Conceptual Art

We just returned from yet another community gathering where arts leaders sought the support of their business and civic counterparts by documenting the "economic impact" of arts spending and employment in their region.

• An Artist's Guide to September 11 Relief Efforts
• A Non-Profit's Guide to September 11 Relief Efforts

November 2001, 29 pages (artist's guide), 19 pages (nonprofit's guide). The New York Foundation for the Arts, 155 Avenue of the Americas, 14th floor, New York, NY 10013, 212-366-6900.

November 2001, 24 pages. Working Group on International Collaboration in the Arts, Arts International, 251 Park Avenue South, 5th Floor, New York, NY 10010-7302, 212-674-9744, 212-674-9092 fax.

Overhaul of Elementary and Secondary Education

Last October I attended my first "Social Theory, Politics and the Arts" conference, speaking on a panel with playwright Brian Freeman, writer Karen Clark, and puppeteer/actor Jonathan Youtt to offer reflections from artists at the conference's culmination. The gathering's international scope was refreshing and eye-opening.

As a company built on creative expression, Hallmark Cards has maintained a longstanding commitment to supporting the arts. Hallmark's charitable contributions come from the profits of Hallmark Cards, Inc., and from the Hallmark Corporate Foundation, an endowed foundation funded solely by Hallmark Cards. During the year 2000, arts and culture philanthropy totaled $2,173,897 or 23 percent of the company's overall charitable program.

On November 12, 2000, a headline on the front page of the Atlanta Journal/Constitution read, "Study finds Atlanta arts community trailing peers." A full-page story in Section A followed. This one headline challenged the city's cherished self-assessment as "cultural jewel of the South" and quietly affirmed the suspicions of many of its artists and cultural workers.

This is the story about the headline, the study, and the volunteer efforts of an incorporated ad hoc group that calls itself the Atlanta Arts Think Tank and that commissioned the landmark study.

Two streams of thought come together here. On the one hand, we want the Reader to reflect the continuing impact on our lives of the events of September 11, 2001. On the other, we want to follow an emphasis in GIA's current plan on the organization's second purpose — to increase the presence of arts philanthropy within philanthropy in order to strengthen support for arts and culture.

January 2002, 19 page pamphlet. Western States Arts Federation, 1543 Champa Street, Suite 220, Denver, CO 80202, 303-629-1166.

The Culture of Marketing, the Marketing of Culture by John Seabrook
2000, 215 pages, Alfred A. Knopf

American Culture, American Tastes Social Change and the Twentieth Century by Michael Kammen
1999, 320 pages, Basic Books