Elizabeth Schwan-Rosenwald

Yesterday I met with a number of potential applicants for the Taproot Foundation’s Service Grant program, which connects business professionals with nonprofits to deliver pro bono consulting projects in marketing, strategy, and human resources. I was there to continue my research into some of the more universal pain points in building strong infrastructures for performing arts organizations.

As we sat there I heard an executive director mention that “in six years we’ve never sat down and planned for or talked about the future.” They were, he explained; too busy focusing on developing and producing art.

I hesitated for a moment trying to decide the right response and the conversation turned away from his comment. But it stayed with me—I’ve heard this before.

The “now” culture within arts organizations, the focus on getting up the next show, the ever present feeling that if you’re not producing you’re somehow failing, means that conversations about how to strategically plan for the future are often an organization’s last priority.

But I hesitated yesterday because I’m not convinced; I’ve seen and worked with too many artists who are driven rather than stymied by how their vision fits into the larger national landscape. So what is it then—what is the roadblock that keeps arts organization from talking about the future?

My answer—resources; the scarcity of resources for arts organizations means most artists have adopted a head-down approach to their work.

Because let’s face it, if there’s any group of people who could dream a better future for their organizations it’s the artists in our communities. But conversations about the future are a risk right now because none of us know what the future looks like.

But if arts organizations understood how to better tap into the resources of the business community and professionals working in the business community knew how to offer pro bono consulting to local arts organizations would the dialogue change?

When arts organizations know they can count on the business community to support their strategic planning, marketing collateral, or financial planning would we hear more conversations about growth plans? I think so.

Pro bono consulting—doing work for a nonprofit for free that draws on the skills a business professional uses every day—is a relatively new pool of resources. And it won’t take from limited philanthropic dollars but rather allow arts organizations to build a new stream of resources.

Since 2001, Taproot has worked with over 3,000 business professionals engaging them in pro bono service in our core markets in Chicago, New York, the District of Columbia, San Francisco, and Los Angeles.

Our newest program Powered by Pro Bono, launching in the fall of 2012, takes our ten years of experience of engaging business professionals and delivering high-quality programs and offers the necessary tools and trainings to allow nonprofits to successfully solicit and manage pro bono resources independently.

Through pro bono consulting, business professionals have the opportunity to become more involved citizens and actively engage in new ways in their community.

We’re anticipating that by starting the conversation about how to make pro bono a core part of any nonprofit’s organizational growth we will see a shift in how the conversation is conducted.

Pro bono and the business professionals who deliver it will be counted on as resources to build a strong infrastructure under those dreams and conversations about what the future looks like.

Talking about the future then will be a celebrated part of an art’s organization’s journey.

For more information about Taproot and our programming visit our website at www.taprootfoundation.org.

This post is one in a series highlighting The pARTnership Movement, Americans for the Arts’ campaign to to reach business leaders with the message that partnering with the arts can build their competitive advantage. Visit our website to find out how both businesses and local arts agencies can get involved!

Janet Langsam

Every morning, I turn on the treadmill, tune into the Today Show and run until I bank 150 calories to earn a glass of Chardonnay at the end of the day.

Matt Lauer and the NBC crew are usually just eye candy and background chatter, but [April 25] they hit a nerve talking about college degrees that may be “useless” like “fine arts, drama, philosophy, religious studies,” when it comes to getting a job. Lauer quoted a recent poll that said that one out of two recent college grads are either unemployed or underemployed.

Donny Deutsch, one of the Today panelists said, “I never looked at a (college) major in my life in hiring people.”

And a good thing too since the National Arts Index published by the advocacy organization Americans for the Arts, indicates that interest in the arts as a college major is growing. It says that from 1996–2010 more than 1.5 million degrees were awarded in visual and performing arts, with annual graduations growing steadily from 75,000 to 129,000—an increase of 73 percent.

Could all these college bound kids be wasting their time?

Fortunately, according to the Americans for the Arts website, there are a growing number of jobs out there in creative industries that range from museums, symphonies, and theaters to small for-profit film, video, music, architecture, digital games, and advertising companies. So one doesn’t necessarily need to land a leading role on Broadway to use their arts degree.

“Nationally, there are 904,581 businesses in the U.S. involved in the creation or distribution of the arts that employ 3.34 million people. Representing 4.25 percent of all businesses and 2.15 percent of all employees, respectively,” quotes the site. In case one is tempted to quibble with these figures, they come from the most trusted of sources, Dun & Bradstreet.

Like any other subject, there are at least two or maybe a hundred schools of thought, and we Neanderthals in the arts believe that “creativity” is a good enough reason to study the arts.

According to Newsweek in a 2010 article entitled “Creativity Crisis”: “A recent IBM poll of 1,500 CEOs identified creativity as the No. 1 ‘leadership competency’ of the future. Yet it’s not just about sustaining our nation’s economic growth. All around us are matters of national and international importance that are crying out for creative solutions, from saving the Gulf of Mexico to bringing peace to Afghanistan to delivering health care.”

The fact is that our businesses are crying out for creative employees…and…perhaps some of them learned to think creatively through the arts. The accepted definition of creativity is production of something original and useful says Newsweek.

Steve Jobs said that this wouldn't have had different type faces without the arts.

While the arts don’t have a monopoly on left brain thinking or creative problem solving, they do have a remarkable track record.

So why is Lauer posing the question, “are (college) degrees in things like fine arts, drama, etc…useless when it comes to getting a job?”

Years ago (defined as when I went to college) a liberal arts education was thought to be the smartest and most comprehensive degree to pursue in preparation for a career in any field. Now, in this age of specialization, there is a college degree to be had in every narrow silo that fits a job description that may be “useless” in years to come.

I somehow doubt that such myopia will bring an entrepreneurial spirit back to American business.

Steve Jobs for one gave credit to a single calligraphy course in college, without which he says “the Mac would have never had multiple typefaces or proportionally spaced fonts.”

