Grantmakers in the Arts

(4-7-10) Responding to a gap left by the wind-down of the Metro Phoenix Partnership for Arts and Culture, the Flinn Foundation and the Virginia G. Piper Charitable Trust will be redirecting $1.25 million in grant funds to the Flinn-Piper Strengthening the Arts Initiative. The Fund will award up to $750,000 in grants to implement new nonprofit structures, processes, and collaborative ventures to increase revenue and reduce costs.

(4-7-10) I had a conversation with a graduate student of mine from Goucher College last night who is writing his final paper on general operating support by private foundations and local arts agencies. It’s a very complicated topic and I’m always a torn about it.

(4-6-10)
Reported n the Cherokee Phoenix
Statement from President Obama

(4-6-10) In the Wall Street Journal...A federal appeals court ruled Tuesday that the Federal Communications Commission exceeded its authority when it sanctioned Comcast Corp. in 2008 for deliberately slowing Internet traffic for some users. The unanimous decision is a blow to the FCC, which argued it had authority to police Internet providers and prevent them from blocking or slowing subscribers' Internet traffic.

(4-6-10) In an Opinion piece for the Chronicle of Philanthropy, Ford Foundation President Luis A. Ubiñas addresses the national broadband access issue and explains why Ford has committed $50 million over five years to "support efforts that ensure both that broadband access to the Internet becomes a reality for all citizens and that public-interest values in the online space itself are protected." Citing research and statistics, Ubiñas makes a compelling argument for funders of all ilks to sponsor programs that increase access, while protecting basic freedoms of choice and speech.

(4-5-10) "We have never seen a confluence of specific urgencies, dynamic openings, and innovation like this moment represents. In each of our interest areas, conditions that favor progress have convinced us to spend everything over a short term.

(4-5-10) "'Trust us' is no Response to Those Who Doubt" is Jane Wales' (The Aspen Institute) Huffington Post summary of the recent spate of writing on philanthropy and the contemporary political environment. Wales addresses warnings from the field that suggest a potential backlash against the sector fueled by public anti-government/institution sentiments.

(4-5-10)  Ian Moss at Createquity, referred GIA to this comparison of cultural policy in Sweden, Canada, the U.K., and the U.S.