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I’m Anne Katz, Director of Arts Wisconsin, Wisconsin’s arts service, advocacy and development organization, and your official blogger for the “Public Advocacy” track at the 2007 Americans for the Arts conference, and I have a confession to make: I didn’t actually attend any of the “Public Advocacy” sessions at the conference today.

I particfipated in the Putting Cultural Assets to Work: Strategies for Communities session in the morning, then had a private meeting about advocacy issues (so, ok, I did focus on advocacy, at least) with another conference attendee, and spent the final session of the afternoon participating in the “Arts Environmental Scan” discussion about AFTA’s planning process. I know that the final session of the day, The State Fiscal Landscape in Transition, was led by Stan Rosenberg, a great arts advocate and political leader from Massachusetts, so I’m sorry to have missed that. I know that tomorrow I will get to at least one of the sessions I am officially supposed to cover, so will be able to report on what I learn from that.

My feeling, though, is that all of the sessions at the conference are concerned with advocacy in some way, since it’s all about speaking up for and leading in the arts arena. No matter what session you attend, throughout the conference you, and all of us, are learning more about moving our local agendas, and the national agenda, forward.

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“You can’t solve a problem with the same consciousness that created it”

~ Albert Einstein

During Jerry Yositomi‘s (Meaning Matters, LLC) Leading with Limited Authority session on Friday afternoon, over 60 people reflected upon a time when we independently made an intentional change in ourselves or a project. In our positions, how do we maneuver leading those with authority that supersedes are own?

When people don’t know what to do, those charged to make changes in leadership are often resistant to innovation. We question our competency (is designing such a program financially feasible or are we educated enough about the decision at hand to make an informed decision?), capacity (is it realistic for us to challenge our leadership or is it even worth it?), values (both personal and professional/organizational), and confidence (although we want or need something to change, do we have the assurance that we’ll be willing to take responsibility for the outcome, whatever the case?).

Read the rest of this entry »

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If we arts administrators thought we had a herculean task before us, imagine the plight of the placard-carrying savior seeking to shepherd the lost to atone for their sins as we walked along the Freemont Street Experience tonight. Little did she know we (and by we I mean me) were quietly judging the Barbara Krueger-esque (minus the art) aesthetic of her sign as we craned our necks to watch the specially commissioned Jenny Holzer truisms live on the biggest screen on the globe (self proclaimed.) As a jaded, ex-New Yorker who now lives in LA it takes a lot to impress me and a multiple block long LED light display filled with a few minutes worth of Holzer’s truisms above head as the drunken gamblers stumbled along was just this side of transcendent. Thank you to all the Sinners who made that series of moments possible for me and the unwashed masses with their to-go cups.

Vegas, baby! Sin city, I wish her luck. Makes my work seem a little easier.

Meanwhile…back on The Strip…day one at the Flamingo, or really inside the flamingo. Read the rest of this entry »

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It’s the first day of the 2007 Americans for the Arts Convention! It’s hot in Las Vegas and although the Flamingo Hotel can be a little confusing, we’ve all managed to navigate our ways through the casinos, crowds, and mirrored hallways (they all look the same and seem to take you back to where you started!) to our respective sessions. Speaking of navigating through challenges and obstacles, I’ll be checking-in frequently to report back on my musings and reflections from Leadership Track sessions over the course of convention weekend. I’d like to share some thoughts on today’s Cultural Leadership session… Read the rest of this entry »

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So I decided to return to my hotel room to blog from bed.  Vegas is nothing if not exhausting, and I’ve already seen more fake bodies and drunken frat boys than one San Franciscan can handle. I suppose it’s fitting since rumor has it Vegas IS the new Hollywood.  This rumor might also explain the trash items found by one of my colleagues underneath her bed at the Flamingo.  Fortunately for me, the Flamingo and Harrah’s were booked by the time I got my act together to make a reservation so I’m reaping the benefits of a great Hotels.com deal at the Signature at MGM Grand.  Just a tip for your next trip to Vegas…

Anyhow, Risk and Reward is definitely the right theme for this conference.  It’s risky enough just negotiating the Flamingo casino floor to get to your workshop of choice.  But all and all, it’s the best kind of environment for an arts conference – chaotic, loud, unruly, fast, wildly varied in temperature, and challenging to navigate.  It makes you pay attention to where you are going (or staying) which is a fitting metaphor for the state of arts education (in case you haven’t had the opportunity to hear Eric Booth so eloquently speak to this yet).

