Lara Davis has been active in youth development and community arts education for more than a decade. She has served as a Seattle arts commissioner and as program director for Arts Corps, a youth arts organization. At the Seattle Office of Arts and Culture, Lara manages Creative Advantage, a public/private partnership to ensure equitable access to high quality arts learning for all Seattle students.
GIA Blog
Posted on September 23, 2015 by Steve
Former Director California Arts Council, President California Assembly of Local Arts Agencies, and Executive Director of LINES Ballet. Author, consultant, blogger and public speaker. Barry published his work Hardball Lobbying for Nonprofits in 2007 (Macmillan & Company, New York). He conducted a two phase study with reports released in 2007 and 2009 for the Hewlett Foundation on the issue of generational management & succession in the arts.
Posted on September 23, 2015 by Steve
Grantmakers in the Arts is pleased to have a fantastic pair of bloggers covering the 2015 Conference in Los Angeles. Blogging veteran Barry Hessenius of WESTAF, and Lara Davis, Arts Education Manager, Seattle Office of Arts & Culture will all be posting their comments and reactions beginning Sunday, October 18. We hope you enjoy their observations and that you join the conversation.
Posted on September 17, 2015 by Steve
From Melena Ryzik, writing for The New York Times:
Michele Maccarone, in a flowy black jumpsuit, was striding across the cement floor of her cavernous new gallery (in Los Angeles) last week, debating where brightly colored abstract paintings by Alex Hubbard should go. “There’s just, like, this endless amount of really incredible space,” she said, as Mr. Hubbard and assistants moved the weighty frames for his solo show. At 35,000 square feet indoors, with an additional 10,000 square feet outside earmarked for a sculpture garden, the Maccarone gallery, in industrial Boyle Heights, is the length of a city block.
Posted on September 17, 2015 by Steve
The Kresge Foundation Board of Trustees approved an ambitious plan to invest $350 million by 2020 through the foundation’s Social Investment Practice, making clear that using a variety of investment tools is central to bringing enhanced opportunities to low-income people in America’s cities. The $350 million represents approximately 10 percent of the foundation’s corpus as of 2015. As the foundation expands its use of these types of investments, it will continue to align them with its six program areas — Arts & Culture, Education, Environment, Health, Human Services and Community Development in Detroit — and make nearly $140 million in grants each year.
Posted on September 17, 2015 by Steve
From Jordan Levin at the Miami Herald:
As Miami’s arts season gears up with an overflowing slate of museum exhibits, ballet premieres, and more culture than any individual could ever absorb, it’s easy to take the city’s vibrant artistic life for granted. But only one generation ago, Miami was widely derided as a cultural wasteland. The dynamic creative scene that has become such an integral part of Miami’s character was created in an extraordinary — and extraordinarily unlikely — burst of cultural energy in the 1980s.
Posted on September 15, 2015 by Steve
From Phil Buchanan, writing for The Center for Effective Philanthropy:
CEP’s data and analysis confirm that foundations just can’t do certain things well without staff. This isn’t just a theory, and the story about Wilburforce Foundation I told in my last post isn’t some fluke. Analysis of CEP’s grantee survey demonstrates the link between foundation staffing and certain aspects of performance, as experienced by grantees.
Posted on September 14, 2015 by Steve
From Carol Motsinger at the Cincinnati Enquirer:
ArtsWave isn’t just an ATM for Cincinnati’s cultural institutions and efforts. Yes, the nonprofit supports over 100 local organizations with the nation’s oldest and largest community campaign for the arts: In 2015, some 42,000 donors raised $12.25 million. But, says president and CEO Alecia Kintner, the financial support is just the beginning. The new 10-year-plan for the almost 90-year-old organization is designed to ensure that this investment yields massive community-wide impact.
Posted on September 10, 2015 by Steve
Julia del Palacio and Alyssa Alpine, both from the City University of New York (CUNY), look at the ways the CUNY Dance Initiative works to enhance the cultural fabric of the college system (as well as the city) in the Reader article, The CUNY Dance Initiative: Building Bridges through Vacant Spaces.
Posted on September 10, 2015 by Steve
From Eileen Cunniffe, writing for Nonprofit Quarterly:
Earlier this week, NPQ reported on a novel approach to civic engagement in Minneapolis: artist residencies in city planning departments, aimed at sparking fresh ideas for solving urban issues. Today, we note that the North Star State is also an innovator when it comes to integrating the arts into its rural communities. As reporter Kristin Tillotson says, “Across Minnesota, small towns and farms are busy putting the culture in agriculture.”