ARTSblog

Today, Americans for the Arts released our new National Arts Index at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C.  This report represents a major milestone for arts in America. Never before has there been a single and annually produced measure of the health and vitality of the arts in America. 

While new for the arts, we interact with indicators daily. If you want to know about the stock market, you check the Dow-Jones Index.  Are we optimistic about the economy? Track the Conference Board’s Consumer Confidence Index. Indicators are broad measures that compress a lot of data into a single indicator. 

The National Arts Index is an annual measure that uses 76 equal-weighted, national-level indicators of arts activity-making it one of the largest data sets about the arts industries ever assembled.  This new report covers an 11-year period, from 1998 to 2008. 

The 2008 National Arts Index score is 98.4-down 4.2 points from its 2007 score of 102.6 (2003=100). A score of 105.5 would return the Index to its highest point, measured in 1999. While the arts industries in the U.S. have become increasingly creative and the number of working artists and arts organizations is growing, audience demand has failed to keep pace-causing the National Arts Index to drop to its lowest level in the 11 years we’ve tracked. 

The overall Index score is only one of the big stories in this report.  Read the rest of this entry »

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Since everyone else is talking about Avatar, we may as well continue the conversation in Arts Watch and on ARTSblog.

I saw the movie in IMAX 3-D on New Year’s Day, along with what seemed like the entire Washington, DC metro area. 

We bought our tickets two days ahead of time, and arrived at the theater two hours early to get in line for our seats. When we arrived at the theater, flashing signs indicated that the movie was sold out for the next three days. It’s been a long time since I’ve ever seen this much hype around a movie. The hype, in my opinion, is well-deserved.

I woke up Monday morning to the news that after the weekend, Avatar had already exceeded over $1 billion in box office sales.  Talk about economic impact.

The movie was made using the digital 3-D Fusion Camera System, co-developed by Director James Cameron. All of this new filming technology got me wondering:  If we didn’t have art in schools, communities, or non-profit arts organizations, could this movie have been made? Read the rest of this entry »

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Podcast: Download (0.0KB)

Bob Lynch, President and CEO of Americans for the Arts, discusses his recent participation in a symposium at Princeton University entitled “The Arts and the Economic Crisis.”  The symposium hosted a number of well-known names like Philip Seymour Hoffman, Peter Sellers, and Toni Morrison among many others.  In this ArtCast, he focuses on the discussion of how different arts organizations, from nonprofit arts to for-profit arts organizations, are dealing with the downturn in the economy.

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The NEA is inviting the public to watch a live webcast on Friday, November 20, 2009, about America’s artists and other cultural workers who are part of this country’s real economy.  Some of the topics the panelists will speak about include Artist Labor Markets, Artists and the Economic Recession, Artists in the Greater Economy, and a number of other important arts research and information topics.  For more information click here, and to watch this live webcast tomorrow from 9:00 am-4:00 pm, visit www.arts.gov.

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The 51st Annual Meeting of the National Association of Business Economics (NABE) is taking place this coming weekend in St. Louis. If you think this might be an unusual place to be rewarding artistic excellence along with business and economic acumen, think again.

Sharing the awards spotlight with venerable economist Dr. Larry Summers, director of the National Economic Council, who will receive the Adam Smith Award. Dr. Summers will be justifiably honored for his “leadership in the profession and the use of ideas and knowledge in the workplace and policy arena.” As a main member of the Obama team whose mandate is to help guide the country out from under the crippling effects of a deep recession, we are counting on his innovativeness and leadership skills.

While Dr. Summers will be honored as the distinguished leader that he is, Allison Elder and Kyle Clifford O’Brien will be recognized as the leaders they promise to be. Read the rest of this entry »

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In the arts, we have a reputation to maintain as outside-of-the box, unique, spontaneous, wild and imaginative people. These blogs are filled with the joy and truth of learning, and of learning creatively. We are filling the internet with optimism and passion.

