Americans for the Arts | Local, National, and International Arts News

OK Senator Blocks 9/11 Memorial Funding

Wed, 01 Feb 2012 09:20:10 EST

"Sen. Tom Coburn (R-OK) is blocking legislation that would provide $20 million a year in federal funding for the National September 11 Memorial & Museum at Ground Zero, demanding that co-sponsors of the bill come up with cuts to pay for the spending, his office confirmed to POLITICO...

The move has angered co-sponsors, including Sens. Kirsten Gillibrand and Chuck Schumer, both New York Democrats.

'This is sacred ground not just to New Yorkers, but to all Americans, and it deserves the same treatment as other memorials,' said Schumer, the No. 3 Senate Democrat whose office was notified by POLITICO about Coburn’s hold. 'Senator Coburn heard our arguments on the Zadroga bill and eventually supported it. We hope he will do the same this time.'

Coburn, a physician often referred to as the Senate’s Dr. No, initially blocked that earlier bill, which provided health care and other aid to first responders sickened by dust from the World Trade Center attacks, over objections it was being rushed through the Senate. But he eventually relented and the bill passed unanimously during the 2010 lame duck session...

The bill authorizes Interior Secretary Ken Salazar to provide technical assistance to help operate the memorial and museum and sets aside $20 million a year starting in 2013 for those activities. The legislation also requires private matching funds.

The memorial was unveiled last year on the 10th anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, which toppled the Twin Towers, but the museum isn’t slated to open until Sept. 11 of this year.

The memorial and museum came under fire this week after news outlets reported executives there paid themselves $6.5 million in salaries, including a $300,000 golden parachute when one of them left."

Advocacy, Civic Engagement Create Big ROI

Thu, 26 Jan 2012 11:12:50 EST

"Every dollar that foundations and other donors invested in advocacy, community organizing, and civic engagement over a five-year period provided a return of $115 in community benefit, a new report from the National Committee for Responsive Philanthropy finds.

The report, Leveraging Limited Dollars: How Grantmakers Achieve Tangible Benefits by Funding Policy and Community Engagement, examined a hundred and ten organizations in thirteen states and found that the groups leveraged $231 million in funding from grantmakers into $26.6 billion in benefits to low-wage workers, communities of color, rural residents, and other marginalized groups. To assist other funders interested in supporting advocacy to achieve maximum impact, the report provides suggestions on how to get started and explains why the strategies used by organizations in the survey were successful.

The findings are based on seven reports conducted as part of NCRP's Grantmaking for Community Impact Project, which aims to demonstrate the positive consequences of foundation-funded advocacy. As part of the project, NCRP compiled a directory of monetized and non-monetized impact achieved by the surveyed organizations over the five-year reporting period."

$200K Budget Proposed for Kansas Arts

Thu, 12 Jan 2012 13:53:42 EST

"Gov. Sam Brownback plans to resume state funding of arts programs and merge the arts and film commissions to focus on job creation under the new state budget outlined January 12.

The proposal would establish a Creative Industries Commission within the state Department of Commerce and provide $200,000 for both arts and film programs. That's the same subsidy Brownback offered for the Arts Commission last year, when he proposed eliminating the body and turning the administration of arts grants over to a private, nonprofit foundation.

Legislators rejected last year's plan; Brownback responded by vetoing the commission's entire $689,000 budget, making Kansas the first state to eliminate funding for arts. That decision prompted the National Endowment for the Arts and a regional arts alliance to cut funds, costing the state an additional $1.3 million.

Budget Director Steve Anderson presented the governor's latest proposal to the House Appropriations Committee and said the administration had listened to the complaints about the governor's veto. Brownback's actions brought Kansas national attention.

'We funded the arts,' Anderson said. 'That was a bit of a hot point last year.'

Under the proposed budget, the Creative Industries Commission would 'focus economic and workforce development efforts to expand creative industries across the state.'"

NBC Unveils School Theater Program

Mon, 09 Jan 2012 18:39:54 EST

"NBC is funding an initiative to create musical theater programs in U.S. schools in need of arts education.

The network said the effort to launch stand-alone musical theater programs will begin this month with a pilot group of 20 schools nationwide. NBC is joined on the Make a Musical project by iTheatrics, which adapts musicals for student productions and provides tools for teacher training.

