Why Arts? Making the Case

This book offers insight into how to establish the arts in schools and use them as a vehicle for school renewal at the same time. The author makes a convincing case for the important role of visual arts, music, dance, drama, and architecture in educating our youth.

284 pp, paperback (1990, Americans for the Arts)

This important new study, released in June 2002, demonstrates conclusively that the nonprofit arts industry has a significant economic impact on local and national economies. And, for the first time, in addition to spending by arts organizations, information has been gathered on event-related spending by arts audiences. Americans for the Arts worked with 91 community partners from across the U.S. to collect expenditure data for this study.

This book takes a fresh and positive approach to understanding the arts as essential for creating authentic and sustained community. While it focuses on development in rural and small communities, it is an inspiration for individuals and organizations large and small.

160pp, paperback (1997, PrairieSea Press)

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At a time when public support of the arts faces a range of challenges, state arts agencies could use a framework to help them better serve the arts community and engage more people in the arts -- thereby elevating these agencies' public value.

"Learning and the Arts: Crossing Boundaries" was a meeting of 120 funding professionals in the arts, education, or children, youth and family programs of fifty foundations, that was organized by the Getty Trust, the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, and the Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation. Together with a group of outstanding researchers, practitioners, and policymakers, they explored the value philanthropy can add to education and child development by integrating the arts into schools and non-school programs for children and youth.

Many of the feature articles in this issue offer tools for responding to GIA Executive Director Janet Brown's call to speak up, to not sit silently in the back but to stand up and illustrate or make the case for why arts and culture matters.

In the past two years, several prominent foundations at national, regional, and local levels have appointed new presidents. Such leadership transitions are likely to increase in the years ahead in keeping with the larger generational shift in the nonprofit sector. Very few of the new foundation leaders are likely to come from the arts sector, and many will have had little direct experience with our field.