ARTSblog

As I was compiling this week’s edition of Arts Watch, I couldn’t help but notice a strange dichotomy.

On one hand, a developer in a small city, Woodbury, NJ, is planning to renovate a downtown building, turning it into a theater as a means of economic development. Citizens of Bridgeport, CT, have formed a new local arts group to recruit artists and creative businesses to their community.

On the other, some articles say that Detroit Public Schools have all but destroyed music education over the past 30 years and high school bands are becoming too expensive to operate.

While U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan may have meant well by releasing a letter this week encouraging schools to continue funding arts education programs (especially since they are part of the core curriculum under the current No Child Left Behind Act), that might not be enough.

How can the future leaders of cities like Woodbury and Bridgeport improve their communities through the use of the arts as an economic development and business recruitment tool if they were never taught the arts inside the classroom? Read the rest of this entry »

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Podcast: Download (Duration: 9:07 — 8.3MB)

Marty Ronish, producer of the BP Chicago Symphony Orchestra broadcasts and blogger for Scanning the Dial, joined us in Seattle for the 2009 Annual Convention.

In this segment, Marty speaks with arts leaders on the topic of how the arts can provide creative solutions in challenging economic times. Interviewed participants include: Bill Ivey, former Chair of the National Endowment for the Arts and member of the Obama transition team; Bill O’Brien, Deputy Chairman for Grants and Awards at the National Endowment for the Arts; and Robert Lynch, President & CEO of Americans for the Arts.

To request a transcript of this interview, please contact Marty at mronish@flash.net.

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Opera companies have often faced the preconceived notion that their art form is both too expensive and too high-brow to reach much of the general public. In recent years though, these same opera companies have been exploring new ways to reach broader audiences, developing newfound interest in opera along the way. Many are familiar with the Met’s (NYC’s Metropolitan Opera) Live in HD broadcasts, which are sent to movie theaters around the country (and even internationally) and sold more than 1 million tickets last season. With its success as an example, some companies are now appealing to even “larger” audiences. On September 12, for the second year in a row, the Washington National Opera will present The Barber of Seville not just inside the confines of The Kennedy Center, but by live simulcast in the Washington Nationals baseball stadium, with admission free and open to the general public. Read the rest of this entry »

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Yesterday, Secretary of Education Arne Duncan released a letter to school officials and community leaders reminding them of the important role of arts education in a student’s life. This letter offers strong encouragement to education decision makers to find time and funds in the school day to offer a comprehensive, sequential and standards-based arts education. The letter can be read here.

The Secretary has also agreed to join a national conference call hosted by the NAMM Foundation and the Support Music Coalition on Tuesday, August 18th at 1 p.m. EST to discuss the importance of arts education in K-12 education. Mary Luehrsen, Director of Public Affairs and Government Relations will moderate a live conversation with Secretary Duncan concerning his letter about the importance of arts education in our nation’s schools.

Join the call to hear what the US Secretary of Education has to say about arts education. We encourage you to forward this invitation to your local school and community leaders and urge their participation in the call. Registration for the conference call is now available.  Use this link to register for the event now and up to 15 minutes prior to its start.

Congratulations and thanks go to Support Music and the NAMM Foundation for this wonderful accomplishment.

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Since my birth year often tends to fall either at the end of the Generation X period and the beginning of the Millenials, I find myself sharing the characteristics of both “next generation” cohorts. I may not be on the leading edge of all technology (like the Millenials), but I keep up enough to know that before the entire world was on Facebook, I had already been a veteran member of Myspace and Friendster before it.

When Twitter first came to the forefront a few years ago, I resisted joining because I felt that everyone in the world didn’t need to know what I was thinking or doing all of the time. My life does not air on Bravo or MTV, and it probably shouldn’t.

However, over recent months, I started to read more about how others were using the site (and its many extensions), and my interest was piqued.

Talking to a friend a few weeks ago, she explained how she receives nearly all of her news during the day from Twitter.  While the Ashton Kutchers of the world are big Tweeters, so are many great organizations and news outlets that not only make the workday go by faster, but have informative Tweets that can be used in my everyday work. Read the rest of this entry »

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Podcast: Download (Duration: 26:42 — 24.4MB)

Marty Ronish, producer of the BP Chicago Symphony Orchestra broadcasts and blogger for Scanning the Dial, joined us in Seattle for the 2009 Annual Convention. In this segment, she speaks with attendees who are among the many voices representing the arts in America.

Just a number of the interviewed participants include: Randy Engstrom, founding director of the Youngstown Cultural Arts Center in West Seattle and 2009 recipient of the Emerging Leader Award; Erin Hoppe, Director of Operations and Development at VSA Arts of Ohio; Laura Zucker, Executive Director of the Los Angeles County Arts Commission; Michael Killoren, Executive Director of the Seattle Office of Arts & Cultural Affairs; and Terre Jones, President & CEO of Wolf Trap National Park for the Performing Arts.

To request a transcript of this interview, please contact Marty at mronish@flash.net. Browse our overview of the 2009 Annual Convention in Seattle.

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Last week in ARTSBLOG our own Tim Mikulski–State and Local Government Affairs Coordinator at Americans for the Arts–discussed the need for strong arguments for the funding of the arts in today’s harsh economic climate.