Who knows where inspiration will come from next, so don’t sell the arts short. It is the mother of invention.

(Editor’s Note: This post originally appeared on Janet Langsam’s blog on April 25, 2012.)

This post is also one in a series highlighting The pARTnership Movement, Americans for the Arts’ campaign to to reach business leaders with the message that partnering with the arts can build their competitive advantage. Visit our website to find out how both businesses and local arts agencies can get involved!

Robb Hankins

Most community leaders don’t think about the arts much and most don’t really believe there is a link between arts and economic development.

I try to change that by hosting my own arts and economic development planning process, but I do it on a shoe string—quick, dirty, and cheap. It’s exhausting, but totally worth it.

Last year we started 20/20 Vision—the ten year plan for arts and economic development. On March 20, 2012 we unveiled our ten strategies: five community strategies and five county-wide.

20/20 Vision has already dramatically changed the landscape for the arts in Stark County (Ohio). We have new partners (and new dollars) available for the arts from places we’d never touched before.

Business leaders like Robert Timkin, managing director of Cormony Development, are leading the effort by planning to increase creativity and innovation in business through arts-based workshops, and increase cultural tourism by creating a marketing partnership between five major nonprofit tourism attractions in downtown Canton.

This strategic marketing partnership hopes to dramatically increase the number of visitors and increase overnight stays, as well as create day trip opportunities for arts destinations throughout the rest of the county.

Here’s the quick story on how we did it:

Step One: Assemble a Steering Committee and Task Forces. We recruited Bob Timken, our former board chair to lead the process. He insisted on face-to face-meeting with the 12 people we wanted to sit on our 20/20 Vision Steering Committee. That took some real time but paid off big time. You’re not from here, but if you were, the 13 names (on pg. 3 of the plan) would impress you. Next we got our Stark Community Foundation to help fund it—a very important strategic move.

And that’s the whole point. If you want to move mountains you need mountain movers. We had them.

Next we recruited a chair for each of the ten Task Forces. We used the same approach as we had for the steering committee—present each one with a job description that was hard to refuse. Here’s what one looked like.

Attendees at the 20/20 Vision "blast off" view a promo video with colored glasses.

Step Two: Host kick off event. We called it a “blast off” and it was to get the media and everyone excited. Each task force chair presented their thoughts and then we gave people colored glasses to wear while we showed them a short mock blast off video.

Step Three: Keep the meeting schedule oh so tight. I personally hosted all the Task Force meetings—more than 70 of them—and they were very organized. Each meeting lasted only 90 minutes and had timed agendas.

Step Four: Create a draft plan and get reactions. Before we created the narrative, we built our plan off of a series of one-pagers that were Excel spreadsheets. After we’d gotten all the feedback that spreadsheet became this narrative.

Step Five: Unveil a final plan that can be implemented. This is the key. We don’t waste people’s time by coming up with a plan that looks great on paper but can never be implemented or at least, not in our life time. Here is our final 20/20 Vision plan.

In closing, go to page 29 and check out the results of the 20/20 Vision Innovation Task Force.

Over the next ten years we’re going to position Stark County as one of the ten most innovative places in America. We’re going to use the arts, and all our new partners, to do it.

This post is also one in a series highlighting The pARTnership Movement, Americans for the Arts’ campaign to to reach business leaders with the message that partnering with the arts can build their competitive advantage. Visit our website to find out how both businesses and local arts agencies can get involved!

Will Maitland Weiss

The sweet sixteen. The elite eight. The final four. But what does it really come down to…Who’s number ONE?!?!

In the case of The Economist’s Hot Spots: Benchmarking Global City Competitiveness (just released last week), IT’S NEW YORK.

A total of 120 cities were evaluated with 31 indicators for each city (21 qualitative and 10 quantitative) in “eight distinct, thematic categories” like “economic strength,” and “financial maturity,” and “social and cultural character.”

The Economist journalists write in their executive summary:

“Competitiveness is a holistic concept. While economic size and growth are important and necessary, several other factors determine a city’s competitiveness, including its business and regulatory environment, the quality of human capital, and cultural aspects. These factors not only help sustain high economic growth rates, but also create a stable and harmonious business and social environment. Against this backdrop, we define competitiveness as the demonstrated ability to attract capital, business, talent, and visitors.”

I love this stuff.

Let’s face it: I love when New York wins.

You love it when your city, your team, your organization wins—as you should; but, this isn’t a fluff press release from the tourism/convention agency and it isn’t, ultimately, about New York.

For those of you non-econ majors and global naifs, The Economist has been published out of London since 1843. Per Wikipedia, its readership “targets highly educated and claims an audience containing many influential executives and policymakers.”

The Economist goes on:

“Well over half the world’s population now lives in cities, generating more than 80% of global GDP [when we in the arts proudly point to our piece of the economic pie, this is the whole bakery]. Already, global business is beginning to plan strategy from a city, rather than a country, perspective. Asian cities dominate the ‘economic strength’ category—the most highly weighted. All but five of the top-20 cities are Asian [NYC is fourth; only two other US cities in the the top 20 are LA (17) and Houston (18); there are no European cities].

[BUT…] the most significant advantage that developed country cities hold is their ability to develop and attract the world’s top talent. This stems primarily from the quality of their educational systems and the entrepreneurial mindset of their citizens. But other factors bolster their performance, too, such as CULTURAL ACTIVITIES and a generally good quality of life. New York Mayor Bloomberg says such factors are a key part of maintaining competitiveness: ‘I’ve always believed that talent attracts capital more effectively and consistently than capital attracts talent.’”

What makes your city or town attractive to business investment and growth? A livability factor to which the arts contribute mightily.

What is attracting and retaining talent in your community? “Influential executives and policymakers” may know, or may need to be reminded. Tell them. Quote The Economist.

