GIA Blog

(6-24-10) This morning on KUOW's Weekday:

When schools face budget crunches, arts programs often find themselves on the chopping block. But as the sluggish economy continues to tighten school purse strings, many scientists and educators are emphasizing the tangible benefits of bringing creativity to the classroom. New brain research shows that teaching art can make it easier for students to learn other subjects, like math and science. Some arts advocates say we shouldn't need such ulterior motives — they say art is an end in and of itself. We'll hear both points of view, and we'll find out why Microsoft is interested in bringing creativity into the classroom (here's a hint: it has something to do with the workforce of tomorrow.)

(6-23-10) In a blog post on The Los Angeles Times website, Howard Blume reports that Los Angeles Unified School District officials are expected to restore $5 million to elementary arts programs that were cut in half as part of efforts to balance next year’s budget. With the increase, the budget is still one-third less than the current funding level, however.

(6-23-10) From a June 15 Pew Charitable Trusts press release:

The Pew Charitable Trusts today announced $3,846,000 in unrestricted general operating support to eight Philadelphia-area arts and culture organizations. Pew provides the grants under its Philadelphia Cultural Leadership Program (PCLP), which annually rewards organizations in the five-county region that demonstrate excellence in operations, fiscal management and programming....

Read more about the grant program and recipients here.

(6-21-10) Arena Stage in Washington DC, is hiring playwrights as employees, with salaries and health benefits -- and even access to office supplies. The venture is part of a major change at Arena, which is preparing to open a $125 million three-theater campus in the fall and to try to rebrand itself as a national center for American theater.

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(6-18-10) Should BP's arts and other philanthropic programs be reconsidered in light of its post-Deepwater Horizon drop in market value (45 percent) and the $20 billion fund the company is establishing to pay damages to spill victims? For now, the answer is no.

(6-18-10) Warren Buffett and Bill Gates called Wednesday on their billionaire peers to give away half of their wealth.

The pronouncement by Messrs. Buffett and Gates stems from a series of dinners the two men held over the past year to discuss the effects of the recession on philanthropy with some of the nation's richest people, including New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, investor Ronald O. Perelman and David Rockefeller, his family's patriarch.

(6-17-10) What questions should performing arts leaders be asking themselves right now? Economic shifts, global and individual reach in technologies, the pursuit of strong and delineated national identities and the appetite for a voice from younger people are all changing how the performing arts are viewed, created and consumed. Fifty performing arts leaders from around the world gathered in February 2010 for a Salzburg Global Seminar focused on opportunities for reinventing the performing arts at a time when many factors are contributing towards a large-scale disruption of the arts.

(6-17-10) James N. Wood, the J. Paul Getty Trust President and Chief Executive, was found dead of natural causes in his Los Angeles home last Friday. Wood, who is credited with increasing the trust's stability and credibility in the art world after taking the helm in early 2007, was an art historian with nearly 30-years experience in curatorial and executive positions at prominent art institutions, including the Metropolitan Museum, the St. Louis Art Museum, and, from 1980-2004, the Art Institute of Chicago.

(6-15-10) Agnes Gund for the Huffington Post:

Where do the arts fit in relation to other important parts of our society? Where are they situated in the consciousness of our time? I find myself thinking about this a lot, worrying that the fit is, in a word, bad. All too often in our society, the arts are shut out; they are left to stand alone, at an uncomfortable angle away from the experiences and events we otherwise share as citizens, as thinkers, as advocates and as agents of change.

(6-14-10) I’ve been executive director of Grantmakers in the Arts for 18 months. During that time I’ve learned so much about the dedication, courage and passion of our members for improving the state of artists and arts organizations. Our members believe strongly in their work and actively advocate for the arts within their own institutions, which represent state and local government, private and community foundation presidents and boards and corporate decision-makers. It’s a big and sometimes stressful job these days.