Philanthropic practice

2006, 277 pages. Routledge, 270 Madison Avenue, New York, NY 10016

Operating outside governments and markets, able to take risks and accept failure, free to cross sectors and redefine professional boundaries

Mary Bain, who was Sidney Yates' longtime political and staff director, died recently. She was ninety-five.

Very awkward to speak politely about money in public, and yet it is so awkwardly at the heart of our culture. Here is Sophocles, in his Antigone. Creon is speaking, ironically misinterpreting the noblest of motives for the basest: "Money! There's nothing in the world so demoralizing as money. Down go your cities, Homes gone, men gone, honest hearts corrupted, Crookedness of all kinds, and all for money."

We also have Timothy from the New Testament: "The love of money is the root of all evil."

What often is lost in cultural policy conversations or research reports about the visual arts world is an examination of how ethnic-specific cultural practices and the dynamics of non-collecting museums and artist-centered organizations keep the art world from be-ing static and dull, from being victimized by the hierarchies of taste or the technocratic aims of cultural managers. Any analysis of the sociology of the visual arts field needs to speak about the relationship between the aesthetic content of a work and the contexts in which different aesthetic inquiries are supported.

At the close of its May 2006 meeting, GIA board members and staff participated in a forum discussing some of the dynamics of power and grantmaking. Board member Dudley Cocke (trustee, the Bush Foundation and director, Roadside Theater) led a story circle in which participants shared their personal experiences. Peter Pennekamp (former GIA board member and executive director, Humboldt Area Foundation) and Craig McGarvey (philanthropic consultant), were each asked to make provocative opening comments that would "stir the pot" for the story circle and discussion that followed.

Grantmakers in the Arts has been in existence for a brief two decades, and yet even within the ranks of long-time GIA conference attendees and the veterans who are among GIA's leaders today, there is no common recollection of the organization's prehistory and the moment of its founding. History generally belongs to the domain of the humanities rather than the arts, but nonetheless it is slightly embarrassing that a professional arts philanthropy organization, which has come to exercise substantial influence it its field, has no record of its founding.

Jim Collins says that greatness is not a function of circumstance. Greatness, he says, is largely a matter of conscious choice, and discipline. In his 2001 book, Good to Great ¹, Collins articulated the principles he believes differentiate companies that become great from those that do not. In his recently published monograph, "Good to Great and the Social Sectors" ², Collins addresses how these principles of greatness apply to nonprofits. Collins' framework for greatness in the social sectors encompasses five areas:

As arts funders, we often perceive our capacity to direct financial resources to worthy arts organizations as the most valuable tool at our disposal. That's probably correct and, indeed, as it should be. After all, most of our institutions have been established by donors for the core purpose of grantmaking, and the law mandates that we award grants for public benefit.

September2005, 17 pages. The Harvard Project on American Indian Economic Development, Malcolm Weiner Center for Social Policy, John F. Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University, 617-495-1480

PDF available at The Harvard Project on American Indian Economic Development

National Guild of Community Schools of the Arts, 520 8th Avenue, Suite 302, New York, NY 10018, (212) 268-3337

This handbook outlines best practices that arose from the Partners in Excellence Initiative to promote arts education partnerships between community and public schools. The guide begins by defining a partnership, continues with how to build and sustain one, and concludes with a chapter on evaluation and assessment. PDF available for download at website.