Thank you to the many people who have been blog contributors to, and readers of ArtsBlog over the years. ArtsBlog has long been a space where we uplifted stories from the field that demonstrated how the arts strengthen our communities socially, educationally, and economically; where trends and issues and controversies were called out; and advocacy tools were provided to help you make the case for more arts funding and favorable arts policies.

As part of Americans for the Arts’ recent Strategic Realignment Process, we were asked to evaluate our storytelling communications platforms and evolve the way we share content. As a result, we launched the Designing Our Destiny portal to explore new ways of telling stories and sharing information, one that is consistent with our longtime practice of, “No numbers without a story, and no stories without a number.”

As we put our energy into developing this platform and reevaluate our communications strategies, we have put ArtsBlog on hold. That is, you can read past blog posts, but we are not posting new ones. You can look to the Designing Our Destiny portal and our news items feed on the Americans for the Arts website for stories you would have seen in ArtsBlog in the past.

ArtsBlog will remain online through this year as we determine the best way to archive this valuable resource and the knowledge you’ve shared here.

As ever, we are grateful for your participation in ArtsBlog and thank you for your work in advancing the arts. It is important, and you are important for doing it.


John Arroyo

Ra Ra Ra...Rha Goddess!

Posted by John Arroyo, Jun 03, 2007 0 comments


John Arroyo

With a title theme like RISK AND REWARD, I can tell that the convention has really challenged administrators to move out of their comfort levels and challenge the "norm."  Rha Goddess' inspirational speech on identifying and sustaining emerging leadership was no exception.   I've been pretty faithful to the Leadership Track but in  my interest in attending some other non-Leadership sessions on the program schedule, I almost missed Rha Goddess.  I'm so glad I didn't. Her ideas really resonated with my post on cultural leadership.  She stated that "If your art is not your center, leadership IS NOT happening" and challenged us to handle ourselves and "hold space."

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Tom DeCaigny

Who ever said cheating was a bad thing?

Posted by Tom DeCaigny, Jun 03, 2007 0 comments


Tom DeCaigny

After considerable Vegas stimulation and conference information overload, I'm still thinking about yesterday's Arts Education Innovator and Culminating Forum session with Sir Ken Robinson.  I first saw him speak in Lisbon, Portugal at the UNESCO World Conference on Arts Education and then lucked out months later by catching his address to the National Governor's Association on C-Span late one night. 

Sir Ken Robinson is an excellent storyteller. He's witty, concise and manges to expose deeper meaning through simple narrative. (Check out his new book:  "Out of Our Minds"). He makes a strong case for the potential of arts education to address global economic changes and the growing antagonisms between international cultural groups.  His discussion yesterday of a "climate crisis in human resources" struck a particular note since some colleagues and I had experienced a related phemenonon at lunch the day before. 

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Terence McFarland

Ask...

Posted by Terence McFarland, Jun 02, 2007 0 comments


Terence McFarland

Feeling faithful...stuck to private sector tract.

Trends in corporate giving and Arts giving from small business. Corporations: volunteer program is the largest growing segment. Good news for cities and regions with BVA programs.

Members of the Corporate Volunteer Council in Los Angeles informed me that creating individual volunteer opportunities for their employees are difficult. It's much easier to sign up 500 people for an AIDS walk. It falls to us to make it easy for the HR departments to tap into their most important asset knowledge capital , allowing us to leverage their knowledge, advice and expertise into stronger, better run arts organizations. However give this a read before you take advice from a corporate type.

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