The nonprofit iTheatrics’ Junior Theater Project aims to begin another 180 programs this fall, building toward a 2014 goal of 1,000 school programs reaching one million students, NBC said. Schools may apply for the fall program at makeamusical.org...

The pilot programs are in cities including Atlanta, Chicago, Dallas, Denver, Los Angeles, Houston, Nashville, and Seattle, with specific schools to be announced January 15."

Kansas Governor Rethinking Arts Funding

Mon, 09 Jan 2012 18:45:48 EST

"Gov. Sam Brownback is working on ways to provide funding for the arts after his controversial veto last year that made Kansas the first state in the nation to stop funding the arts.

Rep. TerriLois Gregory (R-Baldwin City) said arts funding strategies are being developed by the governor’s staff.

She said the funds may be channelled through the Kansas Department of Commerce in the form of grants, and that the still-existing, but unfunded Arts Commission could be merged with the Kansas Film Commission.

'The grants would be more focused on job creation,' Gregory said.

The 2012 legislative session started January 9 and Brownback will outline his priorities in the State of the State address on January 11.

At a Lawrence Chamber of Commerce breakfast with legislators, Gregory said some of the avenues being explored is providing arts funding through the sales of a special arts supporter license plate or donations through a tax checkoff.

In a recent interview with the Lawrence Journal-World, Brownback said he would re-visit the issue but didn’t elaborate.

Brownback vetoed state funding of the Kansas Arts Commission, saying that the arts was not a core function of state government and that he expected private donors to step up. After his veto of the $689,000 state appropriation, the state lost $1.2 million in federal funding."

Stanford University Adds to Arts District

Mon, 19 Dec 2011 09:43:54 EST

"Stanford University has unveiled plans for two major additions to its emerging 'arts district,' broadening the mission of a campus more famed for engineering than Expressionism.

The buildings -- one art museum and one academic building -- will join the Cantor Arts Center and Bing Concert Hall near the 'front door' of the campus at Palm Drive.

'These wonderful new facilities will take the arts to new levels,' said Matthew Tiews, executive director of Arts Programs at Stanford's School of Humanities & Sciences. 'They make sure that the experience of the arts and creativity is a fundamental part of Stanford's 21st century education,' he said.

One building, a contemporary art museum open to the public, will feature 121 pieces by such famed artists as Rothko, Pollock, and de Kooning.

The second building will be home to the university's Department of Art & Art History -- the first time Stanford's art studios and programs in film, media, and art history are together under one roof.

The Bing Concert Hall, an 844-seat site for Stanford Lively Arts' live musical performances, is under construction and will be open to the public in January 2013.

At a time when many arts organizations are struggling, the new projects are a reminder of the university's deep reach into a network of prosperous benefactors. The downturn in the economy has reduced donations and foundation funding for many arts groups.

Because of such gifts, Stanford is in the middle of its biggest building boom ever. It recently unveiled a new medical school building, business school, stem-cell research center and engineering center. A bioengineering building will open in fall 2014.

The buildings will strengthen the Stanford Arts Initiative, a universitywide effort to enhance the arts and creativity -- and encourage interdisciplinary collaboration with other fields on campus.

'They will be part of the experience for all Stanford students, not just those majoring in the arts,' Tiews said."

Louisville Tries a New Fundraising Method

Wed, 07 Dec 2011 09:32:05 EST

"Taking a cue from the success of Internet sites such as Kickstarter and IndieGoGo, the Louisville Fund for the Arts launched a new site Monday called Power 2 Give, designed to help nonprofit groups raise money for arts- or cultural-related projects.

'This project allows groups from around the city and the state to post projects and find donors to get funding,' said Barbara Sexton Smith, the fund’s acting president and CEO.

As of Monday’s launch, the website — power2give.org — listed 73 projects by a diverse range of groups, including large arts groups that have traditionally received money from the Fund for the Arts, such as Actors Theatre of Louisville and the Louisville Ballet.

It also includes projects by other groups, such as Crane House — The Asia Institute, the Blue Apple Players, the Arts Council of Southern Indiana, Jefferson Community and Technical College, and the Portland Museum.

'I think this (the new website) will give us more exposure, especially among smaller and younger donors who are interested in the culture life of the community, and it addresses new trends in giving,' said Crane House executive director Bryan Warren, whose organization has never received money from the Fund for the Arts."

