In the annual report from NASAA on public funding trends, Ryan Stubbs and Henry Clapp update the data from 2015 in the Reader article, Public Funding for the Arts: 2015 Update.
Grantmakers in the Arts
October 30, 2015 by Steve
October 28, 2015 by Steve
An important article from Nonprofit Quarterly's archives, authored by Kate Barr and Jeanne Bell:
There is an important distinction between financial management and financial leadership. Financial management is the collecting of financial data, production of financial reports, and solution of near-term financial issues. Financial leadership, on the other hand, is guiding a nonprofit organization to sustainability. This is the job of an executive director.
October 28, 2015 by Steve
Blogger Lara Davis turns in her final thoughts on the 2015 Conference Blog:
This year’s theme, Experience the Unexpected, situated the arts as a vehicle for transformation. From community development and cultural equity, to tools for public voice and advocacy, funders were called to center their work in supporting artists and organizations as key to these efforts. As a first-timer, I was not quite sure what to expect. I attend and present at a fair share of conferences, but primarily within the youth development and arts education sector. Participating in this convening has been really beneficial and eye opening. More than anything, the personal connections and relationship building have had the deepest impact on me.
October 27, 2015 by Steve
Emerging Practitioners in Philanthropy has announced that Tamir Novotny has been selected as its new Executive Director, beginning Monday, November 16, 2015. Novotny has been an active member of EPIP since early 2013 and has served on the EPIP New York Steering Committee, and as Regional Coordinator for the Northeast chapters. He has contributed to EPIP’s national programming, including EPIP’s 2015 national conference and its Wednesday Webinar series. He joins EPIP after nine years at Living Cities, a philanthropic collaborative of 22 major foundations and financial institutions focused on improving the lives of low-income urban residents.
October 27, 2015 by Steve
Barry Hessennius puts a wrap on his reports from the GIA 2015 Conference, held in Los Angeles last week:
Too often people only have complaints against funders. I would like to thank them. I admire their tenacity, their positive attitudes and their creativity. And now that I have thanked them, I would like to encourage them to push the envelope more; to have a sense of urgency about changing the dynamic and move us quicker in the area of equity. It’s frustrating not to move quicker where the need is great. There is so much that might get done if society had the right priorities and we had the necessary tools and resources. But things are getting a little bit better all the time.
October 22, 2015 by Steve
GIA 2015 Conference blogger Lara Davis shares her notes from Tuesday at the Los Angeles Conference:
Tuesday morning’s Idea Lab of artists was on point, my people. I was particularly struck by Rosten Woo, who in a nutshell, produces communication art. Putting “interpretation” at the center of his work, he creates things like aesthetically-designed and clearly legible pamphlets on zoning so that street vendors know their rights, and glossies that highlight art and cultural occurrences in neighborhoods that, “due to racism, or the mere fact it takes place in someone’s backyard,” are not recognized as cultural staple within a community. I’m a fan. crystal am nelson’s visual and spoken artwork was stunning, and affirming. It invokes “historical trauma combined with pleasure as complicity”, naming society’s collective involvement in the violence and de-humanization of the Black body. This is a mirror we need right now.
October 21, 2015 by Steve
The latest post from Barry Hessenius covers his notes from the second day of the Los Angeles Conference.
The major afternoon sessions were three hour offsite. I choose to attend the Digital Media for Arts Grantmakers session, focusing on the need for grantmakers to learn to deploy digital media to reach and engage audiences and to become fluent in digital capabilities and tools. Takeaways:
- Have an articulated game plan, informed by the organization’s overall vision strategy
- Build capabilities, don’t just do projects. Technology is not a project but a process
- Shake up the organization chart with an integration of digital competency positions, including training
- Put audiences first and be prepared for constant change.
- This is, of course, a big, complex area where many arts leaders feel lost and / or incompetent and there are numerous obstacles to embracing full digital knowledge. But as the generational shifts become more urgent, so too is the necessity of overcoming reticence and fears to understand the basics of IT and appreciate the rapidity of change as a constant.
October 20, 2015 by Steve
Barry Hessenius checks in with his observations on the first day of the Los Angeles Conference:
The first day of any of our art conferences seem to always be the longest. Janet Brown opened the conference with the reminder that the three operating principles of GIA continue to be: Inclusiveness, Collaboration, and Curiosity. Recent GIA Conferences have featured Idea Lab — short Ted like presentations by a trio of different working artists. The first three were all excellent. The one that caught my attention was Yuval Sharon, founder and artistic director of The Industry, an L.A. based experimental opera company that produces performances that can only be categorized as way outside the box. He touted three