Today L. Corwin Christie at the Technology in the Arts blog discusses Tim’s post as well as a number of arguments for arts funding.  It’s a great read. Take a look.

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Emerging arts leaders of color from the Great Lakes area are encouraged to apply now for Americans for the Arts’ Professional Development Fund supported by the Joyce Foundation. A total of five Joyce Fellows from the Great Lakes region (Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Ohio, and Wisconsin) will be selected to participate in this program in 2009.

Fellows will receive stipends of $3,000 to support their attendance at the 2009 National Arts Marketing Project Conference, Arts Advocacy Day 2010, and the 2010 Americans for the Arts Convention. In addition, fellows will have special opportunities to meet field leaders, work alongside mentors, and receive individualized career coaching. An additional 5 fellows will be selected in 2010.

The application deadline is August 14, 2009. Download application materials and eligibility information at Americans for the Arts, or for more information contact Stephanie Evans at leadership@artsusa.org or by phone at 202-371-2830

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Just as in the U.S., the arts in Ireland are facing hard times due to a downturn in the economy. Those working in the arts in Ireland also represent a sizeable percentage of the workforce, almost as many people as work in the Information and Communications Technologies field. Artists and arts organizations it seems, however, are hesitant to criticize the donors and politicians who fund many of their activities. In an article from the Irish Times, this author makes the argument that not only are jobs and the creative economy an important reason to keep, and increase, funding for the arts in Ireland, but that culture is a powerful tool of perception. “Culture, in other words, is powerful. Culture is America’s biggest export to the world, and it defines how the rest of the world perceives America, just as our culture defines how it sees us.”

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The Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival in Massachusetts recently hosted a live discussion with MSNBC host Rachel Maddow addressing the role the arts play in our society.

Maddow was unflagging in her support of dance and of the arts. Among her remarks, she said:  “…when you cut education to the bone, you do not cut arts and music education, because arts and music education IS bone, it is structural, it is essential.”

Read her powerful support of dance and the arts here.

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This afternoon, the U.S. Senate confirmed Broadway producer Rocco Landesman to serve as the next National Endowment for the Arts chair and former Congressman Jim Leach to serve as National Endowment for the Humanities chair. Americans for the Arts President and CEO Robert L. Lynch issued the following statement:

“Today’s Senate confirmation of Rocco Landesman to serve as the next National Endowment for the Arts chair and Congressman Jim Leach to serve as National Endowment for the Humanities chair marks a moment of great opportunity for our nation’s cultural agencies. Landesman embarks as Chair of the nation’s arts agency with a robust agenda, an upward trajectory of funding, broad Congressional approval, and a White House committed to attracting national attention to the value of the arts and integrating them into broader domestic policies.

“Through his service in Congress, Jim Leach proved himself to be a strong leader and strategist on behalf of both the arts and the humanities. I am certain he will lead the NEH to support the innovative and critical work of the nation’s humanities groups.”

The New York Times has more.

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Every October, we help coordinate the country-wide celebration of National Arts and Humanities Month. Part of the month’s continued success is due to the partnerships forged among arts and other community groups that host exciting events during the month. This year, we are happy to have Art21 as an official partner of NAHM. Art21 is a nonprofit organization dedicated to increasing knowledge of contemporary art, igniting discussion, and inspiring creative thinking by documenting artists at work and in their own words.

As part of NAHM, Art21 invites you to participate in Art21 Access ’09, an international screening initiative of hundreds of public screenings and events for the upcoming fifth season of the Peabody Award-winning television series, Art:21—Art in the Twenty-First Century, this October before its premiere on PBS.

Planning an Art21 Access event is simple and free for all participating venues. You can host your own event in collaboration with your local museum, library, arts council, university, community-based organization, or art space between September 28 and October 30, 2009. Read the rest of this entry »

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While monitoring the news for this publication and another that I put together for the State Arts Action Network, the past six months have made me feel a little like the newspaper sellers on the street corners of old, calling out, “Extra! Extra! The arts have been murdered!” in order to sell more papers. Unfortunately, that seems to be what is happening in many locations throughout the country.

In a time of recession, we all know that the arts are often the first things cut from all kinds of budgets. Parents may decide to end their child’s piano lessons to save that additional $50 per week. Schools might lay off an art teacher, forcing the only other one in the district to travel from site to site each day. States decide that the state arts agency could do without $500,000 that will fund a badly needed human services program instead. Read the rest of this entry »

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Americans for the Arts hosts an impressive collection of policy and advocacy resources for the arts and arts education. The following list isn’t comprehensive, but it’s tidy, quick, and includes the most likely resources you’ll need to make the case for arts education.

The following items include information for arts education professionals. It also includes docs you can print and leave behind with your principal, superintendent, district staff, fellow teachers, mayors, council members, and state leaders to help them understand why they should support the arts for all students.

Federal Priorities for Arts Education

These are one or two page briefs that are meant to be left with decision makers. They include all pertinent information to get up to speed on major topics. You can print out the PDF version to hand out. The arts ed ones are:

1. Arts Ed and NCLB
2. Arts Ed Funding and Research at the USDE Read the rest of this entry »

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