) Last week, PNC Foundation announced a planned $1.5 million investment in the arts in Columbus and central Ohio. Dubbed "Arts Alive," the program will award grants of $25,000 and above to organizations through a proposal and selection process. The PNC press release acknowledges the effects of the economic downturn on arts organizations and outlines the desired outcome of the granting process: "...to support diverse audience participation, fresh and emerging arts programs, value-added public programming, and innovative use of technology."

(4-11-10) A nice portrait of Rocco in the NYTimes, just in time for the budget hearings. Good work NEA!

“Everyone’s parsing every word that you utter, and I’m not used to that,” he said. “If the consequences are just you, it’s one thing. But everything has all these repercussions. I’m trying to find a balance because I have to be me, and I pride myself on being candid and direct and saying what I think. But occasionally I have to think about what I say.”

(4-9-10) “I find the scientists I work with to be very creative people,” says Brian Knep, an associate and the artist-in-residence at the Systems Biology department in the Harvard Medical School (HMS). “What I find kind of sad is that a lot of the science world feels very constrained in a way that’s not very good for inspiration in general.”