ARTSblog

I was planning to write a post about how President Obama made sure to put creativity and innovation at the forefront of his State of the Union last week, but somehow missed any references to the arts. There I was on a treadmill at my local Washington Sports Club, waiting for him to say it. And waiting. And running. And running. And waiting. It never came.

Before I could write a post about it, I came across another one making many of the exact same points. So, rather than state the same thing twice, I invite you to check out Lee Rosenbaum’s Huffington Post piece, State of the Arts: Why Culture Matters for Obamanomics.

In her post, Rosenbaum mentions that Capitol Hill may not be ready for a pro-arts argument following the National Portrait Gallery incident and an influx of new members of Congress who have no interest in funding the arts, humanities, railroads, or Americorps programs. I understand that, but even a passing line about turning STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Math) into STEAM (adding Arts), would have been easy to insert.

What if instead of…

“And over the next 10 years, with so many baby boomers retiring from our classrooms, we want to prepare 100,000 new teachers in the fields of science and technology and engineering and math.”

…The President said (using some of the language of Education Secretary Duncan): Read the rest of this entry »

Popularity: 15%

Pam Korza

The current environment has created a context for Local Arts Agencies (LAAs) and State Arts Agencies (SAAs) to reconsider support for arts and culture activity that addresses social and civic concerns.  Many will argue, and rightfully so, that, local and state arts agencies have long responded to disadvantaged populations and encouraged community engagement in their grantmaking.  It’s in their DNA as funders working for the public good.

The 2010 report, Trend or Tipping Point: Arts & Social Change Grantmaking, recently released by Americans for the Arts’ Animating Democracy program, gives public sector arts funders some food for thought about their roles. The report assembles a first-time portrait of arts funders, social change funders, and others in both private and public sectors that are funding civic engagement and social change through arts and cultural strategies. Local and state arts agencies comprised an impressive 48 percent of the 157 survey respondents that say they currently fund or plan to fund arts for change work; and they were in the top four categories of types of funders supporting this work (others included private foundations and nonprofits that make grants). In this still very much evolving arena of arts for social change philanthropy, the study finds local and state arts agencies are playing a role even though there are challenges and perceived risks. Read the rest of this entry »

Popularity: 13%

From Public Art Network Blog:

Monday, Jan. 24, 2011

by Caroline Stanley

New York-based art pioneer Dennis Oppenheim died over the weekend at the age of 72; known for a large body of work that spanned the Land Art, Body Art, and Conceptual Art movements, and then later, his “machine works,” Oppenheim was constantly innovating and refused to allow himself to be pigeonholed. “I have never been able to be what they call a signature artist,” Artinfo quotes him as saying. “Most of my work comes from ideas. I can usually do only a few versions of each idea. Land Art and Body Art were particularly strong concepts which allowed for a lot of permutations. But nevertheless, I found myself wanting to move onward into something else.” We look at some of his most recent pieces — the large-scale, often controversial public artworks that dominated the latter part of his career — after the jump.

Read More »

Popularity: 14%

Americans for the Arts released its second annual National Arts Index scores this week and the findings won’t surprise you: the 2009 Index score of 97.7 is the lowest Index score in the twelve years it measures.

• The 2009 score represents a drop of 3.6 percentage points from 101.3 in 2008.
• There were 3,000 new nonprofit arts organizations created during the 2007-09 recession years but attendance at mainstream arts organizations and events continues a long-term decline.
• In 2008, 41% of nonprofit arts groups reported a deficit to the IRS, up from 36% in 2007.

While our country’s flagging economy has surely presented a number of challenges for the arts, the Index does hit some resonating high notes:

1. Americans are seeking more personal engagement in the arts. Personal arts creation and volunteerism is growing. The number of Americans who personally participated in an artistic activity increased 5% between 2005 and 2009, while volunteering also jumped 11.6 percent.
2. The number of artists in the workforce has increased 17% from 1996 to 2009 (1.9 to 2.2 million).
3. Demand for Arts Education is up. There are more college-bound seniors with 4 years of arts or music and in the past decade college arts degrees conferred annually have risen from 75,000 to 127,000.

What does this mean for your community? Comment below about how you see personal arts creation and volunteerism growing in your community or tell us about arts programs that are innovative in building audience demand. And be sure to visit the National Arts Index page.

Popularity: 10%

Tim Mikulski

In addition to coping with the trials and tribulations of the reputation that MTV’s Jersey Shore has forced upon the state of New Jersey, I was dismayed to see that members of the arts and culture sector of ‘The Garden State’ are under fire for a decision they appear to have been forced to make.

