Family Foundation

2005. Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, 65 Bleecker Street, 7th floor, New York, NY 10012-2420, 212-387-7555.

This book chronicles the Warhol Foundation's five-year initiative to build capacity of thirty-one small contemporary visual arts organizations located throughout the country. This ambitious program awarded $125,000 to each organization and provided additional technical assistance according to their needs. The challenging typography, layout, and binding of the book convey a strong sense of the organizations portrayed.

For those of us who are passionate about the arts, it has been disheartening to see so many schools cut back on arts education. I am happy to report on a new initiative by the American Architectural Foundation that hopes to boost interest in teaching kids about architecture and design.

A few years ago, Laura Penn, managing director of Intiman Theatre in Seattle, met me for coffee at the Saint Francis Hotel. I was between sessions of the Independent Sector's (IS) national conference in San Francisco. Laura had never heard of IS and was curious about it. The Independent Sector is a coalition of corporations, foundations, and private voluntary organizations that works to strengthen nonprofit organizations and is committed to advancing the common good in the U.S.

We live in a world of "widespread hostility toward the United States and its policies."1 This antipathy is not limited to the countries and peoples that are directly affected by the U.S. "war on terror" and its attendant pol-icies, but includes many of our former allies and fellow democracies. A friend who just returned from a year in Spain reports that she spent a significant amount of time and energy convincing people she met there that the U.S.

Years ago, after reading a case statement from one of my earliest experiences with fundraising, my husband, who is in the wine business, told me the three "s's" of salesmanship. He said that a salesman should have

Something to say
Say it, and
Stop.

He made it sound fairly easy and apparently it works if you are approaching a reluctant wine buyer who should prefer the rare Aglianico you're offering to an ordinary Chianti from your competitor. Sales have been good and my husband has a thriving company.

The summer 2005 issue of the GIA Reader contained an article consisting of excerpts from a group blog discussion on ArtsJournal.com titled, "Is There a Better Case for the Arts?"² The blog was inspired by Gifts of the Muse: Reframing the Debate about the Benefits of the Arts, a study commissioned by the Wallace Foundation "to improve the current understanding of the arts' full range of effects in order to inform public debate and policy."³ Twelve individuals participated in the online d

May 2005, The Urban Institute, 2100 M Street, N.W. Washington, DC 20037, (202) 833-7200, www.urban.org

"The idea that expressive activities contribute to building and preserving communities has become an increasingly important part of economic development and community revitalization discourse in cities, towns and nations around the world."
Carole Rosenstein, Ph.D.

2005, 32 pages. The Boston Foundation, Boston, MA, 02116

This study reports on the impact and roles of arts service organizations (ASOs) in the Boston area and nationwide. Considered "the unacknowledged gems of the cultural ecosystem," ASO services help other nonprofits to achieve certain economies of scale and to function as if they were larger operations. At the same time, many ASOs themselves do not have the budgets or staff capacities to make a real impact. The study outlines a strategy for supporting this segment of the cultural sector.

2005, 242 pages. University Press of New England, Lebanon, NH, 03766

2005, 20 pages. The Urban Institute, The Foundation Center, GuideStar.org, Washington, DC, 20037 www.urban.org

PDF available at The Urban Institute