Victoria Plettner-Saunders

When was the last time you attended a student performance in your community? You know the junior theater’s production of My Fair Lady or the young art show at the museum…

Although I spend a good part of my time working to keep arts education in the schools, and many of the client projects I work on are related to student learning in the arts, I don’t get to as many student performances as one might think. I do as many do and opt for the big orchestras from out-of-town, or the modern dance company I’ve seen many times over. Boy have I been missing out!

Last weekend we attended a San Diego Youth Symphony (SDYS) concert at the invitation of our friend and SDYS President and CEO Dalouge Smith.

What I experienced was, in a word, transformational.

To begin with, the students were just phenomenal. The clarinetist showcased in Luigi Bassi’s “Fantasy on Themes” for clarinet from Rigoletto had won their 2011 Orchestra Concerto Competition. She could have easily given many professional musicians a run for their money as she deftly moved over the notes with accuracy and poise.

And the Orchestra’s performance of Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No. 6 in b minor “Pathetique” was the highlight of the evening. Their powerful execution of the third movement was amazing and not something one would think could come from a group of teenagers in the sunrise of their experience as musicians. This was not amateur hour.

But what sealed the evening, was my experience as an audience member.

So often I attend professional symphony performances and am so captivated with the work I don’t want to sit still. I want to move my head in time with the music, or shift my body back and forth in my seat. When I look around I see all these nicely dressed people, with their hands in their laps and their eyes focused ahead, listening politely.

But on Saturday night, I watched as parents and siblings craned their necks and become animated if they saw their child highlighted up close on the big screen over the proscenium. Exhibiting pride in the performers was the norm. Audience members bounced their heads in time with the music as if to help the performers along.

When the clarinetist took her bows for the very difficult Bassi work, friends and family members came down the aisles with bouquets of flowers overwhelming her like an Olympic skater. (The conductor had to carry two arms full of flowers himself just to help her take them all off stage). The audience stood shouting “brava” and applauding with both admiration and encouragement. It was a celebratory moment to be sure.

But pure joy came at the end of the third movement of “Pathetique” when the audience forgot all about the earlier admonition to hold applause until the end. (They were recording the performance and wanted to get a clean take.)

When the musicians came to the powerful end of the movement with the strength and accuracy of much more seasoned performers, the audience couldn’t contain themselves (myself included)—-we moved as if by a force of nature to thunderous applause.

It was then that I realized I hadn’t had this much enjoyment at a concert since I watched Gustavo Dudamel conduct the Israeli Philharmonic. There was energy between the stage and the audience that felt as though we were all there together, musicians and audience, experiencing something great.

It changed the way I think about student performances; appreciating them even more than professional ones.

So the next time you have an opportunity to attend a student performance, buy a few tickets and take your friends. Not only will you be supporting a good cause and you might even feel transformed.

*Victoria Plettner-Saunders is the current Chair of the Arts Education Council at Americans for the Arts,  founder of Plettner-Saunders Consulting, and the co-founder of the San Diego Alliance for Arts Education. 

Robb Hankins

In downtown Canton, OH, through an ongoing partnership with the Canton Regional Chamber of Commerce (and its Special Improvement District), we’ve spent the last five years creating the Canton Arts District.

The results have been totally amazing and changed everyone’s thinking about this downtown coming back.

In 2005, we started with three strategies: live music, galleries/artist studios, and public art. We had only one art gallery—-and not a single artist studio.

Today, the Canton Arts District has 26 galleries and studios.

The first art studios opened when local developer Mike King bought an old building down on 4^th Street NW, deciding to convert it into Studio 5. It would have five artist studios downstairs and five independent artist apartments upstairs. ArtsinStark partnered with King on spreading the word and providing a small rent subsidy for the first year.

By the time Studio 5 opened every unit was rented out and there were eight artists on the list hoping for another building. Here’s a video of how Studio 5 looked when it was just opening

As the Canton Arts District began to take shape we needed a way to let people know, so we decided to host a monthly party—-First Friday.

We made it a celebration of street performers, gallery openings, public art unveilings, and children’s parades. It immediately took off.

In warm weather months 4,000 people showed up for First Friday; in cold weather months 1,000 people still came out to party. We do them every month, rain, shine, or snow. To date we’ve hosted almost 60 monthly celebrations and more than 100,000 people have attended.

After the third monthly First Friday, landlords started getting excited. We were able to move the only gallery we had when we started, 2nd April, into a 10,000 square foot building that no one wanted. That not only gave us an improved gallery, it has 18 more artist studios and a 100-seat black box theater:

By now, the chamber was getting more and more excited. It had started purchasing old buildings in downtown in hopes of assembling commercial parcels. Now it began opening those buildings up to artists. One of the first was an old bar that had been vacant for a decade. Today it is Anderson Creative Gallery:

Meanwhile a very creative artist named Lynda Tuttle had taken over the building that 2^nd April Gallery had been in. She turned it into the Tuttle Gallery, and filled it with every kind of art and craft imaginable made by artists from across the region.

