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Many Nonprofits Include Social Security Numbers on Public Documents, Study Finds
Posted on April 12, 2012 by Steve

From Noelle Barton at The Chronicle of Philanthropy:

Nearly one in five nonprofits publish private Social Security numbers on public tax documents, potentially exposing their supporters and employees to identity theft and other privacy breaches, an examination of federal tax forms has found.
Americans Paying More for Culture, Opportunity Looms on Technology Front
Posted on April 12, 2012 by Steve

From Andre Bouchard at Technology in the Arts:

New information out from the Consumer Price Index (CPI) indicate that Americans are spending more for both technology and entertainment (a catagory that includes cultural expenditures). How can cultural organizations capitalize on this? What does this mean? Articles in both The Atlantic and NPR’s Planet Money look at these trends from a more general standpoint but don’t drill down on the idea for the arts.
NEA Welcomes Ayanna Hudson as New Director of Arts Education
Posted on April 12, 2012 by Steve

In 2011, the National Endowment for the Arts awarded more than $13 million in funding through its arts education program. Beginning on July 2, that significant level of support will be guided by Ayanna Hudson, the agency's new director of arts education. Hudson joins the NEA from the Los Angeles County Arts Commission where she led the commission's lauded Arts for All regional collaborative designed to return arts to the core curriculum.

Nursing Home Resident 'Quickened' by Music Of His Youth
Posted on April 11, 2012 by Steve

A remarkable video was posted to YouTube last week that demonstrates the power of art. Enjoy!

Paradise Lost: Can We Keep Nonprofits From Failing?
Posted on April 10, 2012 by Steve

Richard Dare, CEO and Managing Director of the Brooklyn Philharmonic, writes at Huffington Post:

On my first day in the nonprofit world, I was introduced as “the new suit.” Short shrift indeed for the years I'd spent undergoing rigorous formal musical training. My decades of hard-won success in the for-profit sector, it seemed, had marked me with a sort taint in certain corners of the art world — had made me seem somehow less artistically chaste than I had been considered in my younger days. After all, I must have sold out by choosing to create companies rather than compositions over the intervening span of years. And now here I was suggesting we, as artists, ought to figure out a better way to pay for what we do.
4 Ways You Can Help Save the Arts Programs at Schools
Posted on April 5, 2012 by Steve

From Ashley Niedringhaus at REDBOOK:

When Suzanne Nichols, a mom and drama teacher in Los Angeles, found out that her district was planning to lay off art teachers and kill programs, she stepped up to save them. "It was so unfair to the children," says Suzanne. "When music, drama, and visual arts are a part of the curriculum, children perform better in reading and math, too. My daughter is very artistic, and it broke my heart to think she wouldn't have the chance to develop her talents." So Suzanne launched Save the Arts to inform parents about the staff cuts
Channeling Charlie Rose: 10 Questions to Ask a Foundation Executive
Posted on April 5, 2012 by Steve

NCRP's Yna C. Moore looks for the hard answers:

Award-winning broadcast journalist Charlie Rose is a tough interviewer. And because philanthropy can benefit from some tough love, Nonprofit Nate's 29 Questions for Better Philanthropic Conversations made me wonder: If Charlie Rose were to interview an executive from a major U.S. foundation, what are the kinds of questions would he ask? In channeling Mr. Rose, here are ten questions that a number of my colleagues and I came up with.
Multiplying Presence: 3 Lessons from red, black and GREEN: a blues
Posted on April 3, 2012 by Steve

Writer Eboni Senai Hawkins posts on ARTSblog about the current work of Marc Bamuthi Smith and Theaster Gates:

I am stunned at the synergy in practices between Bamuthi (artist/educator and director of performing arts at Yerba Buena Center for the Arts) and Theaster (artist/urban planner and director of arts and public life at the University of Chicago). For both Bamuthi and Theaster, the “relationship economy” is intrinsic to their work. As I become immersed in Emerging Leaders Network – Chicago (ELN) and the city as a whole, I’ve observed three areas highlighted by rbGb, activated in ELN and others, and rich with opportunities for greater impact in the arts.
Arts Education in Public Elementary and Secondary Schools
Posted on April 3, 2012 by Steve

A ten-year study of arts education in public schools was released on April 2 from the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES). Arts Education in Public Elementary and Secondary Schools: 1999-2000 and 2009-10 presents selected findings from a congressionally mandated study with data collected through seven Fast Response Survey System surveys during the 2009-10 school year. Comparisons with data from the 1999–2000 FRSS arts education study are included where applicable. Here are some responses to the study from the Arts Ed community

NEA Releases Audience Impact Study Literature Review
Posted on April 3, 2012 by Steve

The National Endowment for the Arts announces a new literature review, Audience Impact Study Literature Review. This literature review is one of the NEA's latest efforts to conduct and commission research that examines evidence of the value and impactof the arts in other domains of American life, such as education, health and well-being, community livability, and economic prosperity.