European Union Unveils Arts Funding Plan

Fri, 02 Dec 2011 15:50:01 EST

"The European Commission proposed the world’s largest-ever cultural funding program under the title Creative Europe. The initiative, which would disperse a projected €1.8 billion ($2.4 billion) between 2014 and 2020, represents a 35 percent increase in European Union expenditures on culture, and is part of a larger Pan-European goal to stimulate the economy through cultural enterprise.

Representing an average 4.5 percent of the region’s GDP, culture and media have drawn great attention on the aging continent as a robust sector in which they can prosper. This marks a stark ideological gap between the E.U.’s policymakers and the United States congress and prospective U.S. presidential candidates like Mitt Romney who propose to slash federal funding for the arts to balance the budget and improve the economy."

Legacy Fund Loss Would Hurt Arts Groups

Wed, 23 Nov 2011 13:32:21 EST

"Minnesota voters approved the constitutional amendment in 2008 to send a three-eighths-cent sales tax to the outdoors, clean water, parks, and the arts. Arts and cultural programs get nearly 20 percent of that money, and so far thousands of arts programs have received grants for as little as a few hundred dollars.

But DFL Gov. Mark Dayton and Republican legislative leaders are considering future Legacy money among a myriad of possible funding sources for a new Vikings stadium. The uncertainty comes at a time when some of the smallest arts groups that received the funds say they owe their existence to the grants.

Supporters of using Legacy money for a stadium argue the Vikings are a cultural asset to the state. But arts groups say losing funding would mean a drop in the quality and quantity of art programs statewide. The funding has been extra money for some groups, but it's helped others expand programming and cover expenses."

Tax Breaks Key to Reviving Film Industry

Wed, 23 Nov 2011 13:28:47 EST

"North Carolina's film incentives program is essential to keep the industry flourishing and competitive, five experts said during a discussion Wednesday morning.

Their comments were part of 'A Beautiful Story on Film?,' the last event of the year for the Greater Wilmington Business Journal's Power Breakfast Series, held at the Wilmington Convention Center.

The gathering of local businesspeople, held on the eve of Wilmington's Cucalorus Film Festival, included Dan Brawley, the festival's director, among the panelists.

The group's words kept coming back to recent changes to the state's film incentives program, which government and industry officials have touted as a key ingredient in landing Iron Man 3. The film announced October 27 it would shoot in Wilmington over a 10-month period beginning next May, creating an estimated impact of more than $80 million while creating 550 crew jobs.

In 2009 and 2010, the N.C. General Assembly passed new laws that allow film companies to claim a 25 percent tax credit – up to $20 million – on productions spending more than $250,000 in qualifying expenses. The legislature also expanded the type of expenses that qualify for the credits, as well as eliminating the corporate income tax on the incentive itself."

First Lady Presents Youth Program Awards

Wed, 02 Nov 2011 13:14:37 EDT

"Zulmarie Nazario, a 16-year-old junior at Palumbo high school in South Philadelphia, is a testament to the power of arts education. She has been painting and drawing at the Fleisher Art Memorial just about every week since she came here from Puerto Rico three years ago. 'I feel like a totally different person when I come to Fleisher,' said Zulmarie. 'It allows me to express my feelings and not be afraid of being judged or self-conscious.'

Today, Zulmarie will represent the Fleisher Art Memorial at the White House, where first lady Michelle Obama is scheduled to present this year's National Arts and Humanities Youth Program Awards. Fleisher, a nonprofit community arts center in South Philadelphia, is one of only 12 arts organizations selected for the awards out of 471 nominated nationwide. The National Arts and Humanities Youth Program is part of a national initiative to celebrate the creativity of America's young people and to support after-school and out-of-school programs that open new pathways to self-discovery and academic success.

Zulmarie participates in Fleisher's Teen Lounge, a free after-school program that gives teenagers a chance to pursue projects of their own choosing while being guided by local professional artists. With access to Fleisher's studios and art materials, Zulmarie creates detailed abstract drawings that reflect her perspective on the world around her. She also takes part in a wide variety of other art projects, ranging from fabric sculptures to stop-motion animation.

Fleisher's arts programs have changed the outlooks and lives of thousands of young people. The creative projects coming out of its Teen Lounge engage young people and their families while celebrating the diversity of South Philadelphia and tapping into the community-building power of art."