This post is also one in a series highlighting The pARTnership Movement, Americans for the Arts’ campaign to to reach business leaders with the message that partnering with the arts can build their competitive advantage. Visit our website to find out how both businesses and local arts agencies can get involved!

Margaret Coady

Though it may seem counterintuitive the first time you hear it, grantmakers and philanthropists will tell you the same thing: giving money away is hard work. Or more precisely, the hard work is allocating funds thoughtfully and with seriousness about making a real difference.

My role as director of the Committee Encouraging Corporate Philanthropy (CECP) puts me in close contact with the corporate giving officers who oversee the philanthropic budgets of the largest companies in the country and world, and in my seven years here I’ve come to understand some of their core challenges.

While many of the hurdles are tactical—giving officers typically work on small teams responsible for coordinating hundreds of grants across multiple countries—often the harder part of the job is more fundamental: setting and maintaining a coherent corporate giving strategy.

Who and what will the company fund? Why those causes and not others? Why those grantees and not others?

The rationale for the funding decisions must be rock-solid. After all, it can be difficult to explain to employees, shareholders, and others why a company can continue grantmaking in an economic climate in which they are simultaneously laying off workers and shutting down regional offices.

In the process of setting these corporate giving strategies, historical data shows that giving to the arts is often lost in the long shadow of significant giving to health, social services, and education.

Since CECP began collecting data on trends in corporate giving, contributions to arts and culture have hovered between five percent and eight percent of the typical company’s annual giving.

Year after year, the story is sadly the same: companies are not prioritizing the arts.

Yet we know from the great work of Americans for the Arts that business clearly benefits from communities made vibrant by an active creative culture. Not only do the arts enliven the cities and neighborhoods where employees live and work, which supports employee recruitment and retention, but also arts organizations can be important partners to companies in marketing, diversity programs, and team-building programs, among so many other ways.

Why don’t companies give more to the arts in light of the clear societal and business benefits of doing so?

The National Survey of Business Support to the Arts has the most comprehensive national accounting of the reasons, but the theme that emerges seems to be that companies have not felt the impact strategically. According to the survey, when they give to the arts, the majority do so because it is “the right thing to do.”

For those of us who share a passion for arts and culture, we know the conversation needs to change—not only is corporate support of the arts “the right thing to do”—but also it is a strategic thing to do, too.

This thinking is at the very heart of The pARTnership Movement’s excellent online case studies and resources.

Unlocking a higher level of arts funding may require companies and their arts partners to engage in innovative project design that makes impact of an arts grant more tangible to the company.

The data shows that 53 percent of companies are not taking advantage of programs such as employee volunteer opportunities at arts organizations, art exhibitions or performances in the workplace, board service at arts organizations, free or discounted tickets to arts events, and even corporate art collections.

Stepping back, it struck me that 99 percent of all arts funding is in the form of cash grants. Yet from CECP’s data we know that nearly 20 percent of all corporate giving is product donations or pro bono service.

Might there be an untapped opportunity here? Can programs be developed that blend the cash grants that are so important, but also make greater use of employee volunteers, pro bono service, company facilities, and product donations, as other nonprofits are doing in other funding areas?

Managing volunteers and product donations can sometimes overwhelm a recipient organization, and I am not suggesting that arts organizations lose sight of their core priorities as they seek greater corporate support; but, when planned for and managed appropriately, programs that blend funding types can have mission benefits that far exceed cash grants alone.

The arts community and business share an important key asset: a mindset of risk-taking, excellence, creativity, and innovation.

I encourage these two communities to take another look at how programs might be conceived and delivered that capitalize on all of the many societal benefits of arts grantmaking in a manner that the company and its employees can engage with directly, which when done well may be more strategic for all involved.

(Visit CECP’s website for more information about their work.)

This post is also one in a series highlighting The pARTnership Movement, Americans for the Arts’ campaign to to reach business leaders with the message that partnering with the arts can build their competitive advantage. Visit our website to find out how both businesses and local arts agencies can get involved!

Randy Cohen

Almost one year ago, I posted The Top Ten Reasons to Support the Arts in response to a business leader who wanted to make a compelling case for government and corporate contributions to the arts.

Being a busy guy, he didn’t want a lot to read: “Keep it to one page, please.”

With the arts advocacy season once again upon us…(who am I kidding, it’s always upon us!)…here is my updated list for 2012.

10 Reasons to Support the Arts

1. True prosperity. The arts are fundamental to our humanity. They ennoble and inspire us—fostering creativity, goodness, and beauty. They help us express our values, build bridges between cultures, and bring us together regardless of ethnicity, religion, or age. When times are tough, the arts are salve for the ache.

2. Improved academic performance. Students with an education rich in the arts have higher GPAs and standardized test scores, lower drop-out rates, and even better attitudes about community service—benefits reaped by students regardless of socioeconomic status. Students with four years of arts or music in high school average 100 points better on their SAT scores than students with one-half year or less.

3. Arts are an industry. Arts organizations are responsible businesses, employers, and consumers. Nonprofit arts organizations generate $166 billion in economic activity annually, supporting 5.7 million jobs and generating nearly $30 billion in government revenue. Investment in the arts supports jobs, generates tax revenues, and advances our creativity-based economy.

4. Arts are good for local merchants. The typical arts attendee spends $27.79 per person, per event, not including the cost of admission on items such as meals, parking, and babysitters. Non-local arts audiences (who live outside the county) spend nearly twice as much as local arts attendees ($40.19 vs. $19.53)—valuable revenue for local businesses and the community.

5. Arts are the cornerstone of tourism. Arts travelers are ideal tourists—they stay longer and spend more. The U.S. Department of Commerce reports that the percentage of international travelers including museum visits on their trip has grown annually since 2003 (17 to 24 percent), while the share attending concerts and theater performances increased five of the past seven years (13 to 17 percent since 2003).