Parents have advocated for rich curricula, they have spent hundreds (or thousands) of dollars on dance costumes, they have walked around the house for years with cotton in their ears during tuba practice, they have been charmed by indescribable ceramic gifts, they have encouraged this behavior. Their children are thinkers and they are off to college and careers.

But, what are we doing at the other end of the journey?

As noted in the NEA study Artists in the Workforce (June 2008), there are two million trained, entrepreneurial working artists across the country who are assets to their communities. Representing 1.4 percent of the U.S. labor force, artists constitute a sizeable class of workers –only slightly smaller than the total number of active-duty and reserve personnel in the U.S. military (2.2 million). Read the rest of this entry »

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With so much in the news about the faltering economy, it’s sometimes hard to find stories about positive change still happening in communities around us. There’s a really wonderful story about the rebirth of the town of Ben Wheeler, Texas on Art&Seek–a website of KERA public media in North Texas. A local man named Brooks Gremmels has started to transform a town that was dying into a vibrant artist colony. He’s formed a 501(c)3 and development company and is renting store fronts to artists for $1 a month. The story is here.

Tell us about projects in your local area where the arts are helping build community.

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Podcast: Download (Duration: 9:07 — 8.3MB)

Marty Ronish, producer of the BP Chicago Symphony Orchestra broadcasts and blogger for Scanning the Dial, joined us in Seattle for the 2009 Annual Convention.

In this segment, Marty speaks with arts leaders on the topic of how the arts can provide creative solutions in challenging economic times. Interviewed participants include: Bill Ivey, former Chair of the National Endowment for the Arts and member of the Obama transition team; Bill O’Brien, Deputy Chairman for Grants and Awards at the National Endowment for the Arts; and Robert Lynch, President & CEO of Americans for the Arts.

To request a transcript of this interview, please contact Marty at mronish@flash.net.

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Just as in the U.S., the arts in Ireland are facing hard times due to a downturn in the economy. Those working in the arts in Ireland also represent a sizeable percentage of the workforce, almost as many people as work in the Information and Communications Technologies field. Artists and arts organizations it seems, however, are hesitant to criticize the donors and politicians who fund many of their activities. In an article from the Irish Times, this author makes the argument that not only are jobs and the creative economy an important reason to keep, and increase, funding for the arts in Ireland, but that culture is a powerful tool of perception. “Culture, in other words, is powerful. Culture is America’s biggest export to the world, and it defines how the rest of the world perceives America, just as our culture defines how it sees us.”

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Earlier I wrote about some of the discouraging news coming out of the latest philanthropic research, but there are some glimmers of hope as well, and significant fundraising accomplishments are being achieved every day. Several United Arts Funds across the country are coming out with encouraging news about their annual campaigns, and today we learned that Oregon Ballet Theater in Portland, which three weeks ago announced a critical need to raise $750,000 by June 30 or else close its doors, has not only met its goal but significantly exceeded it. They’ve raised $853,000 and the donations are still coming in — which is good because the company still has a $1 million deficit that it needs to fix.  You can read about how they did it, along with all of the back story, here.

Many arts groups in trouble have debated whether to go public with an urgent request, and the pros and cons of doing so, and if so, when?  Here’s one example where the timing — and the community’s response — seems to have been just right. Are there other stellar examples to share?

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One of the things I’m most excited to use this space for is to highlight wins. My most recent post here was ages ago and many of you offered comments, notes and feedback on what is working for you.

Art School in Los Angeles

This post is inspired by one such comment by Celia Castellanos in East Los Angeles.

Today I am proud to highlight and focus attention on a remarkable accomplishment taking place in a city that I feel is easily misunderstood.

From the outside LA is easy to see as an urban sprawl of endless strip malls and continual consumerism. But when you are here long enough, or fortunate enough to have a seasoned cultural guide the landscape takes on a whole new dimension.

