GIA Chair Regina Smith Interviewed on Barry's Blog

On Barry's Blog Sunday, a post by Barry Hessenius on the upcoming Grantmakers in the Arts 2012 Conference in Miami, including an overview of session topics, his experience of the last two GIA conferences, and comments on GIA's new capitalization, arts education, and equity initiatives. Also included is an interview with GIA Chair and Senior Program Officer at The Kresge Foundation Regina Smith, who discusses GIA's evolving programs and Kresge's Creative Placemaking initiatives.

Hessenius offers the following words on what, in past years, he has found most valuable about GIA's annual convening of arts funders:

But despite an undeniable comprehensive inclusion of almost all the topics conceivable, the thing I will miss most about not being at this conference this year, is the casual, but serious conversations that go on between the sessions - over coffee in the morning, in the lobby or over dinner at night. Making those conversations possible and more likely is the fact that this isn't a mega sized conference of a thousand people or more. Several hundred makes it much more manageable and intimate. These are honestly some of the smartest people in our field. They have experience and knowledge. They value thought and are increasingly less risk averse. And while they cannot solve all the challenges facing our field, nonetheless, it is they who are charged with trying to do just that.

Read the full post here.