6. Arts are an export industry. U.S. exports of arts goods (everything from movies to paintings to jewelry) grew to $64 billion in 2010. With U.S. imports at just $23 billion, the arts achieved a $41 billion trade surplus in 2010.

7. Building the 21st century workforce. Reports by The Conference Board show creativity is among the top-five applied skills sought by business leaders—with 72 percent saying creativity is of high importance when hiring. The biggest creativity indicator? A college arts degree. Their Ready to Innovate report concludes, “…the arts—music, creative writing, drawing, dance—provide skills sought by employers of the 3rd millennium.”

8. Healthcare. Nearly one-half of the nation’s healthcare institutions provide arts programming for patients, families, and even staff. 78 percent deliver these programs because of their healing benefits to patients—shorter hospital stays, better pain management, and less medication.

9. Stronger communities. University of Pennsylvania researchers have demonstrated that a high concentration of the arts in a city leads to higher civic engagement, more social cohesion, higher child welfare, and lower poverty rates. A vibrant arts community ensures that young people are not left to be raised solely in a pop culture and tabloid marketplace.

10. Creative Industries. The Creative Industries are arts businesses that range from nonprofit museums, symphonies, and theaters to for-profit film, architecture, and advertising companies. An analysis of Dun & Bradstreet data counts 904,581 businesses in the U.S. involved in the creation or distribution of the arts that employ 3.3 million people—representing 4.25 percent of all businesses and 2.15 percent of all employees, respectively.

11. What is your #11? Share with us in the comments below…

Want to post these reasons on your wall or take it to a meeting with your mayor? Download these 10 Reasons to Support the Arts in 2012 from our main website.

Keep up the great work!

Arts Watch is the bi-weekly cultural policy publication of Americans for the Arts, covering news in a variety of categories. Subscribe to Arts Watch or follow @artswatch on Twitter to receive up-to-the-minute news.

Giovanni Schiuma

When we think about creativity, we need to think of it as something we do every day—like thinking. We cannot avoid thinking and creativity is the same. We cannot avoid being creative. So when we ask the question: How does the corporate world value creativity? (and vice versa), our focus should not be creativity but something else. Culture.

Organizations need the arts. They need culture in their business. We are living in a transition time and this time calls for new models, a new management mindset, and new management tools. 21st century organizations are managed and organized for the 20th century business landscape.

But we are in a completely new landscape.

Today’s organizations need new competencies because they are dealing with new challenges, and these challenges I summarize in what I call the five e’s:

1) Experience. More and more, we are living in an experience-based economy. When we buy a suit, when we buy a product, when we buy a service, what we are basically buying are experiences. And so an organization needs to know how to build and how to shape those experiences.

2) Emotion. Creativity, and more importantly the arts, are about passion and love. Traditionally, organizations have not considered these a key factor in creating value, but they are becoming increasingly important. I only have to quote Steve Jobs on the importance of love and feeling.

Today what we need to manage is not only the know-how—the technical knowledge—but more and more what I define as the know-feel: the ability to be in touch with, and use, emotion, to achieve excellent results. Organizations need to know how to manage and deal with emotive knowledge.

3) Energy. Organizations, especially Western ones, need to find a way to engage the energy of people. Productivity is not only based on know-how but also the capacity of people to give the best of themselves. We need to learn how to engage this energy both within and around organizations.

4) Ethics. We all need to become more socially responsible. Organizations need to focus not only on outputs but more and more on the outcomes that they generate. Again, this requires a new management mindset, new management models, and new competencies.

5) Environment. In terms of sustainability and managing outcomes for that sustainability.

I believe these five dimensions are key to prospering in the future and that to manage them, organizations need to look to new knowledge and territory. Here is where the arts come into play.

When we think about the arts, we are all aware of the idea of creative industry. We are all aware of using the arts for social and cultural growth. And we are also aware of what is called arts management: the use of management to make sure the arts are able to survive and to prosper.

But my focus is arts-based management: how the arts can be integrated and absorbed within organizational life in order to make new forms of organization. This is what I call a revolution.

Today’s organizations are still stuck in the scientific principle of management, in the theoretical approach. We need to move towards a new kind of organization that recognizes the central role of the human. We need to understand how to manage energy and emotion, experience, and ethics.

How can we apply the arts in an instrumental way to support organizational development?

How can we use the arts to make sure we can help people change (professional development)?

How can we support the arts to create tangible value both within and around organizations, their products, and their services?

My research seeks to define different models of how this can be applied. But what I want to stress here, and it’s a very important point, is that when we talk about the arts in organizations, we are not just talking about bringing in some artist, or some artworks, that make things fun or nice for a while.

We are talking about using arts as a management tool. This means applying the arts across our organizations in a strategic and operational way, not just in a one-off way. Only by integrating the arts in our DNA can we create what I consider the true 21st century organization.

(Editor’s Note: This post is an edited speech from The Culture Capital Exchange Conference: Creativity and Business: Connectivity, Values and Interventions, held at the British Library on March 8, 2012 that was first published on The Guardian website. You can listen to podcasts from the event here.)

This post is also one in a series highlighting The pARTnership Movement, Americans for the Arts’ campaign to to reach business leaders with the message that partnering with the arts can build their competitive advantage. Visit our website to find out how both businesses and local arts agencies can get involved!

Kelly Seward

Spring is my favorite time of year because companies across Kansas City begin luring artists, writers, musicians, dancers, and filmmakers from their cubes for the sixth annual Art@Work corporate arts festival.

When the program began in 2007, I believed Art@Work was about showcasing the arts in all of its various forms. I know now that it’s about showcasing people.

Two years ago, Pat Wigley, a cable lineman at Kansas City Power & Light, created a sculpture of a wind-bent tree using the overhead line he works on every day. His co-workers awarded Into the Storm a first place ribbon and advanced Pat’s sculpture to our city-wide competition.