When we started the Canton Arts District idea, there was just one full block left for sale in downtown. It had nine buildings on it and an asking price of $1.2 million—-which is a lot for our market.

Three years after the chamber and ArtsinStark began our partnership on creating an arts district, a gentleman named Tim Belden got so excited that he bought the entire block of buildings and turned the largest into the Saxton Gallery of Photography:

Today we’ve got five galleries and 21 artist studios. We also have 43 new pieces of public art and a new live music club. You can see them all in this video of a summertime First Friday.

In total, more than 100,000 square feet of vacant space has or is being transformed to new uses in downtown Canton because of the partnership that was created between the chamber, the arts council—-and, yes, 40-50 pretty incredible local visual artists.

In fact, last year the chamber opened up yet another building so the Arts District could get its first glass blower.

In short, creative partnerships make miracles happen!

This post is one in a series highlighting The pARTnership Movement, Americans for the Arts’ campaign to to reach business leaders with the message that partnering with the arts can build their competitive advantage. Visit our website to find out how both businesses and local arts agencies can get involved!

Laura Kakolewski

As an arts marketer, I made sure to pay particular attention to the commercials during the Super Bowl.

Although a few stood out from the rest, Twitter helped me discover what I believe to be the smartest Super Bowl commercial that (unfortunately) only aired in Canada.

Before reading any further, take a few minutes to watch this matchless Canadian Budweiser commercial that I found straight from the twitter feed of Scott Stratten (@Unmarketing), author of UnMarketing: Stop Marketing. Start Engaging, and keynote speaker at the 2011 National Arts Marketing Project Conference:

In my opinion, Budweiser Canada deserves a standing ovation from the world of marketing and advertising.

But what lessons can arts leaders learn from this flash mob commercial? Well, you don’t need to be Canadian or a hockey buff to understand:

First, Budweiser has proven the notion that consumers have a desire to connect with brands on a personal level. By creating an unforgettable (and unexpected!) experience for a run-of-the-mill recreational league hockey game, Budweiser’s brand is resonating with consumers on a level that most brands (attempt) but never reach.

Beyond that, this level of connection wasn’t just felt between the brand and the hockey players, which is apparent from their faces in the commercial, but it had a similar effect on the viewers (like me and you).

As you watch the genuine amazement on the faces of the players, you feel it from your screen at home. The take-away?

Find a way to connect your brand to your consumers through an experience that can’t be beat.

Another important lesson that we can learn from this commercial: when people have memorable experiences, they tell their friends about it.

It is a pretty safe bet that those hockey players told their friends what happened and how they felt that day. And with 2,136,341 views on YouTube since its release on February 2, more than just those in the Port Credit, Ontario hockey arena have shared the feeling with their friends.

Creating a memorable experience allows you to rely on word-of-mouth marketing—-your patrons will share your brand for you.

So I say Bravo, Budweiser Canada.

You get an A+ in branding, and have given all of us a thing or two to think about in the process.

Editor’s Note: You can watch Scott Stratten’s keynote presentation from the 2011 NAMP Conference here.

Arts Watch is the bi-weekly cultural policy publication of Americans for the Arts, covering news in a variety of categories. Subscribe to Arts Watch or follow @artswatch on Twitter to receive up-to-the-minute news.

Over the weekend, former President Bill Clinton made headlines in his home state of Arkansas discussing education. His message was one that many of us already know: the dropout rate is increasing and students are leaving school unprepared for 21^st century jobs.

However, the uniqueness of the President’s message was in his proposed solution—the arts.

Clinton is endorsing a program called A+ Schools that achieves whole school reform by integrating the arts, using project-based learning, and appealing to students’ multiple intelligences.

The A+ program has been nationally recognized “as an effective, research-based strategy for sustainable school reform.”

The program started with a network of schools in North Carolina and has expanded to include schools in Oklahoma and Arkansas.

You can find out more about the A+ program here and make sure to check out a local TV news report on former President Clinton’s remarks:

Tim McClimon

Historic Preservation may not be the first thing that pops into your mind when you think of the arts or corporate philanthropy, but the preservation, restoration, and reuse of cultural assets like historic buildings, monuments, and parks can revitalize neighborhoods, stimulate tourism and local economies, and preserve our natural resources by conserving energy and reducing our carbon footprint.

American Express has a long history of partnerships in historic preservation.

