ARTSblog

Roberto Bedoya

As an introduction to this blog post, I will be writing about Stewardship as a key to the values of the Tucson Pima Arts Council (TPAC), the community we serve, and to the cultural sector at larger because of its ethical and aesthetic dimensions.

To begin let me contextualize TPAC and Tucson a bit. TPAC is the designated local arts agency (LAA) that serves the city of Tucson and Pima County. Tucson is the second largest city in the Arizona and the metropolitan region’s population recently topped one million this year, of which 40 percent is Latino and Native American.

Pima County is the largest county in the state (which is bigger than the state of Connecticut) and is one of four Arizona counties that border Mexico. It is the home to two Native American tribes – the Tohono O’Odham and the Pascua Yaqui Nations; and numerous small towns and ranches.

Against this background, Southern Arizonans are mindful of the Sonoran desert that we live in, its heritages, its power, and its profound beauty and how these qualities informs the social imaginary that operate here. How taking care of the land and our relationships to each other are grounded in the ethos of stewardship. Read the rest of this entry »

Popularity: 6%

Maggie Guggenheimer

At Piedmont Council for the Arts (PCA), we often find ourselves in conversations about collaboration.

The Charlottesville (VA) area has a high number of arts and cultural organizations for its relatively small size.

Don’t let the quaint college town aesthetic fool you – with organizations like Monticello, The Paramount Theater, Live Arts, The Pavilion, Kluge-Ruhe Aboriginal Art Collection, and three amazing festivals, we’re busting at the seams with high-quality cultural experiences. It’s exciting, but it’s also competitive. For many of the smaller nonprofit arts organizations in the area, collaboration is necessary for getting big projects done with a small staff and budget.

PCA participates in collaborative projects and gathers arts representatives together for networking events and roundtable discussions to address collaboration strategies. I’m amazed at how much even the busiest directors seem to appreciate the opportunity to connect face-to-face and think “big picture.” In today’s funding environment, no one doubts the importance of effective partnerships, and we all need to unplug and brainstorm together every now and then.

But beyond this necessity, lately I’ve been thinking about collaboration in a new way. Read the rest of this entry »

Popularity: 4%

Richard Stein

My first full-time job after finishing grad school was as executive director of the Oswego County Council on the Arts in upstate New York.

Three and a half years ago, I returned to arts council management after more than 25 years as a theatre producer and director, when I was appointed executive director of Arts Orange County.

I don’t know which is worse, running an arts council or running a theatre in times like these, but one thing I’m sure of: I owe my success to breaking the rules.

There are plenty of people who’ve attempted to dissuade me from that path or criticized me for failing to adhere to the conventional wisdom of the field. Conventional wisdom may have contributed to the growth of America’s arts organizations in decades past, but it sure isn’t helping them much today.

I see this every day—and not just in the reforms I’ve been instituting at Arts Orange County, but among the many constituent organizations we serve. Read the rest of this entry »

Popularity: 5%

Felix Padron

San Antonio is at a crossroads.

It is a city whose traditional identity has been shaped by generations of families rooted in the region and immigrants from Mexico. This identity has deep historical and cultural implications shaped by a unique set of economic and cultural dynamics; the backbone of a context that more often than not, influences most political efforts and outcomes.

Yet San Antonio is undeniably a growing city. The bulk of its population growth comes from the outside, creating a more heterogeneous cultural environment, where different and specific cultural identities are now being engaged.

The challenge becomes: Can San Antonio expand in a global economy while staying committed to an “authentic” culture?

This question is at the forefront of most discussions regarding the city’s future.

It is a delicate balance for San Antonians, and it makes it difficult to reach consensus when trying to formulate strategies that allow for the cross-pollination of innovation and cultural preservation. This is certainly a challenge for local arts and cultural organizations as well. Read the rest of this entry »

Popularity: 7%

Prof(?) Michael Spring

1)    The acronym “ATFAA” stands for:

a)    Do I need to answer this in the form of a question?

b)    I do not need to know what an acronym is to work is this field.

c)    I know what OMG stands for.

d)    Americans the for AArts or Aptitude Test for Arts Administrators.

2)    A nonprofit arts organization asks for an extension to a grant submittal deadline…

a)    I tell them that the very asking of this question makes them ineligible to apply forever.

b)    I check the date and time to see if I am on vacation.

c)    I explain that while it is our policy not to do this, case law is on their side.

d)    Probably none of the above.

