1. GIA Blog
  2. Steve's Blog

Steve's Blog

Art Therapy Transforms Warriors into Artists
Posted on November 15, 2011 by Steve

This week, BBC premiered the film "Art for Heroes," an examination of the role of art therapy in the rehabilitation of military persons who are now combating post-traumatic stress disorder. From Cathy Malchiodi at Psychology Today:

Art making is pitched as an "unlikely weapon" against trauma reactions and presenter Tim Samuels explores just how drawing, painting and imagination are helping veterans to repair and recover from the psychological wounds of war.
The Philanthropic-Consultant Industrial Complex
Posted on November 15, 2011 by Steve

From Jan Masaoka at Blue Avocado:

In the blink of 15 years, we've gone from a time when there was hardly any nonprofit infrastructure support to one where it feels as if the infrastructure—we coined the term Philanthropic-Consultant Industrial Complex—outweighs the nonprofits doing the actual work.
The Fight over Net Neutrality is Far From Over
Posted on November 15, 2011 by Steve

From Sean Bowie at Technology in the Arts:

Last month, I wrote about what I consider to be the most important public policy issue affecting the arts/technology community, the issue of net neutrality. Since then, a wave of new developments have shifted the playing field and ratcheted up the fight over what is quickly becoming one of the most contentious policy issues in all of Washington. With the new FCC regulations slated to go into effect this Sunday, the legal and political wrangling over the issue is far from over, and the very future of the Internet as we know it is at stake.
Alaska State Council on the Arts names new Executive Director
Posted on November 14, 2011 by Steve

The Alaska State Council on the Arts has selected Shannon Daut from Denver, Colorado, as the new Executive Director, effective January 9, 2012. Daut, 37, currently serves as Deputy Director of the Western States Arts Federation (WESTAF) a regional membership organization comprised of the 13 western state arts agencies. She replaces Executive Director Charlotte Fox, who has announced her retirement.

Romney Would Cut Culture Spending in Half
Posted on November 11, 2011 by Steve

From Mike Boehm at the Los Angeles Times:

Earlier this month, candidate [Mitt] Romney targeted two federal arts and cultural grantmaking agencies, the National Endowment for the Arts and the National Endowment for the Humanities, for “deep reductions.”
Do America’s Orchestras Serve All People in Our Communities?
Posted on November 11, 2011 by Steve

Jesse Rosen, President and CEO of the League of American Orchestras, posts to the American Orchestra Forum about Fusing Arts, Culture and Social Change, a report from the National Committee for Responsive Philanthropy:

Since participating in our panel on the question of orchestras and community, I have been giving some thought to a new report from the National Committee for Responsive Philanthropy that challenges the extent to which orchestras serve their communities and suggested that small organizations might be a better outlet for support.
Post-Election Impact on the Arts
Posted on November 10, 2011 by Steve

Americans for the Arts Action Fund has issued a report on the outcomes of Tuesday's elections:

The 2011 election proved to be a fairly good year for incumbents. Many candidates who are supportive of the arts and creative economies within their state or region were elected into office. There were only two gubernatorial elections this year. In Kentucky, Democratic Governor Steve Beshear won re-election over his republican contender. Earlier this year in May, Beshear announced the creation of a statewide cultural district certification program.
Art In The Recession: In Tough Economy, Artists Act Anew
Posted on November 9, 2011 by Steve

Huffington Post is launching The Recessionary Arts: A HuffPost Culture Series, a series of articles that over the next two months “will explore how the recession is reshaping our nation's cultural state, and what this means for artists, consumers and the future of the arts.”

The first article comes from Lucas Kavner, a Huffington Post Culture and Media Reporter, titled Art In The Recession: In Tough Economy, Artists Act Anew:

Despite dim job prospects and ever-dwindling paychecks, more artists are living and working in America today than ever before. If as sociologist Charles Horton Cooley once said, “an artist cannot fail; it is a success to be one,” then success in America is at an all-time high.

At a time when making and distributing art to the masses is easier and more widely consumed than ever, at least 2.2 million people in the United States can be classified as professional artists, up from 1.9 million in 1996. And as artists have proliferated, arts organizations have followed suit; According to a report from Americans for the Arts, there are over 100,000 non-profit arts groups and 550,000 for-profit arts businesses in the U.S today. Between 2003 and 2009, a new nonprofit arts organization was created in the U.S. every three hours.

Deconstructing, Reconstructing and Tidying Up Art
Posted on November 9, 2011 by Steve

Elizabeth Quaglieri examines some recent endeavor at the intersection of art and technology for her post on Technology in the Arts:

Exhibitions like these generate much discussion in both the academic and professional art world, as the issue of the digitization of art remains a hot topic of debate. What is most inspiring about these remastered pieces is the beauty in the medium. As an art history student and Italian Renaissance aficionado, I am neither offended nor resistant to the digital world’s claim it can reproduce or master painterly qualities and techniques in its own medium.
Council on Foundations Names New Vice President and CIO
Posted on November 7, 2011 by Steve

The Council on Foundations today announced that Mark Bolgiano has joined its senior leadership team as vice president and chief information officer. The announcement came at a board meeting of the Technology Affinity Group (TAG), an organization of foundation technology leaders, which is in Charleston for its annual conference.