ARTSblog

Baltimore City Hall

Most anyone involved with an advocacy effort will tell you that it is a year-round process. This process is primarily focused on state legislatures or Congress.

When these bodies are not in session, advocates know it is crucial to remain engaged with representatives’ offices and staff; to constantly cultivate relationships which can benefit the advocacy mission.

However, there is another step in the year-round advocacy process that can be easily overlooked: mayoral elections.

2011 is not officially billed as an election year, as there are no federal elections and only six states (Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, New Jersey, Virginia, and West Virginia) are holding some sort of election.

But many mayoral elections will take place this fall, and to the arts advocate, those should be considered just as important as the state and federal contests. Read the rest of this entry »

Popularity: 7%

Maya Kumazawa

It seems that “community engagement” and “community arts” are paving the way to a new paradigm in the local arts sector.

By browsing through some local arts agency (LAA) websites, I got the sense that most organizations were somehow relating to their local communities already. But what exactly IS community engagement and how do you do it?

Of course, by sponsoring a public art installation or creating a cultural district, the community benefits. There’s no clear line between community outreach and actually engaging citizens in conversations.

An article in the New York Times describes the shift towards community engagement in MFA programs as, “[capturing] the evolving contemporary art world, one in which awareness of the social, cultural, economic and political context in which art exists has become increasingly important. “

However, even this description doesn’t clearly distinguish how the arts world is changing – the arts have always reflected an awareness of social and cultural contexts. By defining the paradigm more specifically, LAAs will be able to plan more efficiently. Read the rest of this entry »

Popularity: 10%

National Baseball Hall of Fame

Well it’s the end of August and I have just returned from a very American vacation where I traveled throughout upstate New York.

The trip was mainly designed around visiting one main attraction — an iconic American museum. None like it anywhere else in the world and attracts thousands of visitors every day! Have you guessed it yet?

It’s located in little Cooperstown New York.

Yep, it’s the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum!

It was really an experience to visit this amazing place full of history about our national pastime. There was a feeling of reverence and silent worship around the exhibits as people starred at all these players and their magnificent abilities. I was in awe at how many people talked in hushed, respectful voices about their favorite players. It was like Valhalla for so many visitors, including my family. Read the rest of this entry »

Popularity: 8%

The 'cast' of "The Adventures of Little Noodle."

Collectively, we know the arts accomplish more than what meets the eye (or the ear), but sometimes there are partnerships which are attention grabbing for their creative approach.

The collaboration between Aetna and the Center for Puppetry Arts is one of those partnerships.

Well…whose attention wouldn’t be pulled towards a puppet called ‘Little Noodle’?

‘Little Noodle’ is a new puppet created by Atlanta-based Center for Puppetry Arts in collaboration with Aetna. The Adventures of Little Noodle is one of the Center’s plays addressing health and wellness, as part of their Healthy Children/Prevent Childhood Obesity Initiative.

Aetna has been committed to being at the forefront of this issue in the healthcare field and sees a strong tie to the effectiveness of messaging through the arts.

The arts can be a strong vehicle for a business’s message and the strength of programs like Aetna’s, is built on the power and reach of the arts. Read the rest of this entry »

Popularity: 11%

Kristen Engebretsen

This week I got an email from someone concerned about the budget cuts to arts education and inquiring about what they could do to help keep the arts in schools.

In the spirit of my colleague Randy Cohen’s popular post (Top 10 Reasons to Support the Arts), I am presenting my own:

The Top 10 Ways to Support Arts Education

10. Volunteer your time, resources, skills: Many schools would appreciate your time as a chaperone, your skill as a teaching artist, or your donations of money, costumes, rehearsal space, etc.

9. Know the facts: Stay on top of current arts education research, trends, and news articles. Start with Reinvesting in Arts Education, which summarizes research on the topic. Use this data in your messaging when you speak to elected officials or school leaders.

8. Get involved politically: Tell your elected officials why arts education is important. Ask your members of Congress to keep the arts listed as a core subject during the reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act. Read the rest of this entry »

Popularity: 22%

After being part of the rare Virginia earthquake and preparing for Hurricane Irene this weekend, natural disasters are certainly on the minds of many of us here on the East Coast.

While there are a number of resources available when preparing for or facing an emergency situation from organizations like ArtsReady and CERF+, another group that helps collecting institutions wants to spread the word about their offerings as well.

Below is a press release from the American Institute for Conservation-Collections Emergency Response Team (AIC-CERT) that we wanted to share with our blog readers:

“With the peak of hurricane season approaching, museums, historic sites, libraries, and archives in coastal regions will be at risk. The American Institute for Conservation (AIC), the national association of conservation professionals, is offering free emergency response assistance to cultural organizations. Please help make sure that staff members of collecting institutions know to contact AIC-CERT when a disaster—flooding, hurricane, earthquake, fire—has damaged collections.