We made our first historic preservation grant in 1974 to the National Park Service to assist with the planning for the renovation and restoration of the Statue of Liberty as part of the U.S. Bicentennial Celebration in 1976.

The company went on to sponsor the first national cause-related marketing campaign aimed at restoring the Statue of Liberty in 1983. (Our first corporate involvement with the Statue of Liberty actually dates back to 1885 when American Express asked company employees to contribute money toward the construction of the Statue’s pedestal–our first employee giving campaign!)

Our first international grant in historic preservation was made in 1977 to help save the Acropolis in Athens, Greece. American Express was the first private organization to donate funds to UNESCO for this restoration. We went on to work with the World Monuments Fund in the establishment of the Watch List of the 100 Most Endangered Sites in 1996, and we were the corporate sponsor of this list for the next ten years, helping to preserve 126 historic sites in 62 countries.

In the past six years, we have linked with the National Trust for Historic Preservation in the creation and execution of the Partners in Preservation Program, our online voting contest for historic sites in specific U.S. communities.

This program has now taken place in San Francisco, Chicago, New Orleans, Boston, Seattle, and the Twin Cities of Minneapolis and Saint Paul, and we’ve supported the preservation of 70 historic sites in those communities. We’ll be launching the program in another U.S. city this spring.

We have also worked with the World Monuments Fund to establish a Sustainable Tourism Program, which has assisted historic sites with the management of tourists and their impact on the environment in places like St. Paul’s Cathedral in London, the Historic Center in Mexico City, the Heritage Route in Delhi, the Easter Island Visitor’s Center, and Route 66 in the U.S. This year, we re-established our sponsorship of the Watch List, and we’re preparing to donate $1 million to support the restoration of sites from that list in the coming months.

Our partnerships with the National Trust for Historic Preservation and the World Monuments Funds work because we jointly manage and execute these programs with our partners. Each of us has shared responsibility for certain aspects of these programs, and both of us are held accountable for the results.

For more information on the Partners in Preservation Program, visit the National Trust website or its Facebook page. Visit the World Monuments Fund Watch site for more information.

Max Donner

Los Angeles took a cue from the success of Art Miami and scheduled six art shows in the space of one week last month. These six shows featured the most popular collecting categories–fine art, photography, prints and posters, modern art, contemporary art, and “affordable art.”

A fortunate coincidence put these excellent art exhibitions directly next to two large commercial trade shows that demonstrated the value of artistic talent in America’s economy. These were the California Gift Show and the Insignia Sportswear Show.

These shows provided hundreds of examples of the economic value of art by showing how quality art and design can transform a five dollar piece of canvas into a fifty dollar giclee print or a five hundred dollar oilskin for elite yacht racing syndicates.

The commercial trade shows also demonstrated the important role that applied art plays in supporting the development of leading edge technology and the creation of good jobs that support local economies.

An overview of the exhibitions at the California Gift Show and the Insignia Sportswear Show quickly showed that commodity-like, undecorated consumer goods like umbrellas, picture frames, sports team uniforms, and caps do not cost much to make and do not generate much quality employment. The same products converted into upscale or luxury consumer products with original art and sophisticated artistic customization command attention of trade show visitors and quickly fill order books.

This reality of consumer behavior drives innovation which can come full circle to benefit the arts community by building a market for custom inks, more sophisticated silkscreening technology, production of art tiles, more advanced photography printing techniques, and a host of other applied technologies. The California Gift Show paid tribute to the contribution of artists by presenting a working artists’ studio with four painters demonstrating their techniques at the entrance to the exhibition.

An overview of the art shows provided a helpful reminder that commercial assignments are often the foundations from which fine artists build.

Henri Toulouse-Lautrec worked together with printers to create hundreds of advertising posters for bicycles, equestrian events, and cabarets. Norman Rockwell began working as a commercial illustrator for magazines as a teenager. The oil paintings he created for the publishers’ final cover choices are now coveted by art collectors.

A 1919 Rockwell cover for Collier’s was recently featured on Antiques Roadshow with a value estimate of $500,000. An iconic 1930 Rockwell cover design for the Saturday Evening Post was featured at the Los Angeles Fine Art Show with an asking price over $3 million.

Comparing and contrasting the art shows and the commercial shows is a good way to understand how art and commerce can complement one another and enhance the quality of results.

Several standouts at the art shows included works for which the artists created their own paper or customized the chemical additives in art glass to produce a distinctive image. Custom paper production processes such as bamboo paper and gingko paper have been adapted by the commercial world for upscale consumer products.

The sportswear show provided several good examples of how well trained artists and designers can innovate with texture to produce both superior products and more creative art.

This creative convergence also underscored the importance of arts education in helping America to maximize the benefits of its creative economy.

