Artist Trust Executive Director Fidelma McGinn announced today her resignation to assume the position of Vice President of Philanthropic Services at The Seattle Foundation. She will remain at Artist Trust through mid-January 2012 to support its search for a new executive director. Under McGinn’s leadership, Artist Trust deepened its relationships with arts supporters and engaged new funders. She maintained a balanced annual budget of more than $1 million over six successive years, leaving the organization in a strong financial position despite industry-wide effects of the recession.
Steve's Blog
Posted on November 22, 2011 by Steve
The National Endowment for the Arts will present the first-ever federal Interagency Research Task Force on the Arts and Human Development at a free webinar on Wednesday, November 30, 2011, 10:00am EST / 7:00am PST.
Earlier this year, NEA Chairman Rocco Landesman and Health and Human Services Kathleen Sebelius convened a day-long research summit to explore the role of the arts and human development across the life span. A white paper published from that convening pointed to many studies that have found links between the arts and positive cognitive, behavioral, and social outcomes.
Posted on November 20, 2011 by Steve
Arts Journal blogger Doug Borwick, President of the Board of the Association of Arts Administration Educators, looks at the issues addressed in the play “A Night at the Opera” that was performed at the GIA 2011 conference in San Francisco, as part of the session “Too Progressive, Too Elite: Public Value and the Paradox of the Arts.” Watch the video of the performance below, if you haven't already seen it.
Based on interviews with arts funders, artists, arts managers, and (a few) politicians, A Night at the Opera addresses two basic questions. Are the arts elitist? and Are the arts leftist propaganda? (Well “leftist propaganda” is not the word they used. They said “progressive” to be less confrontational, I’m sure.)
Posted on November 19, 2011 by Steve
David Dombrosky has assembled, via Storify, the best of the NAMP Conference: "Thoughts, content, zingers, multimedia, and more from the 2011 National Arts Marketing Project Conference in Louisville, Kentucky."
Posted on November 18, 2011 by Steve
The Quixote Foundation's Tiltings post for November 2011 addresses the growing “We are the 1%. We stand with the 99%” movement and focuses on the complicated relationships foundations have with the Occupy movement. It's a must-read for its thoughtfulness and for a pragmatic examination of what foundations can do positively in this political climate:
What do foundations have in common with the 1%? We’re organizations, not individuals, it’s true; but our raison d’être is using untaxed wealth to carry out the wishes of its “former owners.” As long as we stick to a few regulations, only the founders or their heirs and appointees can have a say in what we do. If this tax break can pay for itself by channeling riches into the public good, why is there no equivalent deduction for ordinary folks who make nonprofit gifts, unless they have sufficient income or assets to itemize?
Posted on November 17, 2011 by Steve
At a public panel discussion in Rapid City, South Dakota, today, National Endowment for the Arts Chairman Rocco Landesman announced that the agency will award 863 grants to organizations and individual writers across the country. The awards total $22.543 million, encompass 15 artistic disciplines and fields, and support projects in 47 states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico.
Posted on November 15, 2011 by Steve
From Nathaniel James at co.exist:
Lucy Bernholz wants the giant organizations that dole out millions in funds to start embracing becoming more transparent, open, and democratic. It’s an uphill battle, but the Open Philanthropy movement is gaining steam.
Posted on November 15, 2011 by Steve
Grantmakers in Film + Electronic Media (GFEM) has posted presentations and resources from the 2011 GIA Conference Art & Technology Preconference. Presentations slides and video material are available for downloading. To see what that preconference entailed, visit the archived 2011 conference website.
Posted on November 15, 2011 by Steve
More on the debate over Ticket Discounting from Future of Music Coalition:
Back in May, Live Nation and online discount service Groupon announced a joint venture to bring live event tickets to the deal-a-day online discounting space. The service, dubbed GrouponLive, is meant to combine the local distribution power of Groupon’s online coupons with Live Nation’s broad reach as concert promoter and ticket broker...
With the initial success of the model, many believe that ticket discount sales will continue to grow in popularity and frequency. Benn, in an interview with BBC’s Radio 1, continued, “It’s definitely emerging. In tough economic times people will look at varying ways of pricing their tickets.” But others in the artist and promoter communities are concerned.
Posted on November 15, 2011 by Steve
From The Chronicle of Philanthropy, as the campaign for the GOP nomination progresses, keep track of the Republican candidates’ nonprofit activities, their records on philanthropic issues and stances on tax policy.