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I recently asked members of the Emerging Leader and Student listservs which convention sessions, speakers, and events they were most excited about. Below are their responses.  Does their list match yours? Add a comment now!
NOTE: Registration for convention has closed, but we will be accepting on-site registrations in Vegas.
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I’m looking forward to hearing the Cirque du Soleil’s Creative Director speak.  I’m excited about the civic engagement and leadership sessions.  Since I registered so late, I did not have an opportunity to schedule myself for a tour.  Those sound awesome!!
-Janine Flores

I am interested in the following sessions…Especially the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” session on enterprise/earned income at arts nonprofits since currently I am writing my thesis on that topic!
Documentary – Class Act
Urban Arts: How Large Cities Get Creative
Innovative Models: Teaching Artists and Shared Values: An Approach to Building a Community of Arts Educators
Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell: Making Money Inside Nonprofits
Emerging Vision-An Intergenerational Exploration of Our Collective Future
Innovative Models: Changing New Orleans Communities through Arts Integration
~Marisa Catalina Casey (Marisa is one of five recipients of the Underserved Communities full convention scholarship)

Sir Ken Robinson–a great guru of arts and creativity in education, and a very engaging speaker!
~Anne Katz (Anne will be blogging the Public Advocacy Track at convention).

I’m most excited about the following sessions:
The Performing Arts Center of 2032
Out of the Box: Coaching Leaders toward Balance, Fulfillment and Success
Maps to the Future: Mentoring in the Arts
Emerging Vision
Arts Giving from Small Businesses
Trends in Foundation Giving
Trends in Corporate Giving
Advocacy in Action
I’m also excited to meet people and network.
~Brenda Lee Johnston, South Milwaukee Performing Arts Center

I am excited about many things.  I love the opportunity to connect with my colleagues, the emerging leaders in particular, and can’t wait for all the great leadership sessions, peer group meetings and the EL reception to meet up with the EL folks.  I am also tremendously excited about the great guest artists, but Jenny Holzer in particular.  I’m a huge fan of her work; in fact, back in my art history undergraduate days, I wrote about her in my culminating thesis.  And now I get to see her work first hand.  I know what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas, but I think we’re all going to come away with some great experiences and knowledge to bring back.
~Robin Iten Porter

After several hours of going through all the sessions, this is what I have come up with. Ugh, It’s so hard having to decide between so many good options! It’s like choosing between Double-Mint Chocolate or Rocky Road!
~Nicolle Gordillo (Nicole is a Summer Scholar at Americans for the Arts).

WARNING – shameless plug follows!
Mitch Menchaca and I are leading a convention session with Bill Moskin and Nancy Glaze on the last afternoon of the convention. Don’t leave the early, because you’ll miss out on the most lively discussion of the weekend!
The title of the session is Emerging Vision: An Intergenerational Exploration of our Collective Future.  We are going to bring many of our list serv conversations into one space to see what it means to our future when you link it all together.  Generational change, not-for-profit model, changing demographics, technology, professional development, attracting and retaining leaders and more, will provide greater insights, spark a dialogue, and hopefully lead us to develop some suggested strategies to move forward.  Bill and Nancy have actually just finished a related Monograph that you can purchase at the convention as soon as you check in. It’s a great read that helps provide further context for the session.  We hope to see you there!
~Jennifer Armstrong

Putting Cultural Assets to Work
Fostering Cultural Citizenship — How Can snd Should We Support the “Informal” Arts?
Arts and Econ Impact III
Econ Revitalization in the Northeast
Emerging Arts Leaders morning meeting
Future of Private Sector giving to the Arts
Artist Fellowships: Values and Vision
How to work effectively with your Local Government
Nontraditional sources of Federal Arts Funding
New Executive Directors
Making Money inside Nonprofit Organizations
~Nat May (Nat is one of five recipients of the Emerging Leader full convention scholarship)

I’m really excited about attending Dave Hickey and Rha Goddess’s sessions. Also excited about the Emerging Leaders Recption since this is my first convention and I’m looking forward to meeting some other individuals on the listserv.
~Jessica Thompson

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Annual Convention Advance Registration Cut-Off is Today!
Today is the last day to register in advance for Risk and Reward: Balancing Acts in Arts and Community, the Americans for Arts Annual Convention in Las Vegas, June 1-3, 2007.

