Grantmakers in the Arts

(4-29-10) In the LA Times...L.A. arts advocates are girding for two more battles at City Hall.

One is fighting Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa's plan to take away $415,000 in arts grants from groups that qualified under the standard competitive application process, in favor of four that he chose.

(4-28-10) "As many as 400,000 nonprofits are weeks away from a doomsday," warns Stephanie Strom in The New York Times. At midnight on May 15, a law enacted as part of the Pension Protection Act of 2006 will require the I.R.S. to strip an estimated one-fourth of U.S. charities of their nonprofit status. Prior to 2006, only organizations with revenues of $25,000 or more had to file tax forms for the previous year.

Grantmakers in the Arts sponsored a session entitled “Hip Hop Arts in Education” at the Council on Foundations conference in Denver, April 25. This was a repeat of a session presented at our own conference in Brooklyn that packed the session room and was the talk of the conference. (Thank you Claudine Brown and the Social Justice committee.) Two of the spoken word artists, Carvens and Ceez were catapulted from the session to the plenary stage at the spur of the moment.

(4-27-10) On Tuesday, The Joyce Foundation announced it is awarding nearly $10 million to 49 Great Lakes area organizations. Investments will be made in six different program areas, including Education, Environment and Culture. Culture funds will be directed to the National Museum of Mexican Art in the form of a $150,000 grant to support exhibits and other activities around The Year of Mexico in Chicago.

(4-26-10) Mike Boehm, writing for the Los Angeles Times, reports on the proposed reduction and reallocation of L.A. county's arts resources, including staff cuts and the outsourcing of city-run arts organizations to nonprofit operators. Also in the mix: "[Mayor] Villaraigosa has proposed taking $415,000 from arts grants to fund four earmarks of his own that have not been subjected to the usual competitive application process...." Read more here.

(4-23-10) NEA Chairman Rocco Landesman delivered a prepared statement while appearing, on April 13, 2010, before the Appropriation Subcommittee on Interior, Environment and Related Agencies, U.S. House of Representatives. Here's a transcript of his statement...

PREPARED STATEMENT OF ROCCO LANDESMAN
CHAIRMAN, NATIONAL ENDOWMENT FOR THE ARTS
APPEARING BEFORE THE APPROPRIATION SUBCOMMITTEE ON INTERIOR, ENVIRONMENT AND RELATED AGENCIES
U.S. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

Tuesday, April 13, 2010

(4-23-10) National Endowment for the Arts Chairman Rocco Landesman today announced the NEA’s latest round of funding for fiscal year 2010 in the categories of Access to Artistic Excellence, Learning in the Arts, Arts on Radio and Television, and Partnership Agreements (State and Regional). The Arts Endowment will distribute $97,632,100 through 1,323 grants to nonprofit national, regional, state, and local organizations nationwide.

Read More.

(4-22-10) Writing for The Chronicle of Philanthropy, Phil Buchanan and Ellie Buteau discuss the pros and cons of adjusting operations to respond to data-driven expert advice and assessment results.