On July 22, Americans for the Arts President and CEO Robert Lynch spoke as part of the Chautauqua Institution’s lecture series, discussing the arts and arts education in a speech titled “America at a Cultural Crossroads.”
You can view a portion of the speech below and the full speech at FORA.tv:
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John Cloys
In only one month, Google+ has become the fastest growing social network site in history. With twenty-five million users, Google+ is comprised of a diverse demographic user base, ranging from celebrities, political figures, and the average social media junkie.
As an active user, I see a great deal of potential for the personal branding, network mapping and collaboration that Google+ offers to its users. Google+ has presented itself as a one-stop hub, combining functions used in Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and YouTube.
Recognizing Google+ as a unique way of connecting and sharing information, and appropriately utilizing its numerous functions will help you advance your overall marketing and social media strategy.
How is Google+ different, you ask? It is a one-stop shop. Read the rest of this entry »
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Arizona Commission on the Arts, a long-time member of Americans for the Arts, has secured seven-time National Basketball Association all-star Grant Hill as a spokesman for their four-year public awareness campaign, The Choice is Art.
The campaign is intended to: advance the cultural conversation in Arizona; grow public understanding about the broad-spectrum benefits of arts programs, and increase arts participation in Arizona communities; and, fortify a privately-held arts endowment whose funds can be utilized in support of statewide arts programs.
The campaign began with a focus on access to arts education with Hill spreading the message in a video airing throughout the state.
In addition to being avid visual art collectors, Grant and his Grammy-nominated wife Tamia support arts education for their children, as well as all the children of Arizona: Read the rest of this entry »
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Will Maitland Weiss
It’s on page one of the New York Times arts section: “Groups Advocating for the Arts Feel the Pinch”—so it must be true.
Pinch? Pinch!! It’s brutal out here.
In the Times’ piece, opera patron Robert W. Wilson (not the guy who directs/designs) calls arts service organizations “redundant.”
I worked at City Opera for ten years while he co-chaired that board, and have a sense of his passion, generosity, and strong opinions. But sorry, Bob; you’re out of touch with the needs of small and mid-sized nonprofits.
I’m with Reyn Levy, who counters, “Arts organizations can do some of this [advocacy, training, etc.], but their business is generating and producing art, not generating resources for it.”
Levy is also smart enough to know, I bet, that while his distinguished organization’s advocacy is first and foremost for Lincoln Center, we service organizations advocate for—were created to advocate for—the field as a whole. Read the rest of this entry »
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Robert L. Lynch
At Americans for the Arts, we see an opportunity to advance national arts education policy by working in a very specific way.
We focus on forging strategic alliances with key leaders in the public and private sectors and on working alongside these allies to educate the decision-makers who have leverage in the national policy arena.
We concentrate on giving those decision-makers meaningful research and specific information about the benefits of arts education in an effort to impact and inform future decisions about education policy.
This work is informed by the best practice examples surfaced by our national network of state and local advocates and the specific stories they share about the impact of arts education programs on the ground.
It is further shaped by the opportunities we create for high-level corporate, philanthropic, and thought leaders to take action personally and speak publicly about the value they see in arts education before new audiences.
All of this work builds the clout that is critical to the success of our decision-maker education effort. Without the clout, there will be no change. Read the rest of this entry »
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Alyx Kellington
Running short on money for long-term big picture projects?
Is “Community Outreach” a part of your mission statement or goal?
Is working with the school district a maze (um, maybe talk to so and so, oh he’s no longer there, leave a message, come on in – but not today…), a closed door (we can’t afford the arts or can’t afford to take chances), or a money pit (what else can you give me?)?
Many arts and cultural organizations want to work in a specific school or with a certain population but encounter the roadblocks mentioned above.
If several arts organizations collaborate and each contributes one staff member one full day a month to one school for a year, you’ve got the beginning of a funded program.
In that creative spirit, five science-based organizations recently approached a Southeast Florida local arts agency (LAA) with this idea and commitment. Read the rest of this entry »
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John and his pony.
Right now I’m learning from a 400-pound animal with the brain of a three-year old child, as I train a Shetland pony to pull a cart. Ponies, like horses, are prey animals whose first instinct is to fight or flee, so this can be a daunting and humbling task.
My CEO/Executive Director-self has no gravitas here.
At the barn, I am a beginner. My teachers range from teenagers to one amazing horsewomen in her eighties. I also work with a very patient and experienced trainer. We never discuss one’s day job; all conversation is through and about our animals
Being a novice at mid-life is rejuvenating. I love grappling with new skills that take a long time to master.
Laughing at failure and learning from mistakes propels improvement. My competitive self is satisfied with a training session well done, thrilled that Pacific Raindrop and I have done our best for that day. Read the rest of this entry »
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Narric Rome
Not long into my tenure at the U.S. Department of Education during the Clinton administration, I came to understand the limits of what the federal government can do for K-12 education.
At the time, the department boosted funding to support the hiring of 100,000 new teachers and the launch of a new national afterschool initiative that is now a $1.1 billion program.
