ARTSblog

Emily Peck

On Tuesday, the Metropolitan Museum named a new board chairman, Daniel Brodsky, managing director of the Brodsky Organization, a company that owns and manages apartments throughout Manhattan. As the board leader of a major NYC cultural destination, Brodsky understands the value of the arts to his city and his business.

When asked why CEOs of real estate companies are chairing the boards of many of the major NYC cultural institutions, Brodsky said in the New York Times that they were “’very concerned about the viability of the city,’ which cultural activity contributes to, ‘so there’s a logical reason for real estate people to be involved.’”  Read the rest of this entry »

Popularity: 10%

When considering that art is a universal language I think many of us may inadvertently dismiss the idea of how this relates to business.

But the tie between arts and growing global businesses is a strong one that has roots in community engagement, enhanced reputations for business, and the fact that the arts can cross over those drawn borders on maps.

A couple of weeks ago, two leaders in the fields of global markets and corporate social responsibility lent their expertise to a webinar hosted by The Conference Board, in partnership with Americans for the Arts, on the role of arts and culture in the success of global markets.  Read the rest of this entry »

Popularity: 12%

Sunoco volunteers helped paint three panels of a 42-panel mural as part of Philadelphia’s “This We Believe” city-wide mural project.

If I had to come up with a theme for the month of April, it would be the role of the arts in enhancing communities.

I spent time in Washington, DC, at our National Arts Advocacy Day on April 4-5, and then followed that with a trip to Philadelphia to attend the Council on Foundations annual conference and the U.S. Chamber’s Corporate Community Investment conference.

At all three of these events, arts and business leaders spoke about the important role the arts play in building strong and vibrant communities which leads to numerous benefits including attracting and retaining a strong workforce and enhanced civic engagement.  Read the rest of this entry »

Popularity: 11%

Randy Cohen

Editor’s Note: For a revised list of 10 REASONS TO SUPPORT THE ARTS IN 2012, head over to Randy’s latest ARTSblog post!

I was recently asked by a major biz leader for “10 reasons to support the arts.”

He needed the points to help him pull an 8-figure inve$tment for a new arts center…Make it compelling to government and business leaders, he asked.

Oh, yeah, he’s a busy guy—didn’t want a lot to read:  “Keep it to one page, please.”

So, apart from the 10-1 flip (and with apologies to David Letterman), this is what I delivered:

10. True prosperity…The arts are fundamental to our humanity. They ennoble and inspire us—fostering creativity, goodness, and beauty. They help us express our values, build bridges between cultures, and bring us together regardless of ethnicity, religion, or age. When times are tough, the arts are salve for the ache.

9. Stronger communities…University of Pennsylvania researchers have demonstrated that a high concentration of the arts in a city leads to higher civic engagement, more social cohesion, higher child welfare, and lower poverty rates. A vibrant arts community ensures that young people are not left to be raised solely in a pop culture and tabloid marketplace.   Read the rest of this entry »

Popularity: 100%

Lynne Kingsley

Though it’s a generally accepted concept that infusing 21st Century Skills into education for our nation’s students is vital for creating and maintaining a strong, globally competitive society, we, as a professional arts education field, are having a tough time letting go of 20th century habits.

What follows are three skills that come directly from the Partnership for 21st Century Skills Arts Map. I ask that we, as arts education professionals and managers, consider, “are we practicing what we teach?”

Collaboration:

Which one of us has not felt the pangs of anxiety (especially in such harsh budget times) in hearing news of project serving audiences similar to ours being funded or winning awards? Territorialism takes over and the tendency to work in silos to achieve more than our colleagues (or, cruder, competitors) lingers over us like a dark cloud of doom. Read the rest of this entry »

Popularity: 18%

Emily Peck

In 2008, if you were to talk about the auto industry, you’d probably talk about the emergency bailout from the federal government that impacted auto companies around the world.

The auto industry was struggling and as a result drastically pulling back their funding from the Detroit arts organizations that depended on this support.

These companies began looking for new ideas and they seemed to have found solutions through the arts. The new language coming out of the auto industry includes words like “creativity”, “innovation”, “design” and even “arts”…words that I’m sure most of us can get behind.

