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Artists Bring What Schools Need
Posted on February 3, 2012 by Steve

From Nick Rabkin for The Huffington Post:

The practice of teachers in classrooms is what matters most when it comes to students learning in school. The principle strategies of school reform — 'higher' standards, school and teacher 'accountability', intensified testing, and 'choice' — may affect teacher practice indirectly, but the the relatively poor record of school reform over the last three decades, especially in schools serving low-income students, suggests that those strategies are of no great consequence to the quality of teaching. They may even be counterproductive.
Arts Education Standards, Assessment Focus of NEA Webcast
Posted on February 1, 2012 by Steve

The National Endowment for the Arts will host Improving Arts Learning through Standards & Assessment: A National Endowment for the Arts Research Roundtable, a webcast and roundtable discussion, on Tuesday, February 14, 2012 beginning at 8:30AM and running to 3:00PM EST. No pre-registration is necessary. To view the webcast simply log on to the NEA’s website at the scheduled date and time.

Future of Music Coalition's Artist Revenue Study: Fan-Funding, Grants Outweigh Merch, Sponsorship
Posted on January 31, 2012 by Steve

From Glenn Peoples at Billboard:

The first results of the Future of Music Coalition's Artist Revenue Stream project show the average musician gets more from fans and grants than merchandise and corporate sponsorships. The cross-genre research project collected data on over 5,000 US-based musicians and composers.

Lead or Follow?
Posted on January 31, 2012 by Steve

ArtsJournal.com has a rich discussion underway with many contributors. The question being considered is this:

Increasingly, audiences have more visibility for their opinions about the culture they consume. Cultural institutions know more and more about their audiences and their wants. Some suggest this new transparency argues for a different relationship between artists and audience. So the question: In this age of self expression and information overload, do our artists and arts organizations need to lead more or learn to follow their communities more?

It’s Not Just Artists but the Subways They Take That Drives Gentrification
Posted on January 29, 2012 by Steve

Matt Chaban at The New York Observer takes another look at how artists affect gentrification of neighborhoods:

Everybody knows the old saw about how artist migrations and subway access help drive gentrification in the city, but we never realized the two were quite so intertwined.

Mesmerized by Metrics: Is Philanthropy Engaging in Magical Thinking?
Posted on January 28, 2012 by Steve

The Nonprofit Quarterly has published the text of remarks made by Bill Schambra to the Wallace Foundation on January 12, 2012. Schambra offers a critical examination of The Wallace Foundation's focus on measurement and evidence-based approach to philanthropy:

This should be the moment when foundations realize that metrics, no matter how promising, do very little to sway policy decisions. Instead, they tell themselves that were it not for this one little election or unfavorable school board vote or budget crisis, the project would have worked wonderfully.

FMC on SOPA/PIPA: What Are the Takeaways?
Posted on January 26, 2012 by Steve

The Future of Music Coalition looks at the state of the legislation:

In the aftermath of Congress delaying further action on the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) and the PROTECT-IP Act (PIPA), there’s been a rush to summarize what the debate might mean for the future of technology and copyright policy. Naturally, we have a few thoughts.

Luckman To Step Down From Alvin Ailey Dance Foundation
Posted on January 26, 2012 by Steve

From Kia Makarechi at Huffington Post:

According to a press release from the Alvin Ailey Dance Foundation, executive director Sharon Gersten Luckman will step down in 2013 to pursue other plans. Luckman has held her position at Ailey for 16 years and is largely credited with breathing new life into a program which was on the verge of bankruptcy when she took over.

Frieze Art Fair New York Announces Commissioned Art Projects
Posted on January 26, 2012 by Steve

From The New York Times Art Beat blog:

The American version of London’s annual Frieze Art Fair, which makes its debut in New York in May, wants to be more than just another place to see and buy contemporary art. Using its unusual and remote location – the 256-acre Randall’s Island, in the East River between East Harlem, the South Bronx and Astoria, Queens – it has commissioned eight artists to construct what is calls “a temporary pop-up village.”

NEA Media Arts Webinar January 26
Posted on January 23, 2012 by Steve

The Media Arts funding area of the National Endowment for the Arts continues to evolve in tandem with the dynamic nature of the media arts field. Public feedback on our approach to this funding category will be taken and discussed during a webinar on Thursday, January 26. You’ll be able to hear directly from NEA staff and members of the Arts in Media panels and text to us your questions and comments.