•    Call AIC’s 24-hour assistance number at 202.661.8068 for advice by phone.

•    Call 202.661.8068 to arrange for a team to come to the site to complete damage assessments and help with salvage organization. Read the rest of this entry »

Popularity: 9%

Lynne Kingsley

“Hi, I’m hoping you can help. My daughter has special needs and the only thing that gets her to pay any attention in school is her performing arts subject. Drama, dance and music make her come alive and help her understand people. I just found out the arts programs in her school are being cut. They just CAN’T cut the arts. How can I get the arts reinstated in her school and ensure they are a big part of the curriculum in the schools she will attend in the future?”

GOOD question.

This was the frazzled phone call I received last Thursday. This mother, clearly concerned about her child’s well being and education, was desperate; she is hungry for arts education for her daughter and was not stopping until she found it. I directed her to some well-connected folks in her region who may be able to help her situation, but it made me wonder: what about the others, the parents who didn’t call? Read the rest of this entry »

Popularity: 15%

Since Americans for the Arts started the Creative Conversations program in 2004, in response to the feedback and initiative of the Emerging Leaders Council, the program has grown to serve over 50 communities and about 2000 individuals each year. Through Creative Conversations, we have witnessed the creation of strong local emerging leaders networks that still exist today, observed communities start a cultural or strategic planning process, and helped unify groups of people engaged in arts and culture to help spark dialogue, spur advocacy efforts, and create networking opportunities.

While the Creative Conversations program was initially created by and for the Emerging Leaders Network, we have seen and welcomed interest in the program from other networks and individuals as well. Having the structure of a national movement connected to a community’s grassroots initiatives can provide a framework and timeline for enacting a new project or bringing different groups of people together around a single issue.

This year, we are officially expanding the Creative Conversations program to invite and encourage individuals, organizations, and networks of all types to host an event, and engage their community around a cultural topic or issue that is of importance to them locally. You can view ideas for previous Creative Conversations here. Read the rest of this entry »

Popularity: 23%

In Washington DC, there is an association for every group. I have a book that is about 3 inches thick that lists all of them. But, I am going to focus on six: the National Governors Association (NGA), the National Lt. Governors Association (NLGA), the National Conference of State Legislators (NCSL), the National Association of Counties (NACo), the United States Conference of Mayors (USCM), and the National League of Cities (NLC). Collectively, Americans for the Arts refers to these organizations as our public partnerships.

Erie County, PA Commissioner Joe Giles receives the 2011 Public Leadership In the Arts Award. L-R Joe Giles, Supervisor Linda Langston, Linn County, IA (NACo 2nd Vice President) and Jay Dick

While you might have heard about the NGA, I bet you might not have given thought about, or even knew about, the NLGA and the rest. You might even be thinking, why is Americans for the Arts bothering with these groups? Let me tell you why and give you a little history.

Almost twenty years ago, Americans for the Arts began working with the USCM. A few years later, we started working with NACo. About seven years ago, we added the other partnerships. Each year our organization presents an award that recognizes the work of an elected official at every level of government. We speak at their conferences, help identify other speakers, provide research, answer questions from individual elected officials, and write articles in their weekly or monthly newspapers.  Through our work, the staff and leadership of the various associations have come to understand the importance of art and arts education.

For example, USCM released a 10 Point Plan for the president and it specifically included the arts. And after working with Americans for the Arts, NLGA passed several resolutions on encouraging lieutenant governors to actively promote the arts. Another partner, NACo, boasts an Arts Commission which hosts an annual awards dinner for NACo conference attendees. Read the rest of this entry »

Popularity: 10%

John L. Moore

I think the issue of our time is “changing how people see” … but let me come back to that.

John Killacky wrote two posts for ARTSblog in late June/early July that said:

“… many funders did not feel equipped to judge quality outside of their own world views and experiences. I know that was a problem for me. Excellence matters — and there was not a lack of artistic excellence — but what was missing were the multiple perspectives in philanthropy needed to judge excellence in culturally specific organizations.

As a result, a separate “other” track was created for these organizations, a kind of affirmative action track with far less resources. By creating this separate track, we may have unintentionally entrenched a two-tiered caste system.

… Maybe philanthropy should have taken a page from venture capitalists’ playbooks …”

This sub-section of John’s piece compelled me to offer my own. Read the rest of this entry »

Popularity: 10%

Laura Kakolewski

Arrive early. Be Prepared. Wear something memorable. Have a firm handshake.

Recognize these phrases?

These are just some of the common practices that we all know and memorize when trying to get the most out of any in-person networking event.