Several of our speakers and activities at convention have been in the news recently:

New Hampshire Putting New Color into the Primary
This article highlights ArtsVoteNH, a partnership between New Hampshire Citizens for the Arts and the Americans for the Arts Action Fund, intended both to help candidates state their positions on the arts and humanities and to help voters learn those positions. “Our country, during the past three years, has exercised its communications primarily in some areas through military means, and through political and diplomatic means, and we’ve been sending out rough signals that the world has difficulty interpreting,” said Glen Swanson of Peterborough, who helped create the initiative and just stepped down as the New Hampshire Citizens for the Arts’ president. “One way to get across the true message of what America is all about is through the arts and humanities, and therefore we should put the arts and humanities up on top as far as the future of America.”

At the Americans for the Arts Action Fund Member Reception scheduled for the afternoon of Saturday, June 2 at the convention, Arts Action Fund Executive Director Nina Ozlu, will give details on ArtsVote2008, the Arts Action Fund’s latest initiative to impact the 2008 Presidential elections. The Americans for the Arts Action Fund was created for citizens and organizations who want to help advance the arts politically in America.

Other headlines:

• Public Artist Katie Salen discusses OneNature commissioned by Americans for the Arts for the Las Vegas convention
• Public Advocacy Innovator Mathew Gross featured in Forbes article on political blogging
  
• Houston Chronicle highlights findings from National Arts Policy Roundtable on arts philanthropy; NAPR findings detailed at convention session on Saturday June 2.

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One of the highlights of the Americans for the Arts 2007 Annual Convention is the national release of Arts & Economic Prosperity III, our third study of the nonprofit arts and culture industry’s impact on the nation’s economy. These studies are the most potent and oft-cited advocacy tool used to justify public and private sector support to nonprofit arts organizations. This new study is our largest ever, featuring findings from 156 study regions (116 cities and counties, 35 multicounty regions, and 5 statewide studies). Data were collected from a remarkable 6,080 nonprofit arts and culture organizations and 94,478 of their attendees across all 50 states and the District of Columbia.

A series of release events and publications are planned for the upcoming months, and a few key dates are listed below. I will be traveling to many partner communities to help promote their local findings. Keep checking ArtsBlog throughout the summer months for tales of my trips “On the Road to Prosperity, and entries featuring the great efforts of our partner communities as they release their AEPIII findings!

Dates to Remember

• Tuesday, May 22, 10:00 a.m. ET is the release of the national economic impact findings to the media.
• A Congressional Briefing will also take place on Capitol Hill on May 22.
• Friday, June 1, is a plenary session about the study at our Las Vegas conference that focuses on the national data.
• Wednesday, June 6, the 156 local studies will be released at a press conference and policy forum in Chicago.

There are many national, statewide, and local events and publication opportunities that follow in the ensuing months. Email research@artsusa.org to see if any AEPIII events are planned in your community, or if you’d like to schedule an event!

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We at Americans for the Arts are having some fun about the office getting really excited about heading to Las Vegas for the Risk & Reward Annual Convention , so we started to kick around a list of “must see Vegas movies” to watch between now and the end of the month. Of course “Lucky You” is currently showing in a theater near you, but maybe you want to rent some of the movies below  {in no particular order….}

If the list below gets you excited, you will want to make sure you are registered for Convention before it closes this Friday, May 18.

• Casino. (1995). Robert DeNiro, Sharon Stone, Joe Pesci. Martin Scorcese (Dir.) 
• The Cooler. (2003). William H. Macy, Alec Baldwin
• Viva Las Vegas. (1964). Elvis Presley. Gotta see The King in Vegas!
• Read the rest of this entry »

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The countdown to National Arts and Humanities Month (NAHM) 2007 has begun. Americans for the Arts is the online portal for arts organizations celebrating NAHM in their communities this October.

ArtsBlog and the NAHM online toolkit will provide you with up-to-date information, as well as tips and ideas on how you can take part in the only nation-wide celebration of the arts and humanities. Visitors to the website will be able to share their local activities on the national events Read the rest of this entry »

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Welcome to the launch of ArtsBlog and ArtCast.  ArtsBlog is the blog of Americans for the Arts and will feature posts by various staff members of Americans for the Arts as well as outside experts.  It is our hope that ArtsBlog will be a source of valued information and a home for important discussions.  Comments and questions on ArtsBlog are both welcomed and encouraged.

ArtCast is a monthly podcast produced by Americans for the Arts featuring Robert L. Lynch, President and CEO. To listen to ArtCast, click the play button below.

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