Funding Research

November 2002, 72 pages. Human Interaction Research Institute, 5435 Balboa Boulevard, Suite 115, Encino, CA 91316, 818-386-9137, HIRILA@aol.com

Partnership as an Art Form: What Works and What Doesn't in Nonprofit Arts Partnerships should be required reading for funders who are encouraging their grantees to work more closely together in these difficult economic times.

2003, 79 pages. Department of Art Education, Ohio State University, 128 North Oval Mall, Room 258, Columbus, OH 43210, 614-292-5649

This final report on Transforming Education Through the Arts Challenge (TETAC) is more than a compilation of the results of a five-year initiative to link comprehensive approaches to arts education with national and local school reform efforts.

2002, 79 pages. RAND Corporation , 1700 Main Street, P.O. Box 2138, Santa Monica, CA 90407-2138 (310) 451-7002, order@rand.org

2003, 130 pages.

September 2002, 292 pages, $24.95, paper. Center for Urban Policy Research, Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy, Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey. 732-932-3133, ext 555, cuprbook@rci.rutgers.edu

2001, 36 pages. Alliance for the Arts, 330 West 42nd Street, Suite 1701, New York, NY 10036, 212-947-6340

Who Pays for the Arts? is a fascinating analysis of funding trends for 575 cultural institutions in New York City from 1995-1999. Although charts, graphs, and statistics fill the study, the information they present is explained clearly and simply.

America's Performing Art
A Study of Choruses, Choral Singers, and Their Impact
Chorus America
2003. Funded by the James Irvine Foundation, the Kiplinger Foundation, the Morris and Gwendolyn Cafritz Foundation, and the Helen F. Whitaker Fund

Reggae to Rachmaninoff
How and Why People Participate in Arts and Culture
Chris Walker and Stephanie Scott-Melnyk, with Kay Sherwood. 2003. The Urban Institute (Washington, D.C.), Funded by the Wallace-Reader's Digest Funds

Do funders and journalists of art have anything in common? Surprisingly, quite a lot. Both have the power to dispense coveted resources; are presumed to possess expertise equal to the task; operate within opaque systems that can be a source of confusion to their intended beneficiaries; receive little in the way of honest, constructive feedback; and have difficulty measuring and describing their success.

The Hawai'i Community Foundation recently completed a three-year evaluation that demonstrates how and why adaptive capacity — an organization's ability to successfully navigate changed circumstances — is central to organizational capacity building. This realization has powerful implications for the relationship of grantmaker and grantee, suggesting that capacity building occurs best in a group setting that includes not only these two but also peer grantees, consultants, and other interested leaders.

On May 15 and 16, 2002, more than 100 funders, artists, academicians, arts administrators, and community arts practitioners gathered in New Haven, Connecticut. We were there to participate in a convening organized by New England Foundation for the Arts (NEFA) entitled, "RE/New England: Investigating Community Building through Culture." The Open Society Institute and the Pitney Bowes Foundation provided funding for the conference. Participants came from thirteen states and the District of Columbia.