According to Star-Ledger arts reporter, Peggy McGlone, the New Jersey Historical Society is being criticized for selling one of its ‘prized possessions’ for cash at a time of great need for the organization.

The object was a hand-colored map of the United States as of 1784 which generated almost $2.1 million through a Christie’s auction. According to an expert in cartography, it was the first U.S. map published in America and the first to feature an American flag.

Valuable? Absolutely.

Priceless? Apparently not. Read the rest of this entry »

Popularity: 13%

Trish Poupore

The Arts Build Communities project has been key to building a strong grassroots network of well informed advocates empowered with tools to make an effective case for supporting the arts in Virginia. In early 2010, the Virginia House of Delegates proposed elimination of state arts funding.  VFTA was able to mobilize nearly 300 advocates within 48 hours, who assembled in the House gallery as the House budget was presented.

The News & Advance, Lynchburg, later reported (Mar. 24, 2010) about Del. Scott Garrett’s (R-Lynchburg) account to his local chamber of commerce at the end of the legislative session:

“public reaction to a proposed cut in state funding for arts agencies led him to believe arts should be regarded as an economic development tool and not just a quality-of-life issue. ‘I had 1,983 emails about the arts after the House of Delegates proposed to cut state support entirely by 2012.’ In the final budget, most of the funding was restored. ‘What I heard, loud and clear, from our business partners is that arts are what brings businesses into our community,’ Garrett said. ‘I absolutely agree with that.’”

Through the project, over three years, a wealth of effective public awareness tools has been created that can be easily accessed and used by individual arts organizations, advocates, and the media.  The core element of the project is its bank of now 90 individual one-page stories about individual arts organizations in Virginia.

The stories follow a set, lively format using photos and quotes from community leaders.  They capture the basic elements of arts organizations’ programming, audiences, and key statistics on economic impact.   Economic impact stats are generated using the Americans for the Arts economic prosperity calculator. Read the rest of this entry »

Popularity: 13%

As we end our 50th anniversary year here at Americans for the Arts, we want to wish each and every one of you a happy new year! Throughout the year, we met and worked with stakeholders nationwide to ensure the arts had a voice from Main Street to Capitol Hill. We launched our 50 States 50 Days campaign to bring arts advocacy to cities and towns nationwide. We hosted our 50th anniversary convention, the Half-Century Summit, where nearly 1,200 leaders in the field came together to envision a bright future. We also presented one of our most successful National Arts Marketing Project Conferences to date in San Jose. And to begin this new year, we want to hear from you.

What is your resolution this year to support the arts in your community? Think big, think small. Let’s take a moment to come together and set meaningful, actionable goals for our field and all the communities we serve.

Post your resolution below! Read the rest of this entry »

Popularity: 23%

Marete Wester

On a snowy evening last December, more than 200 people gathered at the Wallraff Richartz Museum in Cologne, Germany for a discussion titled “The Role of Culture in Transatlantic Relations—Views from Both Sides of the Atlantic.”

Nearly seven years in the making, the panel was organized by the German Commission for UNESCO and AmerikaHaus NRW, Cologne. The goal was to learn about the U.S. administration’s objectives for its participation in UNESCO after a 19-year absence, and to start a dialogue on what the prospects might be to increase international cooperation.

I was privileged to serve as one of the panelists, along with Ambassador David Killion, permanent representative to UNESCO from the United States, and Tanja Dorn, vice president and artist manager with IMG Artists, who recently returned to her native Germany from New York City.

Tanja and I swapped stories about life in the “Big Apple”—though nothing compared with her tales of dealing with U.S. Visa issues. She passionately hammered home the chilling effects the costs have, especially on younger artists entering the United States.

This issue has long been one of the legislative positions on the agenda of national Arts Advocacy Day. What was new for me was hearing the issue raised nearly 3,800 miles away. Read the rest of this entry »

Popularity: 15%

Michelle Dean

As we wrap up 2010, I write my last blog installment for ARTSblog, which features an interview with American Art Therapy Association President, Joan Phillips, Ph.D., ATR-BC. Dr. Phillips enthusiastically addressed the three primary elements covered in this blog about art therapy: vision for the future of art therapy; obstacles to achieving that vision; and strategies to overcome those obstacles and make that vision a reality from the perspective of the American Art Therapy Association (AATA). Dr. Phillips discussed the consolidation of the National office to the Washington DC area in order to achieve greater collaboration with policy makers and other officials, which may be a positive influence and advocate for the field of art therapy. She also noted the expansion of the dedicated staff of the organization, which includes a now Full-time Executive Director, Susan Corrigan, and an additional six support staff to better meet the needs of the membership, provide advocacy for the profession, and increase in public awareness about the value of art therapy. Read the rest of this entry »

Popularity: 23%