GIA Blog

In Response to The Charitable-Industrial Complex
Posted on July 30, 2013 by Steve

James V. Toscano responds to the Peter Buffett editorial on the blog The Good Counsel:

Let’s establish some social wealth incubators, capitalize and staff them, open doors, do the due diligence necessary within the risk environment and welcome all comers.
The Charitable-Industrial Complex
Posted on July 28, 2013 by Steve

Peter Buffett pens this editorial for The New York Times:

I HAD spent much of my life writing music for commercials, film and television and knew little about the world of philanthropy as practiced by the very wealthy until what I call the big bang happened in 2006. That year, my father, Warren Buffett, made good on his commitment to give nearly all of his accumulated wealth back to society. In addition to making several large donations, he added generously to the three foundations that my parents had created years earlier, one for each of their children to run.
Darren Walker Named New President of Ford Foundation
Posted on July 25, 2013 by Tommer

On Thursday, Darren Walker, 53, will take the next step in a career that has taken him from Harlem to world-famous foundations five and a half miles away in Midtown Manhattan. He is to be named president of the Ford Foundation, the nation’s second-largest philanthropic organization.

More on the NEA Budget Process
Posted on July 24, 2013 by Tommer

Here's a concise description of how the budget process plays out by Andrew Finch, director of policy for the Association of Art Museum Directors, posted on CultureGrrl.

2014 Budget Plan Reduces NEA funds by 49%
Posted on July 23, 2013 by Tommer
The bill includes $75 million for each for the NEA and NEH, which is a reduction of $71 million (49%) per endowment compared to the fiscal year 2013 enacted level.

We Might Be Right: A Libertarian Voice in the Theater
Posted on July 22, 2013 by Steve

From Caleb Winebrenner, writing for Howl Round:

Augusto Boal says in The Rainbow of Desire that theater is an inherently human vocation. It’s something we all are, but something “some of us also do.” What I find so compelling about this distinction is Boal’s emphasis on what theater can make possible for an individual person. Theater is like a mirror, it’s dichotomizing. We can act as ourself, and we can see ourselves acting. We can have past, present, and even future versions of ourselves on stage—and reflect on what this means. As someone who also does theater, this also means that I’m not just focused on what theater can be for me—asserting my own individual rights, exercising my freedoms of speech and assembly—but what it can be for other people.
How Are Artists Getting Paid?
Posted on July 22, 2013 by Steve

From Alexis Clements, at Hyperallergic:

Art and labor is a big topic today, at least among artists. Specifically, it has become ever more obvious that virtually none of the money that flows into major arts institutions, companies that distribute creative content, and art markets actually reaches the artists who generate the work. And people are getting vocal about it.
Detroit’s Creditors Eye Its Art Collection
Posted on July 21, 2013 by Steve

We posted two months ago about the director of the Detroit Institute of the Arts’ response to the city's emergency manager showing interest in selling parts of the Institute’s Art collection to help get Detroit out of debt. Last week Detroit filed for bankruptcy, and the city’s art collection is squarely in the sights of creditors.

Unlike most art museums around the country, which are owned by nonprofit corporations that hold a collection in trust for citizens, the institute is owned by Detroit, as is much of its collection — which is not particularly deep but includes gems by artists like Bruegel, Caravaggio, Rembrandt and van Gogh. It is considered among the top 10 encyclopedic museums in the country.
Henry Luce Foundation Grants American Folk Art Museum $1.6M
Posted on July 19, 2013 by Steve

Last month, the Henry Luce Foundation, in conjunction with its 75th anniversary initiative, awarded the American Folk Art Museum $1.6 million in funding for a national traveling exhibition of masterworks from the Museum’s collection. The exhibition, Self-Taught Genius: Treasures from the American Folk Art Museum, features more than 100 works of art that celebrate the singular power of folk art and art by the self-taught. The exhibition will showcase the Museum’s collection – examining “selftaught” as an enduring American art form with changing implications over three centuries.

Artists Health Insurance Survey Underway
Posted on July 18, 2013 by Steve

From now through August 31, 2013, Future of Music Coalition, Fractured Atlas and the Artists’ Health Insurance Resource Center are joining forces with artist service organizations across the country to take the pulse of the artist community regarding access to health insurance via an online survey.