Attorney Tom Holliday participated in a panel of art collectors at the Los Angeles Art Show and presented his experience from the perspective of a trustee at a leading engineering school, Clarkson University.

Holliday confirmed that the creative thinking processes from learning about art and music are valuable in the education of talented engineers and gives them better creativity to think about engineering and technology projects.

This creative convergence shows one more way that an investment in arts education is an investment in America’s future.

John Eger

It’s early in the new year but educators across the country are already making plans for the summer and they are thinking STEAM…with the arts playing a critical role.

As demand for a new workforce to meet the challenges of a global knowledge economy is rapidly increasing, few things could be as important in this period of our nation’s history than an interdisciplinary education that brings the arts and sciences together. Not surprisingly, so-called STEAM Camps signal an increased role for the arts as part of the new curriculum.

Most analysts studying the new global economy agree that the growing “creative and innovative” economy represents America’s salvation. The STEAM camps represent a totally new approach to the curriculum, and forge a new beginning in reinventing K-12 education.

Urban Discovery Academy, a charter school in San Diego has partnered with the University of California at San Diego (UCSD); Concordia University in Mequon, WI, together with the Chicago Lutheran Education Foundation (CELF); and the largest Lutheran school systems in Northern Indiana, and other educational organizations across the country are thinking about or have already started hosting STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Math) Camps to jumpstart education learning for the new economy.

STEAM is a direct response to STEM, the Bush Initiative called the America Competes Act, which authorized funds to help students earn a bachelor’s degree, math and science teachers to get teaching credentials, and provide additional money to help align K-12 math and science curricula to better prepare students for college.

The concept of STEAM (not just STEM) is taking hold as more parents and educators are learning the importance of nurturing both sides of the brain, and creating the new thinking skills our young people will need in the new economy. Art, in all it forms, does this. Hence, the STEAM camps with the emphasis on the arts and art related businesses such as digital media, biomedicine, biotechnology, energy, and clean technologies.

Concordia, in particular, focused last summer on the physical and chemical properties of water and the local environment. They also gave kids the “hands-on” experience of designing their “own personal crayon color (and) creating the perfect formula for bubble gum.” They made soda and homemade toothpaste and explored the human body including “skeletal structure, DNA function, blood typing, and…dissection of a fetal pig.”

“Our Lutheran schools in this region are working on transforming their classrooms to reflect a 21st century design,” says Mark Muehl, speaking for the Indiana effort. “What we have learned is that there is a lot of growth that must occur with our teachers to allow for project-based learning to be more of the norm as opposed to the exception” and so the STEAM camp idea becomes the entry point.

Ed Abeyta of UCSD agrees: “We need STEAM-based education. Our global competitive edge requires educating our youth in a manner whose training combines the convergent thinking skills found in STEM education divergent thinking skills (and) creative problem solving real problems in the world.”

The Discovery Academy adopted STEAM as an inherent part of the school’s mission “to provide a rigorous education that develops the whole child as a scholar, athlete, artist, and democratic member of society.”

They plan a curriculum patterned on the Fab Lab, a collaboration between the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and the San Diego-based nonprofit Heads on Fire. The curriculum is expected to offer courses on: Digital Arts and New media, Design & Digital Fabrication, Electronics & Engineering, Creative Computing & Programming, and Alternative Energy and Renewable Fuels.

In Plano, TX, where Texas Instruments (TI) makes its home, middle schools in the area will get $5 million from the company to help launch and develop the district’s first STEAM Academy; but, also a new innovative high school as recommended by the Academy Visioning Committee meeting in April this year.

Associate Superintendent Cathy Galloway of the Plano Schools district says:

“Our academy visioning committee…opted to ensure that arts education be included as an integral part of the learning context. In addition to problem/project based learning being the instructional method used in the academy, the problems themselves will revolve around the context of STEAM to provide broader experiences than a traditional STEM focus.”

The Plano district serves the residents of approximately 100 square miles in southwest Collin County. This area includes 66 square miles in the City of Plano, with the balance including northern portions of the cities of Dallas and Richardson and parts of the cities of Allen, Carrollton, Garland, Lucas, Murphy, Parker, and Wylie.

And in Massachusetts, there is a workshop called ARTBOTICS, funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Endowment for the Arts, involving art, computer science, and robotics.

They offer an eight-week summer program piloted by a group of Lowell High School graduates and University of Massachusetts students. They have also launched a week-long summer camp for middle school students, and “day-long workshops for educators of art, science, technology, engineering, and math subjects.”

This could be the beginning of meaningful efforts to bring the arts and sciences together once again.

*This post was originally published by Huff Post Arts and is republished here with permission from the author.

