GIA Blog

August 28, 2009 is the deadline for early bird registration for the GIA conference in October. Join our “community of practice” and register today.

“Community of Practice” is a term created by anthropologists Jean Lave and Etienne Wenger in the 90s. Wenger defines it as “Communities of practice are groups of people who share a concern or a passion for something they do and learn how to do it better as they interact regularly.” There is, of course, more to this than one sentence, but that’s the essence of it.

Not sure how this might apply to cultural philanthropy, but it is a great story. Thomas Siebel does philanthropy differently from other donors. As the founder of the software company Siebel Systems Inc., he is one of a handful of … Continue reading →

Technical problems Tuesday sabotaged the Community Foundation Challenge, an online $1-million matching grant program for about 75 cultural groups in metro Detroit. Scores of donors were prevented from making gifts and others wasted hours in front of their computers. Some … Continue reading →

From her blog… I find myself feeling for Rocco Landesman, the newly confirmed Chair of the National Endowment for the Arts. It’s hard to think of smaller quantum of political power than that presidentially appointed post, but he’s been in … Continue reading →

John McGuirk, a veteran Bay Area grantmaker and a former officer in The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation’s Performing Arts Program, will rejoin the Foundation as director of that program, officials announced today. For the past three years, McGuirk has … Continue reading →

In the total scheme of things, last week was darn exciting for the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA). Rocco Landesman was confirmed by the Senate as the new Chairman and Joan Shigakawa, past Grantmakers in the Arts (GIA) board member most recently with the Rockefeller Foundation, was appointed Senior Deputy Chairman. To top it off, I was in a meeting with Anita Decker at the NEA when she received the Senate committee confirmation notice.

A new publication from the Wallace Foundation. In the midst of hard economic times, it is clearly more challenging for arts organizations to take the long view and continue to devote time and effort to building new audiences. But this … Continue reading →

If you are looking for a sign of how strapped the University of California, Los Angeles, is for cash, consider that its arts and architecture school may resort to holding a bake sale to raise money. California’s severe financial crisis … Continue reading →

Here’s a wonderful essay…. When it comes to ambulatory life-forms, the developmental timeline is shorter, but the same principle pertains: it is a good idea for human beings to pay attention to systems and solutions that have evolved over time … Continue reading →

Robin Pogrebin in the New York Times ” Now that the Broadway producer Rocco Landesman is officially chairman of the National Endowment for the Arts — he was confirmed on Friday — his straight-talking style, Missouri roots and affinity for … Continue reading →