GIA Blog

Posted on April 14, 2010 by GIA News

(4-14-10) GIA Board member John Killacky, one of the Bay Area's most vigorous champions of the arts will announce today that he is leaving the Bay Area to oversee a respected arts center in Vermont.

Posted on April 14, 2010 by GIA News

(4-14-10) In an interview with Alliance Magazine, Geraldine Kunstadter of the Albert Kunstadter Family Foundation discusses her grantmaking practices, while urging larger foundations to take risks and pare down assessment practices. Kunstadter, who regularly visits her foundation's grant recipients (16 in the U.S. and abroad per annum), has a very personal relationship to the granting process and offers a unique perspective on the funder-grantee dynamic: "If you trust people enough to give them money, you have to trust that they know best how to spend it."

Posted on April 14, 2010 by GIA News

(4-13-10) Secretary of Education Arne Duncan gave a speech at the Arts Education Partnership National Forum on Friday, April 9. A full transcript is now online. Some highlights:

Posted on April 13, 2010 by GIA News

(4-13-10) Statement from Lance E. Lindblom, Nathan Cummings Foundation

After serving for more than sixteen years as the director of the arts and culture program at the Nathan Cummings Foundation, Claudine Brown will be leaving the Foundation to become the Director of Education for the Smithsonian Institution.

Posted on April 13, 2010 by Janet

(4-13-2010) Grantmakers in the Arts begins a new series of Web Conferences in May designed for emerging leaders and veteran grantmakers alike. You can see the six sessions we’ve put together on the GIA website. They are free to members and pretty inexpensive for nonmembers. This is an opportunity for colleagues from the same department, office and organization to share a learning experience on various topics offered up by some pretty smart people in the field of philanthropy and nonprofit arts.

Posted on April 13, 2010 by GIA News

(4-13-10) Dennis Scholl has been named the Vice President of Arts for the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation. Scholl previously held the position of Miami Program Director for the foundation. In his new role, he will develop a nationwide cultural arts program for Knight.

Read More.

Posted on April 12, 2010 by GIA News

(4-12-10) Last week, PNC Foundation announced a planned $1.5 million investment in the arts in Columbus and central Ohio. Dubbed "Arts Alive," the program will award grants of $25,000 and above to organizations through a proposal and selection process. The PNC press release acknowledges the effects of the economic downturn on arts organizations and outlines the desired outcome of the granting process: "...to support diverse audience participation, fresh and emerging arts programs, value-added public programming, and innovative use of technology."

Posted on April 12, 2010 by GIA News

(4-11-10) A nice portrait of Rocco in the NYTimes, just in time for the budget hearings. Good work NEA!

“Everyone’s parsing every word that you utter, and I’m not used to that,” he said. “If the consequences are just you, it’s one thing. But everything has all these repercussions. I’m trying to find a balance because I have to be me, and I pride myself on being candid and direct and saying what I think. But occasionally I have to think about what I say.”

Posted on April 9, 2010 by GIA News

(4-9-10) “I find the scientists I work with to be very creative people,” says Brian Knep, an associate and the artist-in-residence at the Systems Biology department in the Harvard Medical School (HMS). “What I find kind of sad is that a lot of the science world feels very constrained in a way that’s not very good for inspiration in general.”

Posted on April 7, 2010 by GIA News

(4-7-10) Responding to a gap left by the wind-down of the Metro Phoenix Partnership for Arts and Culture, the Flinn Foundation and the Virginia G. Piper Charitable Trust will be redirecting $1.25 million in grant funds to the Flinn-Piper Strengthening the Arts Initiative. The Fund will award up to $750,000 in grants to implement new nonprofit structures, processes, and collaborative ventures to increase revenue and reduce costs.