Here is just a sampling of ways the auto industry is showcasing the arts and being creative. Read the rest of this entry »

Popularity: 11%

Jeff Hawthorne

In another evolution of our partnership with Burgerville (see Burgers, Fries and the Arts), we here in Portland are gearing up to enjoy a guilt-free day of locally-grown fast food.

For every purchase on March 10, Burgerville will make a donation to Work for Art, our united arts fund, and we will be on hand in as many of the 39 locations as we can muster to greet restaurant-goers, and talk about the value of arts and culture in our community.

This is all a precursor to the employee giving campaign that will take place at Burgerville later this month, and reflects the company’s strong commitment to outdoing themselves for the arts each year.

For example, in 2008, the employees (many of whom are part-time) of this sustainable food chain donated almost $8,900 to their employee giving campaign for Work for Art. Just last year they raised almost $16,000 for Work for Art, and we’ll let you know how much they surpass that total this year by offering this special benefit day! Read the rest of this entry »

Popularity: 10%

During my career as Director of Bands for a high school, the need for advocacy and awareness for arts education became ever more prevalent as state-initiatives focused on standardized testing.

Wanting to do more on a larger level, I discovered there were opportunities in arts management beyond the classroom for preserving quality arts programming in our public schools.

Upon much self-reflection and consultation with friends and family, I moved to Washington to further my education in arts management. I knew that this career change would provide an opportunity where I could fulfill these new ambitions.

Career shifts are a difficult process for most people, and the ability to improve and expand upon one’s knowledge of a new field, on the fly, is imperative to maintain a competitive edge in the new industry one works for.

I hope by sharing my experiences in changing career paths from music education to arts management that you will gain some insight on how you too can survive your own career transitions. Read the rest of this entry »

Popularity: 15%

Catherine Brandt

The good people at Hyundai have generously offered to help Americans for the Arts in curing our nation’s Crampomitosis problem. Never heard of it?

Here’s how Hyundai describes the condition:

“Millions of compact car drivers are fighting against leg-buckling Crampomitosis, caused by a chronic lack of leg room. These choice-starved people have knees riddled with teeth marks, toes pointing in impossible directions, and seemingly no choice when it comes to a comfortable car to drive.”

Still wondering what in the world Crampomitosis has to do with Americans for the Arts? Let me explain. Clearly, Crampomitosis isn’t really a medical condition. It’s actually Hyundai’s way of giving back. Read the rest of this entry »

Popularity: 8%

Valerie Beaman

Kate Marquez, executive director of the Southern Arizona Arts & Cultural Alliance (SAACA), answered a few questions for me regarding her organization becoming the newest Business Committee for the Arts and her experiences working with the local business community to date.

Question: Your organization is a slightly different model from a lot of our local arts agencies. Can you share the work you do with festivals and business sponsorships?

Answer: SAACA is unique from other arts organizations, in that collaboration and partnerships stand at the forefront of all festivals and events. We also value and understand the link between the preservation of culture and art. If there’s a way to promote the arts, we do. Whether it’s through car shows, business partnerships or any other creative way, SAACA encompasses all forms of art and recognizes the subtle ways to bring art to the foreground in all we do. Read the rest of this entry »

Popularity: 11%

Robert L. Lynch

One of the largest arts audience activities of the year happened earlier this week. Thousands of artists from around the United States and throughout the world prepared for months for this single event on one night in February. It’s called the Super Bowl. Yes there was football, too and some pretty exciting football at that. But this is a televised sports event where no one leaves their seat during the commercials because they might miss some really cool, fun art. Graphic design, computer generated imagery, audio engineering, musical composition, actors, lyricists, script writers, musicians, lighting designers, dancers, fabricators of all kinds produce these tiny bits of theater we call advertising.