Each year at the National Arts Marketing Project Conference, I am reminded that networking is both a powerful tool and advantageous activity; some of the most exciting activities the conference offers are the stellar networking events. And the activities in Louisville this year are sure to follow suit.

The conference’s networking events provide attendees with a platform to constantly engage and share fresh ideas while getting to know their colleagues from different sides of the country. Read the rest of this entry »

Popularity: 10%

Sybarite5 has a dream—to change the face of chamber music across the globe. They want to be the first string quintet to perform in all 50 states.

They have a strategy to make it real. Like many artists across the country, they are seeking potential investors around the world by launching their  “play in 50 states” campaign on Kickstarter.

Sybarite5

Sybarite5—Sami Merdinian and Sarah Whitney, violin; Angela Pickett, viola; Laura Metcalf, cello, and Louis Levitt, bass—recently shared what it is like to be emerging artists seeking support through innovative ways, with the 20+ philanthropic leaders at the Americans for the Arts Seminar for Leadership in the Arts at the Aspen Institute last week.

The concept is simple: they create a short video about the project; people watch it; if they like it, a couple of clicks and they can pledge their support. If pledges reach $9,000 or more within 30 days, the project is funded—if not, $0. Read the rest of this entry »

Popularity: 12%

Kirsten Kichenstein

Growing up a child of divorced parents living on either coast, I spent the school year with my mother and the summer with my father. Living in a single-parent household, money was tight. Very tight.

How I looked forward to those summers…I’d leave the west coast to spend hot Alabama days visiting with my dad and grandparents. I remember farmers markets, beefsteak tomatoes, juicy peaches and bee-stung watermelon.

I was always partially wet from a recent dip in my grandparent’s swimming pool and enjoyed magical adventures in the vacant lot down the road. Mostly what I recall from my Alabama summers is feeling more creative in those two months than at any other time of the year.

My father and his parents were artists. My father a guitarist, my grandfather a pianist, my grandmother a sculptor.

My grandparents’ home was filled with original works of art—paintings, sculptures, and stacks and stacks of books. There was always beautiful music playing either from the stereo or resonating from my grandfather’s attached piano studio. If my family wasn’t creating their own artwork, they were enjoying someone else’s. It was their life. It still is. Creativity was a family value.   Read the rest of this entry »

Popularity: 14%

Ian David Moss

In the spirit of the recent conversation on ArtsBlog, Emerging Ideas: Seeking and Celebrating the Spark of Innovation, I thought it would be interesting to talk to a curator about how he makes room for the unfamiliar in his work.

Douglas Laustsen is a music educator and trombonist based in New Jersey who runs a radio program called “Endless Possibilities” on WRSU, Rutgers University’s college radio station. We decided to continue a discussion we began on Twitter a few months ago about curatorship and new music.

Our discussion was published in two parts here on ARTSblog:

You mentioned that the recordings people send you tend to be more polished than you expected. On the one hand, that perhaps makes for a better listening experience, but on the other, it perhaps gets away a little bit from the original vision for Explorations. How do you negotiate that tension in your curation process?

It is interesting, to me at least, that I’ve had to be more concerned with creating a ceiling for the segment than a floor. Luckily, I have space during the rest of my show to feature music I don’t find appropriate for Explorations, and I have played submissions outside of Explorations as a way to promote a piece and maintain the spirit of the segment. Clearly there is a lot gray area in making this determination, but over time my familiarity with the new music world has made this judgement a lot easier. Read the rest of this entry »

Popularity: 13%

Ian David Moss

In the spirit of the recent conversation on ArtsBlog, Emerging Ideas: Seeking and Celebrating the Spark of Innovation, I thought it would be interesting to talk to a curator about how he makes room for the unfamiliar in his work.

Douglas Laustsen is a music educator and trombonist based in New Jersey who runs a radio program called “Endless Possibilities” on WRSU, Rutgers University’s college radio station. We decided to continue a discussion we began on Twitter a few months ago about curatorship and new music.

Our discussion will be published in two parts here on ARTSblog:

Tell us a little bit about your radio show – what is it? How did it come to be, and how did you get involved?

“Endless Possibilities” is a weekly radio program I have hosted since 2008 on WRSU, the college radio station of Rutgers University. I began hosting shows on WRSU in 2005 with a wildly free form show called ‘Trivial Pursuits.”

My initial motivation was to interact with music in a very non-academic way because I was beginning to feel some conservatory burn out. As fun as it was to segue Pierrot Lunaire into London Calling into Hauschka, I eventually limited the format of my show and renamed it “Endless Possibilities.” While I don’t restrict myself from playing any specific genres, the core of each show is decidedly contemporary art music. Read the rest of this entry »

Popularity: 15%