During the opening reception, I was approached by a teenage boy who saw the piece and wanted to know more about it. After we found Pat and his wife in the crowd, the boy energetically shook Pat’s hand and exclaimed, “It’s an honor to meet you, sir. You’ve inspired me to become an artist.” Pat looked confused but his wife absolutely beamed.

The two talked for a while about electricity,  wire-bending techniques, and inspiration. Before he left, the boy shook Pat’s hand again and said, “I’m going home to start making art right now.”

Pat told me that Into the Storm was the first piece of art he had ever made…he had always wanted to be an artist but had just never tried.

He then carefully took out of his backpack two cloth bundles and carefully unwrapped his latest work. The pieces were delicately sculpted flowers made from antique sterling silver forks and spoons that Pat had painstakingly polished to a Tiffany-like luster. They were absolutely stunning.

"Against the Wind" by William 'Pat' Wigley

Many more sculptures soon followed as I received photographs of dancers, hummingbirds, and more flowers.

This past December, Pat shared that the Kansas Grassroots Art Museum wanted one of his sculptures for their permanent collection.

Art@Work allows cable linemen, database analysts, security guards, and CEOs to be artists; to inspire and to be inspired.

Many employees say that they feel more visible and respected at work after sharing their paintings or poetry. Others say that new friendships are formed as co-workers discover they hold a shared passion. Some say that they dust off guitars and paintbrushes and rediscover a long-forgotten love. Transformations occur.

Over the next few months, many Kansas City companies will discover the hidden talents of their workforce. My hope is that they will also discover the invigorating energy, passion, and imagination of their artists.

This post is one in a series highlighting The pARTnership Movement, Americans for the Arts’ campaign to to reach business leaders with the message that partnering with the arts can build their competitive advantage. Visit our website to find out how both businesses and local arts agencies can get involved!

Sarah Cortell Vandersypen

“With the Government giving less to art and education, somebody’s got to give more. And that somebody is America’s corporations.” — Chase Manhattan Bank (Wu, 2002, p. 122)

During these challenging economic times, arts organizations and professionals must seek innovative funding opportunities. These opportunities include partnerships with the private sector. Americans for the Arts, in collaboration with the National Association for Business Economics (NABE) Foundation, has done just that.

In October 2010, I had the honor of receiving the 2010 NABE Foundation Americans for the Arts Scholarship. The scholarship was established in 2008 to encourage the integration of the arts into the economic education process. By investing in human capital, both organizations seek to promote creative thinking, innovation, and visionary leadership.

During the time I received the scholarship, I was completing my M.A. in Arts Policy and Administration at The Ohio State University. This unique program, a joint degree between the art education department and the John Glenn School of Public Affairs, challenges the way arts professionals think about the sector.

With its multidisciplinary approach, the program incorporates a variety of courses including economics, finance, policy formation and implementation, program evaluation, and nonprofit consulting. My graduate program has taught me to think critically about the policies and management of the nonprofit arts sector, and the NABE Foundation Americans for the Arts Scholarship has freed me to do the work I love.

Robert L. Lynch, President and CEO of Americans for the Arts, said, “These awards reflect a fundamental belief that the arts are a key component in helping to prepare students to exceed, and indeed thrive, in the workplace and society of the future.”

Beyond the individual, this scholarship program, as well as other collaborations, can advance the position of the arts. As highlighted in Kristen Engerbretsen’s previous ARTSblog post, forging these essential partnerships create advocates for the arts.

The arts create jobs, have a significant economic impact, and improve the quality of life through social and community development. Through these collaborations with our private sector partners, the arts can increase their value in society and become indispensable to their communities.

The NABE Foundation Americans for the Arts Scholarship Award was established in 2008 to encourage the integration of the arts into the economic education process. Recipients of the scholarship must come from economically disadvantaged households and have attended public school.

Successful candidates demonstrate long-term participation in the study of, creation in and/or performance in one or more art forms, including dance, music, theatre, literary, visual/media arts; excel academically; and have formally declared the intent to study economics for policy purposes, or in applications in the private and public sectors.

The scholarship recipients are selected following a competitive review process which begins with a pre-screening of applicants by Americans for the Arts, followed by a review of finalists by a sub-committee, and ratification of recipients by the NABE Foundation Board.

The 2011 NABE Foundation Americans for the Arts Scholarship Award was presented to Amy Serrano on March 26, 2012 at the NABE Policy Conference in Arlington, VA.

Scott Provancher

As I drove up to a series of nondescript warehouse buildings, I double checked the directions to make sure I was in the right place.

Inching slowly forward, I eventually spotted the sign I was looking for: Forbo Siegling, Inc. As I got out of my car, I wondered for a second if this donor relationship visit was a good use of my time.

We often say that relationships are the key to fundraising success. But more often than not, we catch ourselves spending most of our time only nurturing the relationships that we know will lead to significant donations. We forget that most people are not born as arts philanthropists and need to be inspired by an experience or a relationship that will turn them into arts lovers.

Well “corporations are people too,” to quote Mitt Romney.

Just like people, businesses need their own breakthrough moments that inspire them to become meaningful supporters of the arts. As stewards of our institutions and the arts community, we always need to be searching for partnerships with the business community that make these special experiences happen.

Forbo Siegling, Inc. is a modest donor to the Arts & Science Council and the reason for my visit that day was to meet with the North American CEO, Wayne Hoffman. After a tour of their facility, I learned that in addition to being one of the world’s largest manufacturers of conveyer belts (think U.S. Postal Service and airport baggage systems), they were owned by Forbo which is headquartered in Switzerland.

As I continued my meeting with Mr. Hoffman, I also learned that Forbo’s board of directors were planning to visit Charlotte in the coming months and were looking for a location to meet. Without hesitation, I said “You should have your board meeting at the Bechtler Museum.”