3)    A dancer, musician and playwright walk into a bar… 

a)    They better not be using fellowship money.

b)    The bartender says, “Okay, I’ll serve you a beer, if you can finish this joke.”

c)    This has something to do with the economic impact of the arts.

d)    Is “bar” misspelled? Read the rest of this entry »

Popularity: 19%

Jennifer Armstrong

At our statewide arts conference this year, held un-ironically in Normal, IL, our theme was The Creative Breakthrough. We wanted to acknowledge that there is no ‘normal’ to pinpoint right now, but that it will be the creative who will break through to sketch out a new normal.

The gathering was a unique opportunity for arts leaders from across the state to come together and break through old ways of thinking, spark new ideas and connections, and to leave with the affirmation that we have the power and resources to break through if we use the force within ourselves, our communities, our sector, and the creative collective.

Our keynote speaker Bruce Mau of Bruce Mau Design and Massive Change Network, posed a theory that the only way to break through the noise is to come together. His key takeaway was – a network changes everything.

According to our post-conference survey, what leaders need most in order to have more breakthroughs is a sounding board, mixing open-mindedness, and institutional knowledge. Our Illinois Local Arts Network (LAN) provides for this and more for local arts agency leaders, and it wouldn’t be possible without the collaboration of two statewide institutions and a core team of Local Arts Agency (LAA) leaders. Read the rest of this entry »

Popularity: 7%

Erin Williams (Photo by Paul Kapteyn)

Worcester, MA, is a New England industrial city busy reinventing itself.

Worcester is the heart of the Commonwealth; home to 180,000+ residents and 32,000 college students.

In the late 1990s a group of cultural organizations came together to create a unique coalition, in partnership with the City of Worcester, which shines a spotlight on the creative activity taking place in the region.

The Worcester Cultural Coalition is the unified voice of the cultural community. Today 72 cultural organizations (from the stately Worcester Art Museum to the feisty arts collective Fireworks) work together with creative entrepreneurs to incite a panoply of creative activity, encouraging residents and visitors alike to get engaged.

Inspired by the work of Charles Landry, an international authority on city futures and the use of culture in city revitalization, the Worcester Cultural Coalition organized a series of forums in 2005 to encourage a civic dialogue about our great city.

More than four hundred people – artists, entrepreneurs, business and civic leaders, students, and neighborhood activists – took part in many conversations led by Landry over the course of four days, which opened up a dialogue and encouraged people to express their unique vision of the city and its future direction. Read the rest of this entry »

Popularity: 6%

Theresa Cameron

With local arts agencies facing many challenges, earlier this year Americans for the Arts conducted our second “Listening Post” survey designed to gather a collective perception about the direction of local arts funding and current trends.

Overall, our field seems to be optimistic about the future and are very resilient, but we also wanted to give folks the opportunity to talk about their communities.

As part of the Listening Post, we are launching our first very Local Arts Agency Blog Salon. For this Blog Salon, we’ve invited a sample group of bloggers representing the field as a whole.

Based on the Listening Post, we asked them to write about the following:

• How the arts community can come together to address changing trends in arts attendance and audience engagement
• The level of collaboration between arts organizations and non-arts community groups/agencies
• Other trends/areas that will be important to your community in 2012  Read the rest of this entry »

Popularity: 6%

There are now 33.4 million people living with HIV and AIDS.

Each year, two million die from AIDS-related illnesses.

Thirty years ago, the disease had not yet been named, but friends were sick: lingering flus, ongoing fatigue, night sweats, and purple lesions overtook and obliterated my generation. We all thought another shot of penicillin would take care of it.

Fear mongering and prejudice greeted those who were ill.

The media talked about “gay cancer scares.”

Politicians called for quarantines.

By 1982, the illness was named; AIDS: Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome.

Scientists identified the HIV virus. Three thousand cases had been reported in the U.S.; one thousand had died.

By the end of the ‘80s, eight million people were living with AIDS worldwide. Read the rest of this entry »

Popularity: 6%

Moisés Kaufman

For theater companies that are creating new work, fundraising in the community of institutional funders poses a unique set of challenges.

Funders, by design, have strict guidelines in place by which they measure outcomes. But most experimental theater companies have models of making art that challenge traditionally held industry standards.

What companies like Elevator Repair Service, Pig Iron Theatre, the SITI Company, and Tectonic Theater Project have in common is the following: each has chosen to devote its resources exclusively to creating work, rather than supporting a physical space, programming a regular season, or offering a subscription; each was incorporated 10 to 20 years ago; each receives critical acclaim for its work; and each continues to struggle to raise funds to support its very existence.

