Music

2006, 27 pages. Metropolitan Regional Arts Council, 2324 University Avenue West, Suite 114, Saint Paul, Minnesota 55114, 651-645-0402, www.mrac.org

Download pdf at The Bush Foundation website

"Harmony is not an arts destination. We seek the arts at the core of everyday lives. We simply want a more solid community, a well-rounded community, beauty in our lives." — Paula Michel, Harmony Arts Council

"Return with me now to those thrilling days of yesteryear

In the past year, the phrase "net neutrality" has become much more frequent in conversation and in the news. What does it mean and should arts grantmakers be concerned? To help answer the question, short excerpts from several sources are presented below. In addition a session will be presented at GIA's 2006 conference, "Keeping the Internet Open," organized by David Haas (chair, Grantmakers for Film and Electronic Media In the past year, the phrase "net neutrality" has become much more frequent in conversation and in the news. What does it mean and should arts grantmakers be concerned?

Imagine throwing an arts event and the entire community shows up. This is oftentimes what takes place in the towns delightfully portrayed in Bright Stars, a publication from the McKnight Foundation in Minneapolis, Minnesota. In Neal Cuthbert's foreword to this award-winning piece, it is underscored that rural communities in Minnesota are suffering in several ways due to listless econo-mies and dramatically shifting demographics.

Background
The cultural sector does not exist in a vacuum. It is being challenged by major demographic, economic, technological, and social factors outside its immediate control. While the commercial arts and individual artists are also struggling to adapt to these changes, for a variety of reasons the nonprofit arts sector has been particularly slow to respond effectively.

"I believe that if we can keep our values close, our imaginations open, and our stories fierce, we can and will win." - Thenmozhi Soundararajan

Introduction

2005, 65 pages. McKnight Foundation, 710 Second Street South, Suite 400, Minneapolis, MN 55401, 612-333-4220

Carolyn Bye, executive director of the Metropolitan Regional Arts Council, writes in the introduction that You Are Here reports on the "small steps" taken by communities in the Twin Cities suburbs since the publication of A New Angle: Arts Development in the Suburbs in 2002. The report features profiles of twelve suburban art projects and a detailed pull-out map showing where to find them and many others.

Beginning in 1999, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) launched a global initiative to strengthen arts education. In 2003, Portuguese delegates to the United Nations called for a global conference to address this aim, resulting in the first-ever World Conference on Arts Education. The World Conference brought together 1,200 artists, educators, policy makers, and researchers from over ninety-seven countries in Lisbon, Portugal from March 6-9, 2006.

The hallmarks of a just and civil society reflect the values of artistic freedom and the rights of free expression. Increasingly these rights are threatened by the "clearance culture" that is found in most creative industries and assumes that almost no quotation can be used without permission from the owner. Fair Use is an important yet often misunderstood legal right.

These thoughts were sparked by attending the Council on Foundations 57th Annual Conference, "Philanthropy: Investing in the Vision of Progress." I was especially engaged by the plenary remarks of George Soros and Newt Gingrich.