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Health Study of San Francisco Seniors in Choirs
Posted on October 18, 2013 by Steve

Meredith May writes for the San Francisco Chronicle:

It seems true that singing in a choir can be therapeutic, especially for older adults, but a groundbreaking clinical trial is under way in San Francisco to see whether science agrees. Over the next five years, researchers at UCSF will create a dozen senior choirs throughout the city to compare the physical strength, balance, memory and moods of singers versus non-singers.
Supporting Excellence in the Arts: Lessons from GIA 2013
Posted on October 16, 2013 by Steve

Daniel Reid, part of the great stable of bloggers of the Philadelphia conference, posts his post-op entry:

To this newcomer, the 2013 Grantmakers in the Arts conference in Philadelphia was a whirlwind tour through dozens of ideas and themes that have currency among arts funders, from creative placemaking to creativity and aging, from combatting racism in our own practice to ensuring all students receive a robust arts education. A few days after the final breakfast, I’ve achieved some distance from the details, and from that vantage, I want to reflect on a fundamental question that cropped up in various plenary presentations, breakout sessions, and side conversations throughout the conference: How can we as grantmakers most effectively support excellence in the arts? The question has special resonance for me as I step into a new role as Executive Director of the Whiting Foundation, which gives to individual writers.

Read the full post and check out Daniel’s posts at the 2013 Conference Blog.

Orchestras Must Recruit More Black and Latino Musicians, Says Sphinx President
Posted on October 16, 2013 by Steve

From Brian Wise, at WQXR, New York Public Radio:

American orchestras are falling backwards when it comes to hiring black and Latino musicians. Aaron Dworkin, the president and founder of the nonprofit Sphinx Organization, offered a stinging critique of the orchestra field in a speech Tuesday night at Carnegie Hall, saying that symphonies aren’t doing nearly enough to diversify their ranks through recruitment or fellowship programs.
GIA Conference Provides Encouragement
Posted on October 13, 2013 by Steve

Janet Langsman, CEO of ArtsWestchester, writes this editorial for the Daily Voice of Bedford, New York:

Conferences are great tools for encouragement, inspiration and in some cases confirmation. The Grantmakers in the Arts (GIA) conference this week in Philadelphia did not disappoint.
Who do arts funders exist to serve?
Posted on October 13, 2013 by Steve

Diane Ragsdale wraps up her coverage of the GIA 2013 Conference on the conference blog:

Rather than writing up a daily roundup of the sessions I attended at GIA I decided to reflect upon them thematically. The overarching theme of this year’s conference was “The New Creative Community.” In my last post I discussed how this theme seemed to manifest in a general orientation toward the role of the individual artist in moving the field forward. I wrote:
For the first time in a long time I was at an arts conference in which artists (rather than organizations) seemed to have primacy. Where are the new ideas going to come from? Artists. Where does the energy to create community organically originate? Artists. Who are the entrepreneurs in the arts and culture sector? Artists.
Artists and Cultural Institutions Take Stage in Disaster Planning and Response
Posted on October 11, 2013 by Steve

Regine A. Webster, Vice President, Center for Disaster Philanthropy, reports on her session at the Philadelphia conference:

I’ve just returned from a two-day trip to Philadelphia where I attended the Grantmakers in the Arts conference and served on a panel entitled “What Will Your Sandy be? Using Disaster-Related Philanthropy to Strengthen Communities.”
David Byrne: Will Work for Inspiration
Posted on October 9, 2013 by Steve

As part of Creative Time Reports’ Summit Series, musician, artist and bicycle diarist David Byrne considers New York City’s present and future ahead of the 2013 Creative Time Summit: Art, Place & Dislocation in the 21st Century City (which can be viewed via Livestream on October 25–26).

This city doesn’t make things anymore. Creativity, of all kinds, is the resource we have to draw on as a city and a country in order to survive.
Impact of the Federal Shutdown on the Arts
Posted on October 6, 2013 by Steve

From Lauri Baskin, writing for TCG Circle:

As you know, because the U.S. Senate and the House of Representatives were unable to reach a deal on funding federal government operations as the new fiscal year started today, the federal government was forced to shutdown for the first time in 17 years. We hope the stalemate is resolved quickly, and in the meanwhile, this is what we know.

Read the full post.

Twenty Major Issues GIA Members Face
Posted on October 1, 2013 by Steve

Barry Hessenius will be on the team of bloggers covering the GIA 2013 Conference. He posts to the GIA Conference Blog on the issues he hopes to see discussed.

As I look forward to the GIA Conference next week, and the speakers and panels and sessions that will attempt to address some of the issues arts funders face, I know that much of the serious discussion will go on outside of those planned activities — in the lobbies and hallways, at the bar, and during the breaks and at breakfasts, lunches, dinners and receptions. I know that there are scores of issues on the minds of the different attendees — issues they grapple with all year. I know too that there are no easy answers to most of the challenges funders face; no necessarily right or wrong answers.
NEA Funding Guidelines for Our Town
Posted on September 25, 2013 by Steve

The National Endowment for the Arts has released guidelines and application materials for Our Town, the agency's primary creative placemaking grants program. Pending availability of funding, grants will range from $25,000 to $200,000. Application deadline is January 13, 2014 at 11:59 PM ET, and a webinar to learn more about this funding opportunity will be held on November 4, 2013 at 2:00 PM ET.