Charlotte recently completed the Levine Center for the Arts, home to Bechtler Museum of Modern Art, Mint Museum, Harvey B. Gantt Center for African American Arts + Culture, and the Knight Theater. The connection for Forbo is that the Bechtler Museum of Modern Art was made possible with the gift of a $70 million art collection donated by Andreas Bechtler, son of Swiss art collectors Hans and Bessie Bechtler.

After additional conversations with Mr. Hoffman, Forbo hosted their board of directors at the Bechtler Museum and it was a huge success.

In Wayne’s words, “I couldn’t be happier. The weather supported us, the meeting venue was most appreciated, and the general outcome of the board meeting was positive for Forbo Siegling, LLC here. Further, the museum tour that was conducted was informative and interesting for all of them. Of course, they had various connections with both the artists and Andreas Bechtler so that became even more interesting as the day progressed.”

This rich cultural experience has left a lasting impression with Forbo’s leadership and forever strengthened the partnership with the arts community in Charlotte.

Though I wish that all of my corporate visits lead to unexpected partnerships between the arts and the business community, Forbo Siegling is a powerful reminder that breakthrough relationship moments are out there in least expected corners of our communities.

This post is one in a series highlighting The pARTnership Movement, Americans for the Arts’ campaign to to reach business leaders with the message that partnering with the arts can build their competitive advantage. Visit our website to find out how both businesses and local arts agencies can get involved!

Leslie Donaldson

Driving around Greater Lansing, MI, commuters may be surprised to discover 672-square-foot works of art on area billboards that normally carry advertising.

These artful billboards can be found in the sky along the highways leading into Michigan’s capitol city, near highly trafficked shopping centers, and outside local neighborhoods, all transforming traditional advertising spaces into an artful visual display.

These billboards, which were all launched as an initiative to bring art to the masses via the medium of outdoor advertising, is made possible through a program called Art In The Sky, a unique partnership between the Arts Council of Greater Lansing and local advertising company, Adams Outdoor Advertising, highlighting the local arts community.

Debuting in March 2011, Art In The Sky billboards have been installed in various locations around the Greater Lansing region. To date, Adams Outdoor has donated space to local artists, each of whom have received an Individual Artist Grant from the Arts Council of Greater Lansing. A panel of peer reviewers selected the artists’ respective applications to receive funding for a specific arts project with a local public component. Grantees were selected on artistic merit and the potential impact of their public project upon the community.

A billboard by artist Barb Hranilovich.

To participate in the Art In The Sky program, grantees are given the opportunity to have one of their artworks produced into a 14’ x 28’ vinyl billboard. The arts council coordinates those who want to participate and prepares the images for production, with each billboard being standardized to offer brand consistency.

Adams Outdoor produces the large vinyl image, stores it, and installs it at locations that are not currently being occupied by a client. Through Adams Outdoor’s generosity, and a financial subsidy from the arts council, artist participants only pay $100 for their billboard.

Once produced, billboards may be in rotation for up to two years, initially installed outside of the county to attract visitors, and are then moved periodically to different locations throughout the Greater Lansing region on an as-available basis by Adams.

To date, nine vinyl billboards are in rotation, each featuring a different Individual Artist Grantee’s work. The billboards are visually attractive, and have helped raise awareness about the artistic talent in the region. The billboards have  also created temporary outdoor “public art” in places where vacant billboards might once have stood. The result has been a win-win-win for all involved—the arts council, Adams Outdoor, and each of the local artists.

A billboard by artist Kate Cosgrove.

Additionally, the Art In The Sky program also serves to support the work of the arts council and its implementation of its regional cultural economic development plan titled: Arts Works: A Collaborative Cultural Economic Development Plan for Greater Lansing’s Urban Center.

This plan, launched in 2009, includes strategies to work collaborative with area partners to grow creative enterprise, integrate the arts into regional placemaking initiatives, and support the regional business community in attracting and retaining talent by highlighting our vast arts and cultural amenities.

Through the partnership with Adams Outdoor, the Art In The Sky program touches upon each of these strategies by creating awareness of our local artists in an effort to build and sustain their creative businesses, and by supporting the community-at-large by offering “public art” that defines place and attracts business and visitors to our region.

Through these and other great community partnerships, we know we are well on our way to becoming the Midwest’s most welcoming and supportive destination for creative innovators and entrepreneurs—and we are having lots on fun along the way.

Joanne Riley

The new pARTnership Movement has really resonated with the Cultural Alliance of York County (PA). Though we solicit individuals now, we started, and mostly still are, a corporate campaign for the arts.

Annually we raise $1.2 million dollars. More than 300 companies make that happen by contributing to a campaign for arts, history, and culture. That’s an incredible number considering we are a town of 44,000 and a county of about 400,000.

The founders of the Cultural Alliance were the heads of large corporations here. They supported the concept of a United Arts Fund and invested in it. We had success our first year (2000) and have continued to meet or exceed goal.

The message that we clearly stated, from the beginning, is that the arts are good for business. Though our message was not so clearly articulated as the pARTnership Movement has been, the fact is we use those eight reasons to establish the arts’ genuine ability to change our community. 

One company is the immediate and current supporter for all cultural agencies in York, and truly believes the concept of helping the community by partnering with the arts. They use their partnership with us to help recruit and retain employees.

The company, Glatfelter Insurance Group, has 500 employees and is one of the largest privately held insurance brokers in the United States. They not only value the arts as a tool for human resources (very pragmatic), but also as a way to get their message across in engaging ways—sponsoring interesting art exhibits, both traditional and non-traditional shows, and symphony and pops concerts.

The company also knows that, for example, the fourth of July concert and fireworks draws 20,000 disparate people together to enjoy the sounds of the York Symphony who might never enjoy symphonic music.

Their partnership helps us raise money among other companies as the new investors see the excitement and involvement of Glatfelter Insurance Company’s employees and their desire to make York the best place to be, so they want to give!

