While director of Arts Councils of America, Mr. Burgard wrote “Arts in the City” (1968), a book in which he argued that decentralized, local cultural institutions “rooted in local history and traditions” could transform not just towns and cities, but also neighborhoods in large urban areas.

“I’ve always believed that the arts are the antennae of the human race,” Mr. Burgard wrote.

Two years after publishing the book he started Burgard Associates, a planning company that helped develop arts programs in several cities, including Charlotte, N.C., and Santa Cruz, Calif.

Concerned about the lack of arts education for children in poor communities, Mr. Burgard started the A+ Schools Program in 1988. Its comprehensive arts curriculum is now offered to 18,000 students in 42 public schools in North Carolina.

• George Irwin—recipient of the Selina Roberts Ottum Award for making a meaningful contribution to the arts through local arts leadership.
• Julia Kirt—recipient of the Emerging Leader Award for her innovative thinking, a commitment to the advancement of the arts and exemplary leadership.
• Joan Adams Mondale—recipient of the Public Art Network Award for her creative contributions and commitment in the field of public art.
• Marilyn Moosnick—recipient of the Michael Newton Award for leadership in united arts fundraising for efforts to raise money for multiple community arts institutions.
• The New Victory Theater—recipient of the Arts Education Award for changing public education through the arts, and producing the visible results to be seen as a national leader in the field of arts education.
• Judith Kaufman Weiner—recipient of the Alene Valkanas State Arts Advocacy Award for affecting the political landscape through arts advocacy efforts at the state level.

Peggy Amsterdam also received the Ray Hanley Innovation Award for her outstanding contribution to arts and culture in Philadelphia. Congratulations to all the winners who continue to inspire us with their passion and perseverance.  Additional information on the honorees is available in the Press Room.

Visit the campaign’s homepage at www.AmericansForTheArts.org/public_awareness to view all the ads, get information from the Online Resource Center, and learn how you can be a local partner in the campaign.

For more information and a schedule of Forums, visit: MetLife Foundation National Arts Forum Series

Patricia Martin's book, RenGen: The Rise of the Cultural Consumer and What It Means to Your Business, is available in the Americans for the Arts store.

For more information, visit: www.americansforthearts.org/events/2008/convention/default.asp.

In this provocative lecture, Pink makes what he calls a “hard-headed case for arts education.”  He explains how three powerful forces in the economy are making logical, linear, rule-based, “left-brain” abilities necessary in the workforce, but no longer sufficient.  And he shows how these three forces—what he calls abundance, Asia, and automation—are making artistic, empathic, big picture, “right brain” abilities the most important abilities in just about every profession in industry.

Daniel Pink’s books A Whole New Mind and A Free Agent Nation are available in the Americans for the Art Store.

For information, transcripts, and podcasts of previous Hanks lectures, visit here: http://www.artsusa.org/events/nancyhanks.asp

Keynote and plenary speakers include:

• Ed Keller—CEO, Keller Fay Group and word-of-mouth guru
• Karen Brooks Hopkins—President, Brooklyn Academy of Music
• Alan Brown—Principal, WolfBrown
• Patricia Martin—President, LitLamp Communications Group, Inc.

Also on November 8, two preconferences are offered: The Pricing Institute and Sponsorship Bootcamp.

For more information, visit: http://www.artsusa.org/events/2008/abc/namc/default.asp

For more information, visit: www.americansforthearts.org/events/2008/convention/default.asp.

Additional information about the 2007 Roundtable, including an executive summary of the convening and commissioned opinion essays are available at www.AmericansForTheArts.org/go/policyroundtable.

The National Arts Marketing Project Conference is the premier and largest gathering of arts marketers in the country. The convening is a critical forum for arts groups to discuss the rapidly changing demographics and behaviors of U.S. consumers, as well as how arts organizations can remain relevant in the era of consumer control.

For a detailed schedule of National Arts Marketing Project Conference workshops, speeches, and events, visit the conference website. And for more information on the National Arts Marketing Project visit www.ArtsMarketing.org.

In July, Americans for the Arts, in conjunction with the National Association of Counties, presented the 2007 National Award for County Arts Leadership to the Howard County Government of Howard County, Maryland at NACo’s annual meeting in Richmond, Virginia. Read the press release.

Also in July, Montana Lieutenant Governor John Bohlinger received the Lieutenant Governors Arts Award from Americans for the Arts and the National Lieutenant Governors Association. Read the press release.

This week, Americans for the Arts and the National Conference of State Legislatures presented the State Arts Leadership Award to Senator Carolyn Allen of Arizona. Read the press release.

The Americans for the Arts Job Bank offers employers targeted access to quality arts administration professionals, along with quick and easy job posting and online job activity reports. Job seeking professionals can make sure their resumes are being seen by those in the industry who matter most to them. The Americans for the Arts Job Bank offers job seekers free and confidential resume posting, automated weekly e-mail notification of new job listings, and the ability to save jobs for later review. 

To find a job or fill a position, visit http://jobbank.artsusa.org today.

Additionally, the National Endowment for the Humanities was also given enough of an increase to match the NEA at $160 million.

To read a statement about the funding increase, visit the Americans for the Arts press room.

The nation’s nonprofit arts and culture industry has grown steadily since the first analysis by Americans for the Arts in 1992, expanding at a rate greater than inflation. Between the second study conducted in 2000 and 2005, spending by organizations and their audiences grew 24 percent, from $134 billion to $166.2 billion in total economic activity—$63.1 billion in spending by organizations and an additional $103.1 billion in event-related spending by their audiences. The total economic activity has a significant national impact, generating the following:

• 5.7 million full-time equivalent jobs
• $104.2 billion in resident household income
• $7.9 billion in local government tax revenues
• $9.1 billion in state government tax revenues
• $12.6 billion in federal government tax revenues

For more information about the study’s national results visit the press room.

To learn more about Arts & Economic Prosperity III, visit www.AmericansForTheArts.org/EconomicImpact.