GIA Blog

Posted on March 2, 2012 by Steve

John Killacky for ARTSblog:

Recently I served as a panelist for the National Science Foundation’s Antarctic Artists and Writers Program. Forty-nine applicants wanted to be embedded in scientific research teams. They sought to explore the ethos, mythologies, and realities of this extraordinary continent.

Composers wanted to listen to the wind, water, animals, and shifting ice. Visuals artists hoped to delve into infinite striations of whiteness: the effects of transparency on ice, the glitter of ice crystals, and light and shadow patterns on the surface and internal features of the frozen landscape.

Posted on March 2, 2012 by Steve

The Bush Foundation Board of Directors have announced the appointment of Robert H. Bruininks, Ph.D., to act as the Foundation’s interim president, effective March 1, 2012. Former president Peter C. Hutchinson stepped down in January.

Posted on March 1, 2012 by Abigail

In March, the GIA website slide show of member-supported projects is provided by our colleagues at the Manitoba Arts Council in Winnipeg. Established in 1965 “to promote the study, enjoyment, production and performance of works in the arts” throughout the Province of Manitoba, the Council uses a peer assessment process to make awards to professional arts organizations and individuals in areas including arts education, literary arts, performing arts, and visual arts.

Posted on February 29, 2012 by Steve

From Huffington Post:

We can guess what our brains go through while we're dancing; we experience euphoria, elation, happiness, and probably nervousness for those with two left feet. While we're just conjecturing, scientists at Bangor University are discovering precisely what goes through the brain while we're shaking our groove thing. Dr. Emily Cross enlisted the help of contemporary dancer Riley Watts to examine how the brain responds to movement, both choreographed and improvised.
Posted on February 28, 2012 by Steve

From Noreen S. Ahmed-Ullah at the Chicago Tribune:

Arts programming was a factor leading to improved standardized test scores at three schools in Chicago over three years, according to a report released today by the educational arts non-profit Changing Worlds and Loyola University.

The study is just the latest calling for more arts education in Chicago Public Schools. With the district moving to a longer school day next year, the Chicago Teachers Union and parent groups like Raise Your Hand have called for more time devoted to enrichment classes like music and art and less time devoted to test preparation.

Posted on February 28, 2012 by Steve

A new report from The Paul G. Allen Foundation examines cultural organizations in the Pacific Northwest that have succeeded in the face of economic turmoil and change. Bright Spots Leadership in the Pacific Northwest is the product of a six-month exploration by Helicon Collaborative and builds on Dynamic Adaptability, a series of conversations among arts leaders held in Seattle over the last two years.

Posted on February 28, 2012 by Tommer

Arts programming was a factor leading to improved standardized test scores at three schools in Chicago over three years, according to a report released today by the educational arts non-profit Changing Worlds and Loyola University.

Posted on February 28, 2012 by Steve

LA County Arts Commission's Arts for All program as received support from The Boeing Company, W.M. Keck Foundation and The Carl & Roberta Deutsch Foundation in the amount of $674,200 to provide professional development training designed specifically to the needs of teachers in eleven school districts in the LA metro area.

Posted on February 27, 2012 by Steve

From Kristie Pearce at The Windsor Star:

What do most people think of when they discuss great civilizations?

Quebec MP and heritage critic Tyrone Benskin says art. "When we look back at history and look at all the great civilizations—the Egyptians, the Byzantines, the Phoenicians—we don't sit there and talk about their economic plan," he said at an information session Saturday at the Artspeak Gallery on Wyandotte Street East.

Posted on February 27, 2012 by Steve

From Carl Franzen at Talking Points Memo:

Kickstarter is having an amazing year, even by the standards of other white hot Web startup companies, and more is yet to come. One of the company’s three co-founders, Yancey Strickler, said that Kickstarter is on track to distribue over $150 million dollars to its users’ projects in 2012, or more than entire fiscal year 2012 budget for the National Endowment of the Arts (NEA), which was $146 million.