There are many unmarked diamonds hidden beneath and behind all the common diorama. It’s okay if you don’t believe me. I hated this place when I moved here. Because I was ignorant. My favorite “curated guide to Los Angeles” lives at Kristin’s List.

But I digress.

Read the rest of this entry »

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We’ve all heard the bad news. According to The Conference Board, corporate giving is expected to be down 41 percent in 2009, with arts giving taking the brunt of the cuts. Many companies are cutting back their arts support or cutting their programs completely. Americans for the Arts estimates that 10,000 nonprofits will close their doors this year as a result of the economic situation.

However, it is not all bad news. Led by President Obama’s call to service and a desire at companies to give back to their communities and engage employees, volunteerism has gained momentum. 45 percent of companies surveyed by The Conference Board are increasing volunteer resources in 2009—the biggest increase of any program area.  Volunteering is beneficial to companies because it aids in recruitment, retention, and engagement—all key areas for businesses trying to navigate through a treacherous economic landscape.  Arts organizations also benefit from the addition of skills and resources that they would not otherwise be able to afford.

A volunteer management consulting service like Business Volunteers for the Arts (BVA), a program of Americans for the Arts, can greatly increase the mutual success of both the volunteer and nonprofit experience. BVA assesses capacity and needs of a nonprofit and then carefully matches a business volunteer’s skills with these needs. This program can be hosted by a local arts agency, united arts funds, Business Committees for the Arts, or Arts & Business Councils.

BVA has proven results. Between 2003 and 2007, more than 7,200 BVAs have been involved in the program nationwide. During those years, 64,443 hours have been donated to the arts. At the hourly consulting rate of $160 per hour, donated services add up to $10,310,920. At a time when each dollar is carefully accounted for, 10 million dollars of donated time adds up to a lot of value.

Even when corporations can’t provide sponsorship or grants, they can still retain their relationship with the arts in a way that is good for everyone.

Have you ever worked with business volunteers? How were they able to help you or your organization?

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Every day it seems like another corporation is planning layoffs.  The employees who keep their jobs are often stressed, overworked and their morale is low.  Businesses are left wondering how they can get out of this recession when they are struggling to do more with fewer resources.  This is where the arts can play an important role by improving employee morale, encouraging creativity and, as a result, improving the bottom line.

U.S. employers rate creativity/innovation as one of the top five skills that will increase in importance in the next five years and they rank creativity/innovation as one of the top ten challenges they will face in the next ten years according to research from the Conference Board. CEOs view participation in the arts as one of the top indicators of employee creativity and innovation.  Whether it’s a performance in the workplace, an opportunity to volunteer at an arts festival, company tickets to a symphony or an employee art exhibition, the arts can stimulate innovation and creativity. Read the rest of this entry »

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By guest blogger Merryl Goldberg

When I read that my particular profession was singled out (with a few other unlucky professions), in an amendment to the stimulus bill, I was reminded of the discrimination I knew  growing up Jewish in the 60s.  One night my parents came home ecstatic that they had won a raffle to play a round of golf at a club that didn’t let in Jews.  Very soon after they cashed in the raffle, invited other Jewish friends and after playing 17 holes of golf, they danced an enthusiastic hora on the 18th hole.  This memory came back to me as I read the news of the Tom Coburn amendment that bars stimulus funding from going to casinos, aquariums, zoos, golf courses and swimming pools, museums, arts centers, theaters, highway beautification projects, stadiums and parks. Read the rest of this entry »

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Podcast: Download (4.2MB)

Bob Lynch, President and CEO of Americans for the Arts, discusses his hopes for the incoming Obama administration with respect to arts support and the use of the arts throughout different facets of the national government.  He specifically addresses the National Endowment for the Arts, international cultural exchanges, and the need for an Artist-Museum Partnership Act.

ArtCast related resources:

• The Arts and National Economic Recovery
• Barack Obama arts platform
• National Endowment for the Arts
• International cultural exchanges
• Artists’ fair-market value deduction bills

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