GIA Blog

(3-2-2011) An interesting conversation between James Canales, president and CEO of the James Irvine Foundation and Lucy Bernholz, author of Philanthropy 2173 blog.

I spent ten days on the road in February. Traveling this country and experiencing its cultural richness is one of the benefits of my job. I was in Washington DC for the Kennedy Center Alliance for Arts Education Network conference, in Detroit with MFA students in theatre at Wayne State University and in New York City at the Arts Education Roundtable conference “Face to Face.”

(3-1-2011) The Meyer Foundation in Washington, D.C. announced today that it is pulling back from direct funding for Arts and Culture:

The Foundation has a long and distinguished history of supporting arts and cultural organizations in our region. We continue to value the work we have supported to build a vibrant arts community, especially in theater, dance, and the development of cultural corridors. In developing this Strategic Framework, our board and staff faced difficult choices about how to use our reduced grantmaking resources in ways that would have the most direct positive impact on the lives of low-income people. After much consideration, we have not named arts and culture as a priority for the three years covered by this Strategic Framework.

(3-1-2011) Tomorrow, President Barack Obama will present the National Medal of Arts to eight recipients for their outstanding achievements and support of the arts. (Ten medalists were announced; however two are not able to attend the ceremony. Their medals will be presented at another time.) The medals will be presented by the president in the East Room ceremony at the White House. Mrs. Michelle Obama will also be in attendance. The National Medal of Arts is a White House initiative managed by the National Endowment for the Arts.

(2-28-2011) For nearly three decades, the periodic Survey of Public Participation in the Arts has focused primarily on live attendance at "benchmark" arts activities which are defined as live attendance at jazz or classical music concerts, opera, plays, ballet, or visits to art museums or galleries. Although attendance rates have declined or held flat for these activities, this depiction of arts participation habits is incomplete. Going forward, the NEA will measure and analyze a fuller spectrum of artistic genres, arts participation via electronic media, and personal arts creation.

(2-28-2011) Please join us tomorrow, March 1, at 2:00 EST/11:00 PST for Holding on to What We’ve Got: New Approaches to Retaining Emerging Arts Leaders in the Field, a web-based presentation by Jeanne Sakamoto of The James Irvine Foundation and Marc Vogl of The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation.

(2-24-2011) In a spending plan released earlier this month, the House Appropriations Committee proposes to eliminate funding to several national arts, humanities, and social service programs, including the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. Facing a similarly dire funding situation in 1969, Fred Rogers addressed the (increasingly enraptured) Senate.

Watch him here.

(2-23-2011) The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has announced that the application period for the 10th annual National Award for Smart Growth Achievement is now open . Through this award, EPA recognizes and supports communities that have successfully used smart growth principles to improve communities environmentally, socially, and economically. Open to public- and private-sector entities, winners will be recognized at a ceremony in Washington, DC, in December 2011.

View the application and complete entry guidelines.

(2-23-2011) Philanthropy New York, with Grantmakers in Film and Electronic Media, will present a Thought Leader Program, What Really Caused the Economy to Blow Up: And What We Can Do To Prevent It From Happening Again? on Tuesday March 8, 4pm Eastern Time in New York City.

(2-22-2011) Registration is open for Holding on to What We’ve Got: New Approaches to Retaining Emerging Arts Leaders in the Field, a web-based presentation by Jeanne Sakamoto of The James Irvine Foundation and Marc Vogl of The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation. The webinar, the first in GIA's 2011 Web Conference Series, is scheduled for one week from today, Tuesday, March 1st, at 2:00 EST/11:00 PST.