The Art Institutes and Americans for the Arts are accepting entries for our 2012 Poster Design Competition through February 3. Winners will earn up to a full tuition scholarship to study at one of the more than 45 Art Institutes across the country.

This year’s competition challenges high school seniors and graduates from the U.S., Canada, and Puerto Rico to design a poster that best expresses the competition’s new theme, “You Can Create Tomorrow.” Contestants will compete in two different categories: high school senior or high school graduate/adult.

For more information, visit this website.

See how winning past contests has impacted the lives of these students:

President Obama speaks about his new tourism plan in Disney World.

Our President & CEO, Bob Lynch, is always on the road extolling the virtues of the arts and arts education on behalf of our members and the general public.

Recently, Bob spent a whirlwind week talking about tourism, business partnerships, and advocacy in Orlando, Houston, and Miami.

In Orlando, Bob was sworn in for a two-year term as a member of the United States Travel and Tourism Board. He was honored to receive the appointment and feels it is a great opportunity for the organization and the field.

The U.S. Travel and Tourism Advisory Board serves as the advisory body to the Secretary of Commerce on matters relating to the travel and tourism industry in the United States. The board consists of up to 32 members that advise the Secretary of Commerce on government policies and programs that affect the U.S. travel and tourism industry, offers counsel on current and emerging issues, and provides a forum for discussing and proposing solutions to industry-related problems.

Little did he know that he and the Advisory Board would also have the opportunity to experience a critical press conference held by President Obama (right in the middle of Disney World’s Main Street USA – incidentally a 2011 BCA10 honoree) in which the President put forth his plan to utilize tourism to create jobs and bolster the American economy.

The President’s plan to encourage global tourism in the United States includes several aspects: an expedited VISA application process for certain countries; an expanded Global Entry Program for trusted international visitors; and attempt to add more countries to the list not requiring VISAs for travel to the country.

That message carried over to Bob’s first meeting as a new member of the board.

Bob Lynch (left) and U.S. Secretary of Commerce John Bryson

“I feel privileged to be appointed to the U.S. Travel and Tourism Advisory Board as I can assist in finding ways for the tourism industry to work better with the arts and culture community. I want the travel and tourism industries to recognize that for many tourists, arts and culture determine if a trip is successful. And cultural tourists stay longer and spend more,” Lynch said.

Having his first meeting take place at Disney World – as Bob said, “a tourism/business empire built by an artist” – was significant in that it not only shows how art can fuel business, but how the entire tourism industry is lifted up by the arts — from public art at airports to the theaters and museums that add to the cultural experience for tourists.

As a member of the board, Bob said, “I can learn from fellow board members on behalf of the arts community as well, including how to better work with hotels, airlines, tourist groups, and trade organizations.”

Just prior to his Orlando trip, Bob also spent time in Houston, a city that boasts the largest number of businesses in one city that have been honored by the Business Committee for the Arts’ BCA 10. The Business Committee for the Arts, founded by David Rockefeller, is a division of Americans for the Arts.

The Houston Grand Opera sponsored an event at which seven previous companies awarded with BCA10 acclaim were honored for their support of local arts in order to draw attention to the uniqueness of this city’s overwhelming business support for the arts. (If you are interested in nominating a local business for the 2012 BCA10 Awards, click here.)

In addition to a reception, a back of the house tour of the Houston Music Hall, and a dinner, Bob was able to highlight the honorees, three local members of our board who are Houston CEOs (Joe Dilg, Albert Chao, and Bobby Tudor), as well as talk about the need for more private sector support for the arts nationally. He also launched locally our new pARTnership Movement, and ArtsVote 2012, our respective private and public national advocacy initiatives.

Next time, we’ll update you on Bob’s Miami visit where he had the privilege of leading an advocacy workshop for students and received the YoungArts Leadership Award.

Kristen Engebretsen

Our patchwork approach to providing arts education has gotta stop!

I recently read an article about a school that won a $25,000 contest by HGTV to redesign their arts room, and it actually left me upset. Why, you ask?

The short answer? I’m tired of the band-aid approach. The stop gap measures.

It’s the same reason I had to stop watching Oprah’s Favorite Things and Extreme Makeover: Home Edition. For every deserving person that is honored on these shows, I know someone who is just as needy and just as deserving.

As I watched the following video about makeovers, I couldn’t help but wonder if that money could be put to better use:

What would I do with $25,000?

• Buy instruments for a school that doesn’t have ANY.
• Pay part of an itinerant teacher’s salary to visit MANY schools throughout the year.
• Support a community program that serves thousands of students a year.
• Award it to a nonprofit that could leverage it by raising matching funds.
• Start an endowment in a school district for arts education, helping ensure that ALL of the students in that district received arts instruction EVERY year.

