GIA Blog

More on Issues of Whiteness and Diversity...
Posted on March 11, 2013 by Steve

Roberto Bedoya's guest-blog post last month for the Engaging Matters blog raised questions that carried the discussion to other blogs, including a pair of great posts from Nina Simon from her Museum 2.0 blog and Clay Lord from his New Beans blog:

I think it’s important to say that I feel a little like a lamb in the woods on this diversity stuff, not so much because I am innocent to the effects (or causes) of casual racism as because I was naïve about the extent of the issue. As I continue to delve into this data, much of which (at least in relation to race—other forms of diversity, which I’m also looking at, are not really touched on here) paints a picture where whiteness, this giant mass that surrounds almost all institutional arts presenting in the US today, should be excruciatingly obvious, and is instead so large and ever-present as to become invisible, like air.
Are Arts Relevant in a 21st Century World?
Posted on March 9, 2013 by Steve

From Katie Koch for The Harvard Gazette:

Americans themselves, as repeated Gallup polls have found, say that the variety of social offerings — primarily arts and culture — is the most important factor in keeping them attached to the place they live. But as many artists and cultural groups know all too well, public money hasn’t always followed public sentiment. With that in mind, the Hauser Center for Nonprofit Organizations is launching a multiyear project to analyze links among funding, participation, and the vitality of the arts in six U.S. urban centers, starting with Detroit and the San Francisco Bay area. The hope, its leaders say, is to use hard data to develop bold policies to support the arts at the local and national level.
Sequester Cuts Cultural Agencies
Posted on March 8, 2013 by Steve

Gladstone Payton posts to ARTSblog on the latest information regarding the effects of the sequester on arts and culture funding:

As you have no doubt been following in the headlines, specific parts of the federal budget, including that of the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA), have been impacted by a budgetary control called “sequestration” beginning last Friday.

This sequester, totaling $85 billion, will reduce funding to almost all areas of domestic social programs by about 5 percent, which would mean about $7.3 million at the NEA.

$20,000 Artists Fellowships Announced by Regional Arts Commission of St. Louis
Posted on March 8, 2013 by Steve

Beginning in 2013, ten St. Louis artists will each be awarded a $20,000 Fellowship. This new funding of individual artists from the Regional Arts Commission of St. Louis (RAC) is based on the results of Artists Count, a comprehensive survey of regional artists and creatives which was conducted and analyzed by William Cleveland, principal of the Center for the Study of Art and Community along with his research associate Dr. Patricia Shifferd. The Kresge Foundation funded the survey.

“This is a sea change for RAC because we only have funded nonprofit organizations and consortiums since we were created in 1985,” said Jill McGuire, executive director of RAC. “This decision is in step with our visionary plan to support an environment in which artists are valued and thriving as part of a robust creative community.”

TAAC Requests Proposals for Open Dialogue
Posted on March 8, 2013 by Steve

The Association of American Cultures (TAAC) has a call for session proposals out for Open Dialogue: People, Places, and Policy. Deadline for submitting a proposal is Monday, March 25. The event will take place August 2-4, 2013 at the Providence Biltmore Hotel in Providence, RI.

McKnight Foundation Announces Departure of Laura Zimmermann
Posted on March 6, 2013 by Steve

The McKnight Foundation's arts program officer, Laura Zimmermann, also a member of the GIA Board of Directors, will will step down from her position in May, according to this note from Vickie Benson, Arts Program Director:

Dear colleague: I am writing today to let you know that Laura Zimmermann has decided to leave her role as arts program officer and director of artist fellowships at The McKnight Foundation. Laura’s last day at McKnight will be May 3. Of course, I am sad to lose Laura as a colleague, but happy to know she is leaving to concentrate on other important loves in her life. In her own words, she and her family have “hatched a plan to buy some time to write regularly, think expansively, and parent conscientiously.”
Animating Democracy Presents Webinar Series on Evaluation
Posted on March 6, 2013 by Steve

EVALUATION IN ACTION! is a series of four webinars to be presented in the coming months by Animating Democracy, and co-presented by M. Christine Dwyer of RMC Research with guest arts practitioners and evaluators. The goal of the series is to sharpen evaluative thinking and build confidence and can-do capacity in evaluation methods that produce meaningful, useful information.

Ford Foundation’s President to Depart in September
Posted on March 6, 2013 by Steve

From Caroline Preston at The Chronicle of Philanthropy:

Luis Ubiñas, a former McKinsey & Company executive whose 2007 appointment to lead the Ford Foundation came as a surprise to many in philanthropy, announced yesterday that he will step down from the post in September. During his tenure, Mr. Ubiñas refocused the 77-year-old foundation’s grant-making programs and oversaw sharp staff cuts amid the recession.
Will Black Millennials Be The Next Wave Of Philanthropists?
Posted on March 6, 2013 by Steve

From Eleanor Goldberg, writing for Huffington Post:

After noticing that few others were pushing young African-Americans to give charity, Ebonie Johnson Cooper, founder of Friends of Ebonie, started her marketing firm in 2009 to serve as a philanthropic resource for black millennials, according to her website. She's now working on ramping up her efforts through her networking and panel events and her blog to redefine the face of philanthropy by pushing black millennials to give more money to causes, the Washington Post reported.
The Cultural Data Project and Its Impact on Arts Organizations
Posted on March 5, 2013 by Tommer

A thoughtful overview of the CDP by Talia Gibas and Amanda Keil posted on Createquity.

For all of the predictions flying back and forth about what 2013 holds for the arts and culture sector in the United States, one of the few things we can say with near-certainty is that 2013 will be a year of major transition for the Cultural Data Project (CDP).