Las Vegas Lures Business with Arts/Culture

Thu, 27 Oct 2011 13:14:36 EDT

"Graphic arts company Walls 360 moved from San Francisco to Las Vegas for Sin City's arts and culture scene. If you're doing a double-take, that's not a misprint. Sure, Walls 360's founders liked Southern Nevada's lack of income tax, cheap real estate, low-cost shipping, and big available workforce.

But it was downtown's monthly First Friday arts festival that really did the trick. Co-founder John Doffing read about it in an article by a tech writer who noted the growing arts scene centered on e-tailer Zappos.com, which plans to move into City Hall in 2013.

'We went to First Friday and checked things out. We're an artist-centered company, and there's this incredible community of artists in this city that we didn't know about,' said Doffing, who ran startups in Silicon Valley for more than 15 years before opening Walls 360 here six weeks ago. 'We visited galleries and started interviewing folks, and it pushed us over the edge as far as telling us this was the place for us to go.'

Walls 360 is one of about 10 businesses that relocated to or expanded in Las Vegas from July to September, the first quarter in the Nevada Development Authority's fiscal year."

NEA: KS Private Funds Ineligible for Match

Thu, 27 Oct 2011 12:47:35 EDT

"Kansas has been told again by the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) that it won't receive federal funds, prompting the state arts commission's chairwoman to declare that the group will move forward with a 'truly Kansas' plan for supporting arts programs with private money.

The NEA told the state commission this week not to bother applying for federal matching funds next year, Kansas Public Radio reported. The NEA says the private donations Kansas is now counting on to support the arts don't qualify for the federal match.

Gov. Sam Brownback vetoed the commission's entire budget in May, making Kansas the only state in the nation to eliminate its arts funding. Brownback, a Republican who took office in January, has said the arts still can flourish with private dollars and the state must focus on 'core' functions such as education, social services and public safety.

The governor's veto prompted the NEA and the Mid-America Arts Alliance, a private group based in Kansas City, Mo., to cut off funds as well. The Arts Commission lost nearly $2 million — the $689,000 legislators set aside and $1.3 million from the NEA and the alliance. But Brownback's actions didn't eliminate the law creating the commission, and he's since replaced seven of its 12 members.

The NEA later asked Kansas to submit a new plan for promoting the arts that could qualify the state for federal funds next year. The commission was preparing to do just that by an October 31 deadline when it learned of the NEA's new position."

Rail Project Inspires Creative Placemaking

Fri, 14 Oct 2011 17:06:09 EDT

"Soon, hundreds of projects led by local artists will bring new life and vibrancy to the Central Corridor Light Rail Line in Saint Paul, MN, thanks to a new partnership, called Irrigate, announced between the City of Saint Paul, Twin Cities Local Initiatives Support Corporation, and Springboard for the Arts.

Over the next three years, Irrigate will mobilize and train artists in community development and creative placemaking, and activate hundreds of artist-led projects along the Corridor to benefit businesses and neighborhoods. These projects will change the landscape of the Central Corridor with art, creativity and a population of artists who are engaged in their community.

Saint Paul’s Irrigate project will emphasize cross-sector participation with public and private sector partners. It will be a model of artist-led community development during major infrastructure improvement, and will also create a lasting cultural identity for the Corridor.

For more information about Saint Paul’s Irrigate project, visit www.irrigatearts.org."

Kansas Arts Agency Down to Limited Funds

Wed, 05 Oct 2011 16:56:15 EDT

"The Kansas Arts Commission is down to its last $5,000 but still hopes to plan statewide festivals to promote the arts, hire an executive director and examine the effectiveness of past grants to local arts agencies and programs, its vice chairwoman told skeptical legislators Wednesday.

Vice Chairwoman Kathryn Herzog told the Legislature's Joint Committee on Arts and Cultural Resources that the Arts Commission expects to have private funds to use to promote the arts following Gov. Sam Brownback's veto earlier this year of state funding for the commission. Brownback's action made Kansas the first state in the nation to eliminate its funding for arts programs.

Since then, Herzog said, commission members have been handling administrative chores, and the private Kansas Arts Foundation is providing office space for the commission. She said it would like to have at least one festival to promote the arts — and help raise money for arts programs."