Unfortunately, these makeovers seem to be symptoms of a larger problem around the country.

Here is another example:

An article from The San Francisco Examiner outlines how the schools there rely on a patchwork of grant programs and donations to provide arts education. The article quoted my former boss, Mark Slavkin, VP for Education at the Music Center: Performing Arts Center of LA County.

“The northeastern states are spending twice as much on education as California,” Slavkin said. “What these states take for granted, like dedicated art and music teachers, is something of a luxury in California.” Although the community often steps up to prevent art and music from getting cut, Slavkin said that approach was no longer sustainable. “It’s a pretty noble gesture, but it can be self-defeating in the long run if it’s not coupled with advocacy,” he said. “The arts can sometimes dig ourselves a hole by saying, ‘Don’t worry, we’ll have a bake sale, we’ll raise money.’”

I couldn’t agree more, Mark.

It feels like I read a new article about this type of funding for arts education every day. This steady stream of articles points to a growing trend that makes me uncomfortable.

I just keep coming back to the major problem with this patchwork approach: EQUITY. I can’t help but think about the students at schools that don’t get magical makeovers or win contests.

What do they get? How is it okay for only the winners of popularity contests to get the type of education that all students deserve?

I know that districts are caught between a rock and a hard place. It is tempting to adopt the mentality that something is better than nothing. And I generally subscribe to the notion that organizations need a healthy mix of earned income, private donations, and government funding. But shouldn’t it be the responsibility of the district (through federal, state, and local taxes) to provide critical supplies and instruction? Then, the makeovers, micro-philanthropists, online votes, and contests could all just be icing on the cake.

So how do we move away from this patchwork approach? Here are my three suggestions:

1)      Investment in arts specialists that serve ALL students in a district.

2)      Training for elementary teachers that equips them to teach some basic arts lessons.

3)      Coordinated and strategic efforts in communities, much like Arts for All in LA, Big Thought in Dallas, and the Right Brain Initiative in Portland.

What would you suggest?

Rick Lester

When I worked as an arts manager, the election season—-particularly presidential years like 2012—-was a time of fear and loathing. Why?

First and foremost, ticket sales and admissions soften or die immediately before and on Election Day. At TRG, we’ve watched this trend play out across the U.S. over the past two decades in client sales results from markets of all sizes.

An inescapable consequence of major election cycles is campaign advertising—-a driver of America’s economic engine that is bad for arts and entertainment.

The flood of campaign advertising every other October sucks opportunity out of our promotional campaigns. (Just ask anyone in Florida right now where the Republican primaries alone are having a major impact.)

Campaign advertising drives up the price and limits—-in some markets eliminates—-the availability of advertising time on radio and TV. Email inboxes, postal mailboxes, Facebook pages, and Twitter accounts are stuffed beyond capacity. The normal roar of media clutter hits overload.

It becomes nearly impossible to create a viable marketing message capable of cutting through. No matter the quality of what goes on stage or in the gallery, patrons are less likely to hear about it.

Even if patrons do hear about attractions, are they listening?

The increasing negativity of campaign ads has become a cancer. I know what I’m about to say makes me sound my age, but younger generations reading this post need to know that the state of discourse has not always been as toxic as it is now. When I interned on Capitol Hill during the Nixon years, politics were not a game for the faint of heart. But the way the game is played today makes the Nixonians look quaintly naïve.

The result is that we—-and most importantly, our audiences—-tune out. Collectively we hunker down in the safety of our ear buds and personal devices, hoping that the plague will pass by.

Our goal in this space has consistently been to provide data-driven solutions. Here is a fact that data and decades of experience make immutable: Patrons buy fewer tickets in the fall of election year cycles compared to non-election years.

Smart managers understand this and adjust their artistic and financial plans in anticipation that ticket sales will soften or die in the weeks immediately before and up through Election Day on November 6, 2012.

During the 2008 presidential year, several TRG clients in hotly contested swing states decided to pass entirely on the opportunity to present anything in October and the first week of November. For many, this is not a practical solution. But if you cannot change programming plans, at least include these considerations in your marketing:

1. Make your media plans now, before the campaigns buy up all the air time in your market.
2. Launch marketing campaigns for fall programs VERY early so that you are not dependent on promotion that happens in October amid the maelstrom of campaign advertising.
3. Recalibrate telesales expectations. Telemarketers are experts at getting through but they face even more barriers during a time when candidates are clogging the phone lines with robocalls.

Also remember that once November 6 has passed, arts and entertainment consumers will be ready to party. Really savvy managers will have programming in place for that celebration.

Do you have an election year story to tell?