Glatfelter Insurance Company inspires and rewards their employees with all the benefits arts have to offer. And their mission, beyond their business, is to help be a positive part of the community where many of their employees live, work, and raise families. With their prominent name as an arts supporter, they inspire others to join them.

We don’t have to cultivate York’s businesses, big and small, because that was the premise when we first started. Glatfelter Group’s founder and its executives believed in business support for the arts and its powerful impact on the community and their employees from the beginning.

Their support for the arts grounded our united arts fund campaign and was a persuasive tool in getting support from businesses. Without their support, this agency would not have been funded and certainly would not have reached its goals every year.

Knowing that Glatfelter Insurance Company understood, at the deepest level, the arts’ influence, helped lead others to follow. Even in times when corporate funding was reduced, the arts’ reduced share always equaled the reduction among other nonprofits in York.

We couldn’t continue this campaign without businesses investing in us…and The pARTnership Movement articulates why!

This post is one in a series highlighting The pARTnership Movement, Americans for the Arts’ campaign to to reach business leaders with the message that partnering with the arts can build their competitive advantage. Visit our website to find out how both businesses and local arts agencies can get involved!

Margot H. Knight

Those of us in the mission-driven arts resource business (this means YOU), all have stories about the moment you connected to a donor from the business community—an authentic, real MOMENT when you and your organization connect either professionally or personally with the businessman/woman on the other side of the desk, cocktail, or dinner table.

Sometimes it happens right away. Sometimes a relationship takes months, even years, to develop.

And sometimes, that moment of truth reveals a dead-end future, or more painfully, spells the end to an existing relationship. Here is some of my best advice based on my own experiences—I hope it’s helpful:

1. Always bear in mind that money is the means to an end, not an end to itself. This premise has ripples—it means you won’t compromise your mission for money. It means you won’t get ahead of yourself in a conversation and talk about money before you talk about mission. And it means you MUST understand what your potential business partner values. For him or her, money is the means to an end as well.

2. You have to do your homework. Just like you, the person sitting across from you woke up with a notion of what a successful day looks like. Before you walk into any business, large or small, do a little research. What does the business do? How and where do they do it? How are they doing? What are the external pressures bearing on THEM? Most businesses have vision and mission statements of their own. Look them up. The old adage of “seek to understand before being understood,” comes to mind.

3. The knowledge you’ve gathered is not for you to “show-off” what you know. We all know there is nuance that is never revealed until we have a face-to-face. Use that knowledge to ask questions. Walk into the room thinking, “There’s more I don’t know about this company than I do.” “I think I saw you have a partnership with XYZ arts organization—is that typical of the kind of community partnerships you’re interested in?” “Did I see your sister is a singer? How did she get her start”? You are there to share, not to sell.

4. Go where businesspeople go. Join the chamber of commerce, the economic development group, and the tourism bureau. It’s a pay-to-play, opt-in world so budget accordingly. Perhaps one of your current business supporters will sponsor your membership or conference attendance. Don’t be a Johnny-one-note, always talking about the arts. Learn about business regulations, tax issues, economic issues, etc. Sad to say too many people in business have the hallucination that the arts are irrelevant and artists and arts administrators are willfully ignorant of the “real” world. Burst that bubble and change that hallucination by engaging them in conversations that matter to them.

5. Take advantage of the fact that arts and culture are allowed to delve into the “personal.” “So what connections have you had with the arts over the years?” “Did you play an instrument in high school?” “Are your kids involved with the arts?” I never would have know that a hardened construction executive’s mother won an award for acting in another city if I hadn’t asked. His company has made a $2,500 gift ever since.

6. Stay OUT of partisan politics. I don’t make ANY political contributions to candidates—just donations to Americans for the Arts Action Fund and the state’s political action fund. Again, have your business supporters who are involved politically invite you as their guest to campaign parties and events. Call me chicken, but aggressive partisan neutrality allows me to work both sides of the aisle with a pure heart and motives to match.

7. Help define the appropriate role for your board. Certainly, they can be philanthropic ambassadors to their own companies or business employers. Every one of can make thank you calls. Beyond that, are they willing to spend their personal social and political capital to talk to their own vendors and clients? If not, are they willing to introduce staff or other board members to their contacts? Be aware that sometimes board members cannot make the calls themselves. Perhaps they don’t want to compromise a business or personal relationship, or they literally can’t afford it. Reciprocity can be expensive.

8. Reach out to your own vendors. Anything you’re paying for (cell phones, bankcard charges, office equipment, etc.) can be donated. Make a list and see if your vendors are willing to discount (in return for charitable recognition) or are able to make an outright gift of services they’re currently providing.

9. Credit is cheap—thank people always and often. Communicate those thanks verbally and in writing. Let people KNOW what their contribution made happen. Tie them as closely as possible to the outcomes and, if appropriate, to the people that benefited. Nominate them for awards from arts and business organizations. Share their generosity with the worlds that matter to THEM.

10. Never take ANY donor for granted. Communicate with them without asking for money! Create a special time frame and perhaps an event to thank previous donors. Ask business donors to consider helping leverage their gift by inviting others to learn about your organizations. Large business donors might be willing to host an informational breakfast for their own vendors and clients. Everyone wants new donors but there’s no sense adding at the top if they’re falling out the bottom.

So, create a moment—and then plan for momentum. Hope you have some success stories and tips of your own to share in the comments below.

It’s all about creating a world where the arts matter, where artists are revered, where the creative spirit can thrive and freedom of expression is honored. Good luck.

This post is one in a series highlighting The pARTnership Movement, Americans for the Arts’ campaign to to reach business leaders with the message that partnering with the arts can build their competitive advantage. Visit our website to find out how both businesses and local arts agencies can get involved!

