Recognizing the transparency is a core value in the digital age, the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation announced today it will require journalism and media grantees to disclose the identities and amounts contributed by major donors.
Grantmakers in the Arts
April 16, 2012 by Steve
Todd London assays the Mike Daisey issue at HowlRound:
That’s the patho-tragedy of Daisey. He couldn’t get out of his own way. He couldn’t walk away from himself the way those marketing and artistic director types eventually walked away from him. He knew hard news was the way to go, but he couldn’t turn off that playwright voice, saying, “Dramatize more, Mike! Make it more personal-like!” He was, in the end, Mike Daisey, subjective man. Subjective Daisey made the best theater of the year—even if it was on the radio—the theater of his own unraveling. Could his play of (sort of) facts have been as heart-stopping as it was to hear him lying and covering and hemming and hawing and justifying and falsely testifying (pause) (silence) (way more silence) (Beckett half-smiles approvingly; Pinter smirks)?
April 12, 2012 by Steve
From David Beem at Huffington Post:
Sometimes politics between management and players derail contract negotiations, as they have recently in Louisville. In comes the musicians' union, the AFM. And, against the backdrop of our national debate on unions, many in the community will naturally assume the musicians are gaming their employers. Discussion of how the arts requires “your help” will fall on deaf ears as much of the public shrugs their shoulders and puzzles over why they're asked to “give handouts.” They'll clear their throats and delicately suggest to the lot of lazy beggars that they should “get a real job.”
April 12, 2012 by Steve
From Simone Joyaux at Nonprofit Quarterly:
Let me tell you a secret: I don’t care if the donor gives a gift to my organization or to another organization. It’s all philanthropy. And philanthropy is about the donor. Philanthropy is bigger than any single organization. I believe “a rising tide raises all boats.” I believe that relationships are an end in and of themselves, not merely a strategy to secure gifts of time, advice and money. So here’s a wild suggestion. How about this threefold role for a fundraiser
April 12, 2012 by Steve
From Zoe Larkins at The Art Newspaper:
Bosnia and Herzegovina’s major cultural institutions, including the National Gallery and the National Museum, which are both in the capital Sarajevo, are in danger of closing indefinitely due to a lack of funding and government support. Staff, many of whom have been not been paid for months, have responded by organising events and exhibitions to bring attention to the crisis. The situation stems from the country’s dysfunctional administrative system and the lack of a national cultural ministry.
April 12, 2012 by Steve
From Noelle Barton at The Chronicle of Philanthropy:
Nearly one in five nonprofits publish private Social Security numbers on public tax documents, potentially exposing their supporters and employees to identity theft and other privacy breaches, an examination of federal tax forms has found.
April 12, 2012 by Steve
From Andre Bouchard at Technology in the Arts:
New information out from the Consumer Price Index (CPI) indicate that Americans are spending more for both technology and entertainment (a catagory that includes cultural expenditures). How can cultural organizations capitalize on this? What does this mean? Articles in both The Atlantic and NPR’s Planet Money look at these trends from a more general standpoint but don’t drill down on the idea for the arts.
April 12, 2012 by Steve
In 2011, the National Endowment for the Arts awarded more than $13 million in funding through its arts education program. Beginning on July 2, that significant level of support will be guided by Ayanna Hudson, the agency's new director of arts education. Hudson joins the NEA from the Los Angeles County Arts Commission where she led the commission's lauded Arts for All regional collaborative designed to return arts to the core curriculum.