This year marks the 25^th anniversary of National Arts Advocacy Day (AAD), the largest and most wide-ranging, one-day advocacy effort in support of the arts.

Advocates come from across the country come to Washington, DC, to meet with their members of Congress and staff members as part of the event. While the topics range from charitable giving incentives to cultural exchange, the keystone issue for many advocates remains support for the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA).

Here is what last year’s National Arts Advocacy Day Co-Chair Kerry Washington had to say about the importance of NEA funding (and other issues):

If that wasn’t enough, check out some of the stats that demonstrate the scope of the NEA’s impact:

• Nearly 2,000 NEA awards have been made in communities in all 50 states.
• 100 percent of Congressional districts will receive at least one grant, and 3,000 or more communities will participate in NEA-sponsored projects. These communities will benefit from these projects in ways such as touring and outreach.
• Nearly 90 million individuals benefit from NEA programs, including 9 million children and young adults.
• The NEA has awarded more than $4 billion to support artistic excellence, creativity, and innovation for the benefit of individuals and communities.

Still not convinced that the NEA needs your support?

Here are some examples of past grants, in each discipline, of the NEA’s scope and reach:

DANCE
Alabama Dance Council, located in Birmingham, AL, was awarded $10,000 to support the presentation of the 2011 Alabama Dance Festival, which featured performances by the Merce Cunningham Dance Company, showcases of Alabama dance companies, pre-professional and professional master classes, professional development workshops, summer intensive auditions, and dance education workshops.

THEATRE
Mixed Blood Theatre Company located in Minneapolis, MN, was awarded $50,000 to support the production of new plays and the commission of world premiere works designed to advance and engage artists and audiences with disabilities.

FOLK AND TRADITIONAL ARTS
Western Folklife Center located in Elko, NV, was awarded $50,000 to support the production of the semi-permanent exhibition Ranchlines: Verses and Visions of the Rural West, which emphasized creativity, ingenuity, and a poetic approach to life and work in the rural ranching West.

OPERA
Tacoma Opera Association located in Tacoma, WA was awarded $12,500 to support a double-bill performance of Ruggero Leoncavallo’s Pagliacci and Leonard Bernstein’s Trouble in Tahiti.

VISUAL ARTS
Oklahoma Visual Arts Coalition, located in Oklahoma City, OK, was awarded $15,000 to support Concept/OK, an exhibition and artist residency program in the new Visual Arts Center in Tulsa, Oklahoma.

MUSIC
Savannah Music Festival, located in Savannah, GA, was awarded $50,000 to support the annual festival presenting artists of different genres including world music, music and dance traditions of Latin America, traditional songs from coastal Georgia, and chamber music masterworks from Europe.

DESIGN
Alaska Design Forum, located in Anchorage, AK, was awarded $50,000 to support Elemental, a research project in collaboration with Renewable Energy Alaska Project that seeks solutions for providing sustainable, affordable housing in rural Alaska through public roundtable discussions, design charrettes, and an exhibit, toolkit, and master plan for a rural village.

MEDIA ARTS
Women Make Movies, located in New York, NY, was awarded $60,000 to support the Women Make Movies Distribution Service, which included more than 500 titles includes documentary, narrative, experimental, animated, and mixed-genre work created by artists worldwide.

LITERATURE
University of Hawaii at Manoa (on behalf of Manoa: A Pacific Journal of International Writing), located in Honolulu, HI, was awarded $10,000 to support the publication, distribution, and design of the international literary journal Manoa, which makes contemporary works of Asia and the Pacific available to English-speaking readers through new translations.

NEA grants help make possible 30,000–35,000 concerts, readings, and performances; 4,000–5,000 visual, media, and performing arts exhibitions; and 7,000–8,000 artist residencies in schools and communities.

Arts Advocacy Day is fast approaching and it is important that members of Congress hear your voice in support of the NEA so that the agency can continue to impact YOUR nation, YOUR state, YOUR community, and YOUR art.

Find out more about National Arts Advocacy Day and the Nancy Hanks Lecture on Arts and Public Policy by visiting AmericansfortheArts.org.

Jessica Wilt

As an arts administrator, I’m constantly bombarded with information coming from all directions every minute of every day.

With endless emails, text messages, Facebook, Twitter, and RSS feeds, I sometimes feel a little overwhelmed.

Having the ”let’s get organized!” attitude that a New Year brings, I thought it might be nice to highlight some of the good work our colleagues are doing in the field with a condensed resource guide.

Which makes me wonder: Has anyone designed an app for this yet?

Arts Education Listservs: Two of my favorites are Kristen Engrebretson’s Arts Education Roundup from Americans for the Arts (an exclusive benefit of membership – join here or ask to be added to the arts education listserv if you are a member), and Arts Education Partnership’s ArtsEd Digest. The Center for Arts Education, Education Week, and Public Education Network’s weekly NewsBlast are also great sources of information.