State Arts Council Forced to Cut Grants

Thu, 29 Sep 2011 13:08:57 EDT

"As Montgomery tightens its fiscal belt, state arts funding continues to slide, taking a toll on arts organizations throughout the state.

Grants from the Alabama State Council on the Arts (ASCA) are down 25 percent in the round of awards announced September 16. Totaling  $1,476,080 for fiscal year 2011–12, the amount is about $500,000 less  than 2010–11, and nearly $700,000 less than 2009–10.

'There  have been cutbacks to try to balance budgets,' said ASCA's Executive Director Al Head. 'Legislators have had a really hard job trying to do that. I sympathize with the problem, but we have to do as good as job as we can talking about how arts are significant and central to state government, as opposed to a frill.'"

The Power of Teaching Artists

Thu, 29 Sep 2011 13:05:19 EDT

"Amid recent calls to enhance the role of arts education, a new study takes a detailed look at the role professional artists play in schools, arguing that such teaching artists are an 'underutilized' resource with the potential to improve arts instruction and make schools more creative places to learn.

The Teaching Artists Research Project, billed as the most comprehensive study to date of the 'work and world' of teaching artists, involved three years of research in a dozen communities, from big cities such as Boston, Chicago, and Seattle to Bakersfield and Humboldt County in California. The project is an undertaking of NORC at the University of Chicago. (NORC was founded in 1941 as the National Opinion Research Center.)

The researchers surveyed more than 3,000 artists and program managers, and conducted in-depth interviews with more than 200 artists, principals, district leaders, and others.

'What we heard from TAs [teaching artists], program managers, teachers, principals, and other key informants confirmed our suspicions,' the report says. 'TAs are bringing innovative pedagogy and curriculum to schools.'

The study, which includes a helpful taxonomy of teaching artists, suggests that they may enjoy some freedoms that allow them to innovate in schools."

Online Arts Fundraising Project Passes $1M

Tue, 20 Sep 2011 15:26:15 EDT

"United States Artists says that creative folks conducting do-it-yourself fundraising on its website have reaped $1 million from philanthropically minded visitors in the initiative's first nine months.

The Los Angeles-based organization, which awards $2.5 million a year via its USA Fellows program, rolled out the USA Projects fundraising program in December, billing it as the first online 'microphilanthropy' effort devoted strictly to artists living in the United States. Since then, 125 projects have been funded in eight categories -– architecture and design, crafts and traditional arts, dance, literature, media, music, theater arts, and visual arts.

More than 7,000 donations have been made, averaging $146...Of the $1 million raised, about $350,000 has come from deep-pocketed donors who volunteer, on certain projects, to match the contributions of rank-and-file givers."

Cultural Construction Boom Slows

Thu, 15 Sep 2011 09:38:15 EDT

"....Gleaming new concert venues are the latest arrivals in a building and renovations spree that has transformed the cultural landscape in North America, as cities large and small replace outdated or acoustically challenged facilities. Indeed, more than 360 performing-arts centers were constructed in the U.S. alone from 1994 to 2008, according to a coming study by the Cultural Policy Center at the University of Chicago, and about half of them have symphony orchestras or other arts companies in residence. (Symphony orchestras are to performing arts centers what department stores are to suburban malls.) Opening next March is David M. Schwarz's $400 million Smith Center for the Performing Arts in Las Vegas. A number of smaller halls at universities are in the works as well.

But overall, the cultural construction boom in North America has slowed. Even before the U.S. financial crisis of 2008, Santiago Calatrava's striking $300 million design for the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra was scrapped in favor of a long-term plan to erect a more modest structure at the Woodruff Arts Center. Industry skeptics doubt it will be built at all.

The $383 million Dr. Phillips Center for the Performing Arts in Orlando, FL, was delayed for a few years because of declines in tourism tax collections earmarked for the complex; it recently began construction. Lingering economic malaise has slowed or scaled back projects in Denver, Salt Lake City, Minneapolis and Fayetteville, AR."

Using Art to Reclaim Commercial Corridor

Wed, 07 Sep 2011 09:33:14 EDT

"Philadelphia's ReStore Corridors Through Art program, which aims to energize commercial corridors through art and creative spaces, will install its first project in Chestnut Hill, according to The Philadelphia Department of Commerce and the Office of Arts, Culture, and the Creative Economy.

