GIA Blog

ArtsReady, a project of SouthArts, is a collaborative and interactive website with emergency preparedness tools to protect artists and their artwork from floods, tornadoes, and other calamities. Users have access a shared calendar, discussion forums, member profiles, photo gallery, file storage, etc. Check it out at http://artsready.groupsite.com.

Here's a sweet project by Artivention.

Paul Brest, president of The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, is the current guest blogger on the GIA Talk Back blog, a forum designed for member remarks and repartee. His post on general operating support begins:

In 2004, I worked with Independent Sector to draft a statement, unanimously endorsed by its Board of Directors, that called on funders (1) to opt for general operating support when the goals of the two organizations are “substantially aligned,” and (2) to pay their fair share of administrative and fundraising costs for projects.

At the 173rd meeting of the National Council on the Arts today (which can be viewed here), NEA Chairman Rocco Landesman will announce the 18 artists who are receiving lifetime honorific awards for their significant contributions to their respective fields of jazz, folk and traditional arts, or opera. The NEA is awarding $450,000 to this group of remarkable artists, recognizing both their artistic achievements and supporting their ongoing work as performers, crafts people, teachers, mentors, scholars, and/or advocates.

From The Wall Street Journal:

Last week I had the privilege to speak about our National Capitalization Project at two very vibrant, national conferences. I was fortunate to present with GIA members Janet Sarbaugh, the Heinz Endowments at Chorus America in San Francisco and Ben Cameron, Doris Duke Charitable Foundation, at TCG in Los Angeles.

Diane Frankel announced she will step down as Executive Director of the Artists’ Legacy Foundation (ALF) at the end of August 2011.

Before coming to ALF, Frankel had twenty-five years of experience in the non-profit cultural arena, serving as the director of graduate programs in museum studies at John F. Kennedy University (1980-85) and the founding director of the Bay Area Discovery Museum (1986-93). As an appointee of President Clinton, she headed the Institute of Museum and Library Services in Washington

A few years ago, Dennis Scholl, the Vice President of Arts for the Knight Foundation, stumbled across a YouTube video of a spontaneous opera performance in an open-air market in Valencia, Spain. The video moved Scholl, a former attorney and lifelong art lover, to think outside the box when it came to promoting the classical arts for the Knight Foundation, especially at a time when, according to the National Endowment for the Arts, classical performances are more sparsely attended than ever.

Professional basketball player and art collector Grant Hill has signed on as a Campaign Spokesperson for The Choice is Art, a promotional campaign for the arts in Arizona. Already airing on COX Media television stations, Mr. Hill is featured in a donor-sponsored public service announcement wherein he offers support to the campaign, and personal testimony about the impact of the arts on the lives of Arizona’s youth.

Please join us tomorrow, June 21, at 2:00 EST/11:00 PST for Arts Education | Common Core: What Are the Possibilities for the Arts?, a web-based presentation by Julie Fry of The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation and Richard Kessler of The Center for Arts Education.