John Bryan

#1 Richmond has an enviable business community as evidenced by its being one of only 11 cities to be headquarters to more than five Fortune 500 companies and one of only 12 cities to have a Federal Reserve Bank.

#2 Richmond’s arts/culture community is likewise enviable as evidenced by its emergence from the recession with all of its major arts and culture organizations thriving: symphony, opera, ballet, theatre, art museum, science museum, history museum, children’s museum, botanical garden, and many dozens more.

#3 Richmond has a slew of enviable national creative superlatives such as being home to the #1 marketing company (Martin Agency – think Geico gekko), #1 public art university (VCU), #1 university advertising program (VCU Adcenter), and forthcoming building designed by the #1 architect (Steven Holl).

Those three sentences have resulted in a three-year Greater Richmond Chamber-led initiative entitled i.e.* – a grand partnership that spotlights and energizes creativity and innovation for three purposes: enable the business community to leverage the creative community in accomplishing real business objectives; provide expanded audiences for the creative community; and foster new relationships and partnerships.

Richmond’s local arts agency—CultureWorks—is one of the active partners with the Chamber’s i.e.* initiative and three current projects demonstrate the partnership’s value.

In January 2012, CultureWorks partnered with 15 of the city’s major companies to present an art exhibition entitled “Creative Capital—Corporate Richmond Collects”: artworks from corporate collections that had never been viewed by the public. There was a public opening reception and a catalogue about the corporations and their collections. CultureWorks and the Greater Richmond Chamber partnered to host a private reception specifically for leaders from the business and arts communities.

The exhibition accomplished three goals. First, it enhanced the brands of the 15 companies by putting a public spotlight on the fact that they greatly value the arts. Second, it fostered relationships between arts and business leaders. And third, it demonstrated to the business and arts communities that multi-partner initiatives can be effective.

In February 2012, CultureWorks and the Greater Richmond Chamber partnered on an issues-related event. They gathered 50 leaders from business, arts, and local government to meet with Ken Fergeson—past chairman of the American Bankers Association and current chairman of Americans for the Arts. Ken addressed two topics that have emerged on the political stage in Richmond: a prospective downtown arts district and the city’s percent for art ordinance. The gathering helped confirm among the city’s leaders that the arts can be strategic vitality tools for economic development.

In March 2012, CultureWorks and the Greater Richmond Chamber are partnering to gather another group of business, arts, and civic leaders to meet with Todd Graham who, as President and CEO of the Iowa West Foundation, used public art as the fundamental vitality tool that transformed the city of Council Bluffs, IA to become a prosperous urban area known for its cultural enlightenment and public art collection that draws visitors from across the country and around the world. The gathering’s objectives are to inform the business and arts communities about the potential values of developing and embracing a public art plan, and to be a catalyst for a multi-partner planning process.

Richmond has significant arts and corporate communities, and partnerships such as the Chamber’s i.e.* initiative are providing impetus for important community development.

This post is one in a series highlighting The pARTnership Movement, Americans for the Arts’ campaign to to reach business leaders with the message that partnering with the arts can build their competitive advantage. Visit our website to find out how both businesses and local arts agencies can get involved!

Valerie Beaman

There are many reasons that partnering with the arts advances business goals from recruiting and retaining a workforce, to rewarding employees, to building communities, and more.

The pARTnership Movement has identified eight strong reasons for businesses to partner with the arts. While some of these reasons will resonate better than others, depending on the industry, size and needs of the business, one reason that continues to gain traction is the role of the arts in fostering critical thinking.

Building and inspiring a creative and innovative workforce remains incredibly important as the country works to increase creativity and innovation.

Did you know that creativity is among the top applied skills sought by employers? More often than not business leaders say creativity is of high importance when hiring. The arts are about critical thinking, solving and reframing problems and facts in ways that reveal insights and opportunities.

Music, creative writing, drawing, and dance provide skills sought by employers of the third millennium. In fact, 72% of companies that give to the arts recognize that it stimulates creative thinking, problem solving, and team building.

Through our work, we know that the arts play an important role in fostering critical thinking.

The demand for inclusion of arts and humanities in MBA programs, science and technology programs, and medical programs is increasing as educators understand that training in the arts can lead to increased performance in a specialized field.

In 2008, The Conference Board, Americans for the Arts and the American Association of School Administrators collaborated on Ready to Innovate: Are Educators and Executives Aligned on the Creative Readiness of the U.S. Workforce?, which was developed as part of The Conference Board’s Workforce Readiness Initiative. The report found that educators and employers both felt they have a responsibility for instilling creativity in the U.S. workforce.

"La Convaleciente" (1930-32) by Maria Gutierrez-Cueto y Blanchard

For example, medical instructors help their students develop critical observational skills with trips to the local museum. Clinical diagnosis involves the observation, description, and interpretation of visual information, skills that can be strengthened through the arts. Through close inspection of portraits and other paintings, students not only improve their skills in observation, but also develop increased awareness of emotional and character expression in the human face.

In a fascinating article by Adam Palin in The Financial Times entitled Art for art’s sake?, he discusses the role of University art collections as educators and not investments. Some of the reasons described include using the collections to open the student’s minds to the non-literal, to demonstrate that there’s more than one way to express thoughts and solve problems, to provide a more creative atmosphere and also, the need for humanities to balance the single focus of some disciplines.

Certainly, universities are not alone in this. Many corporate art collections fill similar functions. Just look at Epic Systems’ offices. The art collection and strong design of the Verona, WI campus is clearly meant to inspire creativity and innovation in their employees. Raymond James and other companies also understand the value of corporate art collections in inspiring employees.

Are there businesses in your community who are incorporating the arts either in employee arts programming or corporate arts collections?

Is your arts organization involved in bringing arts-based programs to businesses or working with schools and colleges to weave in the arts?

Please share your stories in the comments or on The pARTnership Movement website to help reinforce the message that when arts and business partner, everyone profits!