Blogs:  It seems everyone is writing a blog these days! Who should we be reading? Americans for the Arts’ ARTSBlog and Artsjournal.com are terrific resources. Richard Kessler’s Dewey21C and Art Education 2.0 are good ones too.

Websites: The buzz this year will continue to be about Common Core Standards. I recently attended a two-day professional development training about “Mapping to the Core” with curriculum expert Heidi Hayes Jacobs and her organization’s website, Curriculum 21, is a fantastic resource for education and technology including a free upcoming “Mapping to the Core” webinar series.

Others of note: The Association of Teaching Artists, TED Talks, The J. F. Kennedy Center’s ArtsEdge, and Quadrant Arts Education Research.

I also recently came across two “best of” articles that relate to the arts. Chris Unitt’s blog post and Hannah Rudman’s article highlight some of the great ways artists are using technology.

Anyone interested in a free eBook about arts assessment? Visual art teacher Jessica Balsley offers The Pocket Guide to Simple Art Assessments with a fully downloadable, 65-page version for $9. 

People: Here are some great resources in the form of arts education superheroes and their work–Eric Booth’s Everyday Arts, Russell Granet’s Arts Education Resource, Sir Ken Robinson (and his inspiring TED Talk), and Diane Ravitch’s book: The Death and Life of the Great American School System: How Testing and Choice Are Undermining Education.

Finally, I present must-attend events for the new year.

2012 Conferences/Events:

NYC Arts In Education Roundtable’s Face to Face Conference, February 22-23

AEP National Forum, April 12-13

National Arts Advocacy Day, Washington DC, April 16-17

Americans for the Arts Annual Convention, San Antonio, TX, June 8-10

National Guild For Community Arts Education, Dallas, TX, Nov 14-17

Feel free to add your own favorite resources in the comments below!

The official United States Marine Corps YouTube channel, MARINES TV, posted a video highlighting the fascinating role of combat artist Sgt. Shawn Sales, an instructor at the Defense Information School at Fort Meade, MD, how the work of combat artists impact the Marine Corps.

*Hat tip to the USMC and National Endowment for the Arts’ Twitter accounts for sharing the video this morning.

The first meeting of the Business Committee for the Arts, Inc.

When David Rockefeller, the CEO of Chase Bank, gathered business leaders together to form the Business Committee for the Arts (now a division of Americans for the Arts) he understood the important role of the arts in advancing business goals.

In this first speech, Rockefeller said, “From an economic standpoint, such involvement can mean direct and tangible benefits. It can provide a company with extensive publicity and advertising, a brighter public reputation, and an improved corporate image. It can build better customer relations, a readier acceptance of company products, and a superior appraisal of their quality. Promotion of the arts can improve morale of employees and help attract qualified personnel.”

David Rockefeller is not the only CEO who has understood that importance of partnering with the arts. Countless CEOs, HR managers, marketing executives, and corporate foundation officers have spoken about the benefits that have resulted from these partnerships.

Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Booz Allen Hamilton Ralph W. Schrader, said, “The arts inspire each of us in different ways, provoke thought, spur creativity, and connect us with one another in a shared experience. These are essential qualities of a strong and successful business as well.”

Honorary Chairman and Co-founder of H&R Block, Inc. Henry W. Bloch believes, “It is in the best interest of every business–no matter its size–to support the arts. Beyond their intrinsic value, the arts add to the economic vitality and quality of life of our communities. They also unleash creative ideas in and out of the workplace, foster dialogues, and increase understanding among people.”

However, there are too many business leaders who are unaware of the value of partnering with the arts.

We launched The pARTnership Movement to reach these business leaders in order to provide businesses and arts organizations with the information they need to form mutually beneficial partnerships with the arts.

By visiting the website, businesses and arts organizations alike can access information about the benefits of arts and business partnerships, examples of successful arts and business partnerships, and suggestions for how business leaders can take their partnership to the next level.

There are also advertisements that can be placed in business publications to reach field leaders with the message that partnering with the arts makes good business sense.

In the same speech I quoted earlier, David Rockefeller also said, “what a resounding acknowledgement this would be that the enhancement and development of the arts are worthy objectives for the exercise of corporate social responsibility. Too often the tendency is to regard the arts as something pleasant but peripheral. I feel the time has come when we must accord them a primary position as essential to the nation’s well-being.”

Although Rockefeller made that statement 45 years ago, Americans for the Arts continues to make that case in everything we do and it’s through new ventures like The pARTnership Movement that we demonstrate the impact of the arts on the lives of every American.