Grantmakers in the Arts

(6-8-10) From the June 5 Victoria, BC Times Colonist:

Things just seem to get worse for arts and culture in Victoria and the rest of British Columbia.

I'm not talking about the quality of the offerings, which often reach artistic levels that delight and surprise. Rather, it's our provincial government's mulish insistence on pretending the cultural industry in B.C. no longer exists.

(6-8-10) "But today they are so reduced that it is hard to guess what went on among the ruins. Profili’s dogs ramble around, crapping where they see fit. The great majority of the houses are in such decay that people aren’t allowed to enter them. Broken fences and signboards tell of torpor and indifference. Nearby Herculaneum, where many frescoes and mosaics have been irreparably damaged by rainwater, is an archaeological casualty ward; a team funded by the US billionaire David Packard is fighting to save what it can.

(6-8-10) In May, the Philadelphia Music Project (PMP), a program of the Pew Center for Arts & Heritage, announced grants totaling $1.1 million to Philadelphia-area arts organizations. PMP makes annual awards to organizations "whose adventurous programming and imaginative approaches to engaging audiences—through both performance and education—advance Philadelphia's role as a vital center for musical innovation." Project grants also provide direct support to area musicians and composers.

(6-7-10) "I have devoted a significant part of my life’s work in support of the independent artist — independent referring not to the size of a project, its funding or subject matter; rather, to the singular vision and voice of that artist. I founded Sundance Institute 30 years ago out of the belief that it is vital to ensure that the artist’s voice remains vibrant, valued and heard in civil society at large.

It is with this in mind that I ask you to join me in bringing wider attention and broader support to a critically important case currently in play in U.S. courts.

(6-7-10) Goucher College’s Master of Arts in Arts Administration program is presenting the Arts Leadership Symposium on June 24,1:00 p.m. - 8:30 p.m., the afternoon and evening before the Americans for the Arts' Half-Century Summit (June 25 - 27 in Baltimore). As arts leaders and providers, we must examine future trends in order to determine how to respond and how to lead. In this ever-changing environment, how are the arts best delivered? Who and where are our new audiences? How do we fund the arts?

(6-7-10) At the end of May, PNC Foundation announced a $2.1 million investment to establish science and arts summer school programs for underserved preschool children in Detroit public schools. The funding comes from PNC's signature cause, Grow Up Great, a ten-year, $100 million initiative to enhance early education and school readiness. From the foundation's press release:

(6-3-10) Council on Foundations Media Release, May 17:

The Council on Foundations is initiating a greater level of partnership with tribal philanthropic organizations by welcoming them as full, voting members of the organization, a move that was approved recently by unanimous decision of the Council’s board. Prior to this policy change, most tribal programs were eligible only for associate membership. Now the Council and its members will have more opportunity to support, learn from, and collaborate with tribal philanthropies.

(6-3-10) In a blog entry for the Los Angeles Times website, Mike Boehm laments the California state Assembly's unanimous approval of a bill that, should it pass the state Senate, will allow high school students to substitute "career technical education" classes for language and arts requirements. The bill's author, Warren Furutani, is expressly interested in improving the state's graduation rate; but, as Boehm notes: "Students applying to the University of California or the Cal State systems are required to have at least a year of high school arts."