Cities like San Francisco, New York, and St. Louis have seen increased economic activity and new creative communities as a result of projects similar to ReStore Corridors Through Art, which will enhance the streetscapes and aim to attract new visitors to Philadalphia neighborhoods with vacant or under-utilized properties.

The first project to be completed is "New Trails" on Germantown Avenue and within Fairmount Park in Chestnut Hill. The main gallery is located at 8517 Germantown Ave, where a public reception celebrating the project's launch was held last week. More than twenty artists will produce work inspired by the Chestnut Hill community.

More information about New Trails can be found at www.newtrailsphila.org."

Artspace Receives $3M from Ford Foundation

Wed, 07 Sep 2011 09:40:13 EDT

"Real estate developer Artspace is the recipient of a whopping $3.75 million from the Ford Foundation’s Supporting Diverse Arts Spaces program. The investment is comprised of a $750,000 grant plus, more interestingly, a ten-year, $3 million low-interest loan. The loan is a program-related investment (PRI), a less common variant of charitable support by which a foundation uses a portion of its endowment to buy debt or equity in socially responsible businesses or nonprofits at below-market rates.

Under United States law, a private foundation (i.e., one that relies primarily on an endowment rather than raising its own money from public sources) is required to distribute five percent of its assets each year to charitable causes in order to remain tax-exempt. While most meet this requirement through grantmaking, a growing number of foundations are experimenting with program-related investments as a way to meet the distribution requirement. A few make PRIs a centerpiece of their resource allocation strategy; for example, the F. B. Heron Foundation invests about 10 percnet of its assets in PRIs and nearly half in what it calls “mission-related investments” (market-rate but with substantial social benefit), seeing the strategy as a way to dramatically increase its impact.

The Artspace PRI will primarily be used for pre-development activities (such as hiring architects) for up to a dozen artist housing projects and arts centers across the United States. A list of Artspace’s current developments is available here. Artspace will pay back the debt over ten years at an interest rate of one percent."

Kansas Bid for NEA Funding Rejected

Tue, 16 Aug 2011 17:01:24 EDT

The National Endowment for the Arts affirmed Tuesday the governor's decision to defund the state's arts agency precludes the NEA from offering matching grants to Kansas.

Gov. Sam Brownback vetoed state aid to the Kansas Arts Commission, leaving a shell of an agency with no budget or staff. He proposed fundraising be handled by a new non-government foundation and asserted eligibility for NEA funding had not been surrendered. Read the full story in The Topeka Capital Journal.

Victoria Hutter, spokeswoman for NEA in Washington, D.C., said in an interview that Kansas' action to withdraw state aid to the commission prevented issuance of a partnership grant support in the fiscal year starting in October.

In the past, Kansas invested about $700,000 annually to secure $1.2 million in external grants from the NEA and the Mid-America Arts Alliance for programs scattered in communities throughout the state. The alliance is likely to follow the NEA's lead on grant eligibility.

"NEA has determined that Kansas is ineligible for fiscal year 2011," Hutter said. "The NEA has encouraged Kansas to reapply for fiscal year 2012 consideration."

UK Report: How Arts Transform Kids' Lives

Wed, 03 Aug 2011 09:37:39 EDT

Artswork, the national youth arts development agency in the United Kingdom, provides fresh evidence to demonstrate the transformational power of the arts to make positive changes to the lives of young people with an innovative new publication.
Supported by the voices and views of young people and endorsed by leading national and international arts, creative, and cultural figures, a new publication, Youth Arts Transforms Lives, illustrates the real impact of participation in the arts and culture with, for, and by young people.

Christo's Public Art Project Moves Ahead

Fri, 29 Jul 2011 09:35:14 EDT

"Artist Christo's plan to suspend huge fabric panels over parts of the heavily rafted Arkansas River in Colorado is largely intact under a version federal land managers identified Thursday as the preferred alternative for the project. If the Bureau of Land Management issues a permit for Christo's 'Over the River,' it could happen in August 2014. A final decision is expected this fall. The preferred alternative identified in the BLM's final environmental impact statement largely matches the vision of the Bulgarian-born Christo and his late wife, Jeanne-Claude. They wanted to suspend 5.9 miles of silvery panels in eight sections above a 42-mile stretch of the river that mostly involves federal land. The BLM also reviewed alternatives for as little as 1.4 miles of fabric over four sections of the river traced by U.S. 50 between Canon City and Salida. 'We're very excited. This is a milestone in the history of art and national environmental policy,' said Christo, who said this is the first environmental impact statement for a work of art."