Arts teachers were among the 100,000 new hires and many of the programs embraced the arts. Federal investment had an important impact, but many arts education advocates would not rank these two accomplishments as major successes. Why? Because a new arts teacher and a new arts afterschool program did not appear in every school in every community.
We need to remember that the federal share in total education spending is only 11 cents on the dollar. The remaining funds come from state and local sources.
Which brings me to federal policy. Read the rest of this entry »
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Tim McClimon
Much has been written about the current state of corporate social responsibility (CSR), and depending on your point of view, its waxing or waning influence inside the world’s largest corporations.
While it may be true that some companies have de-emphasized their CSR programs while they were fighting for survival or focused on maintaining some semblance of order, I think corporate social responsibility will continue to grow in importance inside most major publicly traded companies – particularly those who are interested in enhancing their reputations with stakeholders (and isn’t that just about every company?).
Here are five trends in CSR that I think are worth watching in 2011 and 2012. These aren’t new – most of them have been around for years – but I think they will gain more attention in the coming year.
1. Responsibility as a company value
While you would expect to see words like “responsibility,” “sustainability,” “respect,” and “citizenship” in mission statements and corporate values at companies like Ben & Jerry’s, Tom’s of Maine, and Starbucks, these concepts are showing up in statements of companies like Adobe, PepsiCo, and Walmart as well. Read the rest of this entry »
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Rubble in a Minot neighborhood.
My community, Minot, ND, has been devastated by flood waters.
As I drove home from work last night I observed streets lined with waterlogged piles of rubble.
These sad remnants of people’s lives looked more like a war zone than a residential district. The images combined with the smell were overwhelming. So many have lost so much.
At the Minot Area Council of the Arts, we wondered what we should and could do. We wanted to lift spirits.
Our free summer concert series had been stopped when our park venues were under water. Even indoor venues are unavailable because they are being used as shelters or as space to store belongings. To find an available space we contacted the local Scandinavian Heritage Society that maintains a heritage park unaffected by flood waters and received permission to continue our summer concerts at their location instead.
Local media helped us get the word out. Not knowing if folks would show up, we decided to move ahead with the concerts, trekking sound equipment, popcorn machine, and wagons across town to the new location. Read the rest of this entry »
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Kristen Engebretsen
This weekend I had the pleasure of experiencing my first authentic D.C. experience—the protest. I was drawn to the Save Our Schools March because I want to believe that America can still offer all students a quality PUBLIC education.
The Save Our Schools March (SOS) was a large umbrella event for anyone who is dissatisfied with our educational system. As a parent and an arts education advocate, my dissatisfaction has grown as our curriculum has dwindled. Cutting of subjects such as the arts, social studies, and science has been, to me, one of the worst consequences of No Child Left Behind.
So, on Friday my activism began with a screening of the film, The Inconvenient Truth Behind Waiting for Superman. It was great to watch this film in a room full of frustrated teachers.
There was booing when Arne Duncan said that the best thing that happened to New Orleans schools was Hurricane Katrina. There was hissing when Michelle Rhee bragged about her own private school experience. There was cheering when the teachers in the film spoke about public schools’ responsibility to educate the poorest and neediest of students. Read the rest of this entry »
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Christina Wolfgram
A choka is a type of Japanese poem that is cousin to the haiku, using some of the same syllable restrictions.
Because of its short verses, the choka is easy to turn into a group poem. One person writes the first verse (with the syllable count of 5-7-5) and then each person after that writes two lines, the first with seven syllables, the second with five syllables. There is no limit to how long a choka can be – they can go on forever!
This summer, I’ve had an awesome experience interning with Americans for the Arts. At first, I was surprised at how dire the arts’ situation is – I felt ashamed that I had spent so many years in school growing with arts at hand and never taking the time to appreciate it.
I was inspired by the passion and dedication shown by those who spend every day working for arts advocacy.
So, I’ve decided to start a choka about the arts (who doesn’t love art about art, right?), and hope that you will take a minute out of your day to add a verse to it. Read the rest of this entry »
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Jeff Scott
As the news cycle has been dominated with concerns over the debt ceiling and the potential dangers associate with default, we are painfully reminded that our economy is far from stable. It seems increasingly likely that the way forward will include some kind of austerity measures, such as spending cuts, downsizing of government agencies, and entitlement reforms.
Many Americans would probably argue that these measures are reflective of what many households have had to do in recent years in order to make ends meet. Such conditions have of course been a severe hit to many arts organizations. Patrons are trimming their entertainment budgets; corporations and foundations are limiting donations, et cetera, et cetera. We all know this story.
In spite of this, we still see major regional theatres mounting massively expensive productions at high ticket prices. What is even more interesting is the growing number of discounted tickets being sold by the theatres via websites such as Groupon and Goldstar, which suggests a difficulty in filling the house at such high prices. Read the rest of this entry »
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Alec Baldwin and Nigel Lythgoe talk about the state of the arts in America at Arts Advocacy Day 2012. The acclaimed actor and famed producer discuss arts education and what inspires them.