I’ve often heard–and even said–that the arts are America’s secret weapon in developing our communities and cities. But lately it’s clear that the secret is out because more and more mayors, community leaders and government officials are using the arts to transform communities. This theme played out in several of the ads on Sunday night. One wonderful piece showed the benefits that public art, performance halls, design, choral music, architecture, and cultural life in general can have in the animation of a downtown and for the image of an American city. This ad without the soundtrack could have been a video poster for our nation’s five thousand city arts commissions. The city turned out to be Detroit, and the spot featured Eminem, one of Motor City’s most renowned musicians. And the ad was for Chrysler. Read the rest of this entry »

Popularity: 14%

Wally Hurst

For businesses not supporting the arts, the survey revealed another truth: that businesses give where they have an existing relationship. These businesses have a relationship with another charity that has their attention – and their funds. How does an arts organization break into that circle? By doing what you’re already doing – and by doing it well, and by making sure the decision-makers at that company know about it. Keep asking nicely, and show them what they can achieve by supporting your program(s), and see where it goes. We asked one company for years to support us, and after a while a new management person with an interest in the arts convinced his boss to listen to us – and we now have a relationship with that company and its support. It’s a process of education and tenacity.

For businesses with limited resources, suggest smaller ways to help, such as a partial sponsorship. And for those with talents or materials that you need, suggest an in-kind gift. For instance, we have a local sandwich shop that we give a full-page ad in our program to every year. In return, they feed our actors for our school-day matinee days, about 4-5 times a year. We all win. Read the rest of this entry »

Popularity: 17%

Wally Hurst

The survey revealed many reasons that businesses do and do not support the arts. One of the main reasons given for support by business owners is that “it’s a good thing to do”. Those of us working in the arts know this, too – that is the reason many of us left other endeavors to work in the arts, often at a substantial cost personally.

To understand why businesses give to the arts is a clarion call for those of us in the arts to reach out to businesses and find out which of these reasons motivates them to support the arts in their community.

We as an arts community need to understand what it is that each business wants from our relationship with them – and then try our hardest to give it to them.

If they need recognition, give them as much as you can. Offer them plaques, employee nights, employee discount programs, advertising and public service announcements with their names all over them. When in doubt, ask them what they want. One of our sponsors likes to have their employees over for a holiday dinner and show. If that means we feed 90 people and give them free tickets for a show, that is what we do. If it means, on the other hand, that we only mention them in the posters and the front of the program and make their employees pay for their tickets, that is what we do. And if they want to be anonymous and just get a few comps, we do that too.

If they want to support educational initiatives, let them know all about your educational programs – and how they can sponsor them. All of us in the arts are teachers, and we are all responsible for at least the informal education of children and adults – and most of us have formal educational programs, too. Personally, I have found the “easiest sell” to business is the educational programs we have for young people. They all want to be associated with those programs, it seems. If we make our educational programs functional and attractive enough (publicity helps), businesses will be lining up to support them.

For businesses supporting the arts, the survey revealed another truth: that businesses give where they have an existing relationship. Read the rest of this entry »

Popularity: 17%

Emily Peck

In 1968, 7,000 companies were asked how much they give to the arts and why they give to the arts.  In the original BCA Survey of Business Support of the Arts which was conducted in partnership with the National Industrial Conference Board we learned that businesses give to the arts to improve corporate image, improve sales and services, aid employee recruitment, attract other industries to the area, encourage tourism and benefit employees, community and society.

Sound familiar?

In the current study, many of these same reasons still resonate with the business community.  79% of businesses say that the arts increase name recognition while 74% say that the arts offer networking opportunities and the potential to develop new business.  66% say that the arts stimulate creative thinking, problem solving and team building.  While half agree that arts support has the potential to increase their bottom line and slightly fewer believe that the arts can offer special benefits to their employees and that the arts can help recruit and retain employees. Read the rest of this entry »

Popularity: 17%

It’s great to see so much discussion around the purpose of arts in the workplace, and also watching people speak out on how creativity has affected their professional lives. Especially in these times it is important to remember that the arts help businesses and communities flourish.

As we’ve all been watching funding steadily decline, it is important to talk about how we can resolve this. I think it is important to look to companies that are leading by example, companies that understand the importance of keeping the arts in their giving guidelines through these tough times.

Devon Energy Corporation, located in Oklahoma City, OK, is a great example of this. Company wide there is a deep understanding of the benefits of the arts.  John Richels, president and CEO of Devon Energy Corporation said “Arts organizations play an important role in our communities. The arts inspire innovation, promote creativity and foster collaboration – all qualities that are also important in business.” This sentiment is felt through out the entire company, from employee volunteerism to work place giving campaigns and board leadership. Read the rest of this entry »

Popularity: 17%