Foundation Grant Supports African Art

Fri, 22 Jul 2011 13:13:33 EDT

"The Newark Museum in Newark, NJ, has announced a $1 million grant from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation to support a major expansion and reinstallation of its African art collection. The grant will be used to fund new curatorial and research positions as well as the first-ever catalogue of the museum's pioneering collection of more than 4,000 African artworks. The museum began acquiring the pieces in the collection in 1914, five years after its founding, and in 1926 mounted one of the first museum exhibitions of African art. Last year the museum unveiled 'Present Tense: Arts of Contemporary Africa,' the first permanent collection gallery devoted to contemporary African art in the United States."

Super Bowl Host Launches Murals Program

Fri, 22 Jul 2011 13:09:41 EDT

"Mayor Greg Ballard was joined by representatives of the Arts Council of Indianapolis, community members and artists in launching '46 for XLVI,' the first citywide murals program for Indianapolis. Forty-six new mural spaces are being planned in neighborhoods and the downtown area in celebration of Super Bowl XLVI and as a beautification effort to support the Super Bowl Legacy projects taking place throughout the city...The Arts Council received more than 100 submissions from local, national, and international artists through a national call for mural artists. Thirty-two finalists, one-third of whom are Indiana artists, soon will begin work."

A New Study on Reaching Young Adults

Tue, 28 Jun 2011 13:27:35 EDT

A new report on reaching people in their 20s was commissioned by Steppenwolf Theatre Company, in Chicago and the Nonprofit Finance Fund with a grant from the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation. The study, “Tipping the Culture,” looks at the ways big consumer companies like J. Crew, PepsiCo, and Starbucks, have successfully used social networks to reach young people, along with efforts pursued by a wide range of cultural organizations.

The most successful efforts boil down to a sort of mutual voyeurism, the report suggests: Companies and arts groups use social media to learn about their prospective consumers and then invite young people into the creative process.
The goal is that once the theater patrons, gallery goers, or consumers become “insiders,” they will quickly share their enthusiasm with others and “bring in millennials as a tribe,” according to Patricia Martin, a branding and marketing expert who wrote the report.

Read the full article on the Chronicle of Philanthropy website. You can download the full report at http://tippingtheculture.com/012.php or on Scribd here: http://www.scribd.com/doc/46219699/Tipping-the-Culture.

Poet Laureate Elevates Poetry

Fri, 10 Jun 2011 10:44:08 EDT

Sally Ashton is Santa Clara County’s official poet laureate. It's a mysterious-sounding job, but she insists she doesn't get to wear a special hat, as some people might imagine. "Poetry exists," Ashton said. "And the fact that a lot of people don't relate to poetry or read poetry often could be because they feel alienated from it." Ashton was appointed on April 1, 2011, by the county's Board of Supervisors and Arts Council Silicon Valley to serve a two-year term. She likes to joke about starting off as an "April Fool," but it’s actually a serious job.

Programs Supports Florida Art Educators

Fri, 10 Jun 2011 10:33:42 EDT

The Hermitage Artist Retreat in Englewood, FL has just initiated a new artist residency for arts teachers in the state of Florida. State Teacher/Artist Residencies (STAR) will provide five public school educators with the opportunity to pursue their artistic work with a four-week summer residency at the Hermitage. This newly formed program is a collaboration with The Florida Alliance for Arts Education (FAAE), a statewide service organization that works to ensure that all Florida students have a complete education that includes the arts. FAAE coordinated the selection process of the teachers in visual arts, writing and music.

Boeing Grants $50k to Future Arts Leaders

Wed, 25 May 2011 10:10:25 EDT

The Boeing Company, in collaboration with the Arts and Education Council, has awarded $50,000 in grants ranging from $5,000-10,000 each to seven arts programs in the St. Louis area to develop and train future arts leaders. The Boeing/Arts and Education Council Collaborative Grant program is an innovative funding opportunity for organizations to create and promote a more sustainable arts and cultural environment that engage people to become lifelong arts participants, patrons and practitioners. Since 2008, The Boeing Company has invested $150,000 in 25 grants through the grant program.