The three “Ss” — season, subscription, and space (preferably a theater) — are the markers that most foundations use when evaluating a company’s work and outcome. But more and more, many of the theater companies creating some of the most highly innovative and influential work in contemporary theater over the past decade don’t have any of these three characteristics.

They do not have a theater space or a season or a subscription base. What they have are projects that they nurture for long periods of time and then present to the public in a variety of ways (either by partnering with existing theaters, touring, or finding alternative spaces). Read the rest of this entry »

Popularity: 7%

Stephanie Spalding

Day One at the National Arts Marketing Project Conference (NAMPC) and I am drinking coffee “for two” in order to keep up with the flurry of questions and concepts oozing out of the mouths of my fellow attendees during the preconference.

This is my first NAMPC, by the way, but who has time for a learning curve? I am barreling through and keeping my ears open. There were inspiring anecdotes, fascinating case studies and fresh ideas coming in rapid fire during the Marketing Masters Think Tank.

In the interest of word count, there is one concept in particular that resonated with me. During a small group discussion about audience development, many in the group agreed that marketing departments often become the curator for an organization’s programming, often the ones taking enrichment to the next level (or any level). Okay, so people have heard this before. It was when the idea that we (read: the organization) curate an audience too. We do? We do.

Audience development comes in many shapes and sizes, and the commitment level from an organization can run the gamut. But if you or someone you love is considering a serious commitment to audience development  beyond the occasional event or focused ticket deal, then it is time to commit to knowing and serving the community. Read the rest of this entry »

Popularity: 10%

Dear Readers,

Look over to the right side of this page and check out the tag cloud. (You might have to scroll a little. It’s under the “featured video”.)  Are your favorite topics there?

We want to match the content of our publications with what you need to be successful artists, arts administrators, advocates, and educators. That means tailoring the articles, blog posts, and news stories in our print and electronic communications based on your feedback. What topics do you want to read about more (or less)?

Take our short, six question survey and let us know how we’re doing: http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/ZZWVFBB

Popularity: 22%

Tom Borrup (center) and friends

Here’s someone who speaks my language!

In Creativity Will Change the Model, Bill Roper calls for new ways to engage people in re-imaging their communities, specifically to engage creative practices in how community planning gets done!

Just as quickly as we have young people – and people of all ages – paint images or make collages representing their vision (and I’ve done it many times), we also need Facebook, and other social media tools to spark discussions and the exchange of images representing spaces and activities that are important to people. These tools can get more people to engage in face-to-face community engagement, and enrich it, not replace it.

Until we have more experience with these tools, we won’t fully know all they can do for us, but we need to experiment.

I’m presently leading a major cultural corridor planning project in Minneapolis where one of the deliverables expected by the city is a pedestrian study. While they may balk at something other than a report from the same pedestrian consultant they’ve hired 20 times before, we’re crowdsourcing the study using Facebook. Read the rest of this entry »

Popularity: 7%

Erin Harkey

Started in 2002, as an alternative to mainstream gallery culture, High Desert Test Sites (HDTS) explores the connections between site, art and life.

Situated in the desert communities surrounding Joshua Tree, the biannual event produces a series of site-specific installations in the Mojave Desert. Belonging to no one and everyone at the same time, each project’s life cycle is inextricably linked to the site itself.

Intrigued by this year’s roster of artists, I ventured with a friend on a two-hour road trip from Los Angeles to check it out.

The map to the sites we picked up at the HDTS headquarters instructed us to “drive forever” on Route 62. To help us find our way, we relied on the tracks of the cars before us, the unreliable GPS on our phones, and the occasional hidden HDTS sign with a quiet arrow. As we drove, we were fascinated with the number of deserted buildings. Read the rest of this entry »

Popularity: 12%

Radhika Mohan

At the Mayors’ Institute on City Design, we hold several intimate sessions a year, each with 7-8 mayors and another 7-8 design and development professionals.

At every session, we hammer through case studies that the mayors bring and respond with concrete ways to begin implementing their project. Often, the critique on their urban design case studies sounds something like this: “This design could be anywhere, what makes this place in your city special and unique?”

I often call this the “avoiding the autotune” suggestion. Autotune, being the new(ish) technology of the music industry where a performer’s voice can be digitized, making anyone’s voice sound similar to one another in song.

One way to “avoid the autotune” is to bring artists into the mix of the planning process.

Many of us have written that art, as an expression of our cultural identity, can be a great communicator in the design of the public realm and institutional amenities. Through storytelling, mural-painting, exhibitions, and more, we can foster the exchange of ideas on important projects in our community. Read the rest of this entry »

Popularity: 11%