Program-related Investment

1998, 20 pages, The Flinn Foundation, 3300 North Central Avenue, Suite 2300, Phoenix, Arizona 85012, 602-274-9000, info[at]flinn.org

The highlight of summer in Santa Fe this year was the June 17 (1997) opening of the Georgia O'Keefe Museum, a project of the Burnett Foundation. Anyone needing a caterer, carpenter, or waiter was...well, disappointed. The entire town was consumed by opening festivities. As one grantmaker noted, this was Georgia's version of “Desert Storm.” The number of museum visitors staff predicted for the entire year was roughly 150,000—but in the six weeks following the opening, numbers have already totaled 90,000.

The Boston Foundation is one of the oldest community foundations in the nation. With an asset base of about $500 million, it makes grants of approximately $20 million each year in the Greater Boston area. For the past four years, the Foundation's discretionary grantmaking has been guided by its Building Family and Community Initiative. This initiative focuses on helping Boston's children and their families overcome poverty.

The following article is based on excerpts from a program examination by Arts Action Research.

Bimbo Rivas: Artist Profile

There are an abundance of theories — and even more clichés — about why the arts should be in young people's lives. However, academically rigorous research that demonstrates the power of the arts is scarce. This article summarizes a decade of research by a team of anthropologists in after-school programs identified by young people themselves as high quality. The researchers found common characteristics that made these programs successful, whether their focus was academic, sport, community service, or the arts. The balance of these characteristics differs among programs, though.

Typically when businesses decide to support the arts they do so through a grant-giving mechanism or through a program that places employees as volunteers and consultants in arts organizations. But, I've noticed a different kind of interaction between the profit-making and not-for-profit art worlds in recent years. Some business people have set up foundations dedicated to improving the ethical and cultural context in which their own professions practice.

The book was published by Americans for the Arts' Institute for Community Development and the Arts. Copies may be ordered from the organization at 100 Vermont Avenue N.W., 12th floor, Washington, D.C. 20005.

1999, 556 pages, Alpert Award in the Arts, 1414 Sixth Street, Santa Monica, California 90401.

"Somewhere between tête-à-tête and performance” is the way Irene Borger, program director of the CalArts/Alpert Award in the Arts, describes the interviews with twenty award recipients that are featured in this volume marking the program's fifth anniversary.

2006, 54 pages. John S. and James L Knight Foundation , Suite 3300, 200 South Biscayne Boulevard, Miami, FL, 33131-2349, 305-908-2600

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"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