Grantmakers in the Arts

NEA Announces Creativity Connects Initiative

January 8, 2016 by Steve

As part of the NEA’s 50th anniversary, the agency is launching Creativity Connects, a leadership initiative intended to show how the arts contribute to the nation’s creative ecosystem while investigating the ways in which the support systems for the artists are changing and exploring how the arts can connect with other sectors that want and utilize creativity. The initiative has three components:

an infrastructure report that will provide an overview of the types of artistic practices and how they’re expanding, and the key resources that artists need in order to produce their best work.
an interactive graphic that shows the elements of the arts-based creative ecosystem in the United States
a pilot grant opportunity to support partnerships between arts organizations and organizations from non-arts sectors

Learn more about Creativity Connects.

January 7, 2016 by Steve

Diane Rodriguez, associate artistic director at the Center Theatre Group in Los Angeles, California was appointed by President Obama and confirmed by the United States Senate to be a member of the National Council on the Arts, the advisory body of the National Endowment for the Arts.

January 1, 2016 by SuJ'n

For the month of January, GIA's photo banner features art and projects supported by the Idaho Commission on the Arts. The Commission was established in 1966 to "stimulate and encourage throughout the state the study and presentation of the arts, and public interest and participation therein… and to encourage and assist freedom of artistic expression essential to the well-being of the arts." It provides services and direct grants to organizations, arts educators, and individual artists across the state, including those practicing folk and traditional arts. 2016 marks the start of the Commission's 50th anniversary.

December 17, 2015 by SuJ'n

National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) this week released "The Arts in Early Childhood: Social and Emotional Benefits of Arts Participation: A Literature Review and Gap-Analysis (2000-2015)." The report synthesizes findings from research published in psychology and education research journals spanning the past fifteen years.

On February 2, Grantmakers in the Arts will present a web conference covering themes and highlights from the report, and specific research findings on the impacts of arts enrichment in early childhood, particularly in economically disadvantaged families and communities. The session will feature Sunil Iyengar, Director, NEA Office of Research & Analysis; and Eleanor D. Brown, PhD, Professor of Psychology, West Chester University.

Read the full NEA press release.

Learn more about the GIA web conference scheduled for Tuesday, February 2, 2016.

December 16, 2015 by Steve

Ford Foundation President Darren Walker posts to Equals Change Blog:

In October, I outlined the foundation’s strategy for renewal, FordForward, and how it will affect our programs, our culture, and our assets. Today, I’d like to offer more specifics about the last of these three categories—our assets—and how we plan to deploy them to advance Ford’s mission. In my last message, I reported that our board has agreed to revisit our endowment policy. As stewards of a charitable trust, we believe it is our responsibility to undertake an investment strategy that considers the social impact of our endowment. Our board will be exploring avenues to do exactly this, and I’ll have more to report in the coming months.

December 16, 2015 by Steve

From Kathleen Allen at the Arizona Daily Star:

Roberto Bedoya, who oversaw the Tucson Pima Arts Council during a decade of severe funding cuts and economic turbulence, has resigned from the agency. Bedoya was executive director until August, when he was named TPAC’s director of civic engagement and Debi Chess Mabie was appointed chief executive officer, a new position.

Read the full article.

Aging and Theatre: A Call to Action

December 15, 2015 by Steve

From Lynn Mullin, posting to the HowlRound blog:

I’m sure I preach to the HowlRound choir when I say that ours is an art centered on connectivity, collaboration, and empowerment. Together, through theatre, we can rewrite the story of aging. It’s all about enabling older adults to remind their communities that with age comes strength, beauty, and power. By engaging older adults in theatre — as actors/singers/dancers, directors, playwrights, storytellers, students, teachers, audiences — we can change the conversation from, “How are we going to deal with the elderly?” to, “I never imagined they could do that!” to, “What do you want to do next?”

NYC Looks at Diversity of Arts Groups

December 14, 2015 by Steve in Racial Equity

From Jennifer Smith, writing for The Wall Street Journal:

Explore Solidarity Economy resources here

Future of the Field: Cross-Sector Creative Placemaking Series

Video from the GIA 2021 Conference are now available for streaming.

The Racial Equity Coding Project: Unpacking The “Why”

In this first of a three-part discussion, we are joined by Susan Feder, Adam Fong, and Maurine Knighton, as they discuss the Racial Equity Coding Project, why it was started, their experience with the earliest iterations of the coding measures, and how their reflections will inform steps forward.

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