Thank you to the many people who have been blog contributors to, and readers of ArtsBlog over the years. ArtsBlog has long been a space where we uplifted stories from the field that demonstrated how the arts strengthen our communities socially, educationally, and economically; where trends and issues and controversies were called out; and advocacy tools were provided to help you make the case for more arts funding and favorable arts policies.

As part of Americans for the Arts’ recent Strategic Realignment Process, we were asked to evaluate our storytelling communications platforms and evolve the way we share content. As a result, we launched the Designing Our Destiny portal to explore new ways of telling stories and sharing information, one that is consistent with our longtime practice of, “No numbers without a story, and no stories without a number.”

As we put our energy into developing this platform and reevaluate our communications strategies, we have put ArtsBlog on hold. That is, you can read past blog posts, but we are not posting new ones. You can look to the Designing Our Destiny portal and our news items feed on the Americans for the Arts website for stories you would have seen in ArtsBlog in the past.

ArtsBlog will remain online through this year as we determine the best way to archive this valuable resource and the knowledge you’ve shared here.

As ever, we are grateful for your participation in ArtsBlog and thank you for your work in advancing the arts. It is important, and you are important for doing it.


Mike Latvis

Should states be funding the arts?

Posted by Mike Latvis, May 04, 2010 1 comment


Mike Latvis

Last week I listened in on a radio interview on WNYC in New York that dove into whether or not states should be funding the arts. The interview featured Nina Ozlu-Tunceli, chief counsel of government and public affairs at Americans for the Arts, and Nick Gillespie, editor in chief of Reason.com and Reason.tv.

To listen to the full interview please click here - http://beta.wnyc.org/shows/soundcheck/2010/apr/27/

While I’ll spare you all from my personal opinions on the interview, I will say that it sparked some interest about messaging. In the interview you hear Nina talk about the national economic impact, how grant dollars leverage increased investment, as well as how grant funding helps provide affordable access to the arts for citizens.

Nina did a great job of putting forth the national argument but, my question to all of you is: What is your argument in support of arts funding? If you were in an elevator with the chair of your state’s appropriations committee, what would you say?

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Joanna Chin

Begin as you mean to go on…

Posted by Joanna Chin, Apr 30, 2010 1 comment


Joanna Chin

In setting the tone and structure of my posts about the future of community arts, I want stress how important your thoughts are in fueling discussion by building off of Alie Wickham’s immediate response to the Future of Community Development in the Arts Green Paper, which said:

I’m responding to the line after this, “What do you think?” According to many of the “tips” I read in the paper, I believe many of them will continue to stay constant and true – their context will adapt according to the time we are living in. However, I feel it would be highly interesting to bring up the point that it wouldn’t hurt for each of us to help our prospective organizations to develop similar tips for each of our fields that we believe will stay MOST constant and true. Not only will these tips include long and short-term goals – something the green paper emphasized in one tip – but goals that will continue to stay true and relevant in the present and future. More than likely, these tips will develop from comparing there relevance to the past, as well.

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Leslie Ito

City as a Stage: Placemaking for the Performing Arts

Posted by Leslie Ito, Apr 30, 2010 0 comments


Leslie Ito

Yesterday I attended the “City as a Stage: Placemaking for the Performing Arts” convening presented by the Music Center/Performing Arts Center of Los Angeles County.  This was the second gathering in a series of three using arts and culture as a lens for re-imagining cities.  A cross-disciplinary group of civic, economic, health and philanthropic leaders gather to craft a new interpretation of urban vitality for the next decade.

Two wonderful examples of the “city as stage” were given: Barnaby Evans’ Waterfire, a series of 100 bonfires that burn on the surface of three rivers in downtown Providence and are accompanied by live music and performance on a biweekly basis from April through October. On the other coast, the Los Angeles County Music Center’s Active Arts Program takes a “do-it-yourself” approach with dance, instrumental and vocal music, and storytelling programs on the plaza where participants actively engage in these art forms.  Both projects move the arts out of the four walls and stages of performing arts centers and more importantly reclaim public space—in these two cases, the streets of downtown Providence and the plaza of the Los Angeles County Music Center and democratize participation in the arts.

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Michael R. Gagliardo

Everyone is involved. Everyone is engaged.

Posted by Michael R. Gagliardo, Apr 30, 2010 0 comments


Michael R. Gagliardo

I’m sitting in the auditorium at Cullman High School in Cullman, Alabama, while over 100 middle and high school musicians rehearse on stage.  There are wind, brass, and percussion players; a full choir; drums, guitar, and bass; and of course, the string section.  Right now Mark Wood, formerly of the Trans-Siberian Orchestra, and Laura Kaye are putting the group though its paces.  They are cranking out an energetic version of “Born to Be Wild,” the piece that will close the first half of tonight’s performance.  Everyone is involved.  Everyone is engaged. 

I’m here because the orchestra director at Cullman Middle and High Schools asked me to bring my students to help support her young orchestra program.  We have worked with Mark several times in the past, and we always have a great time performing with him.  When we received the call, we jumped at the opportunity.  In the process, our musicians have had the opportunity to meet other players who share the common interest - a love of making music.  At the end of the night, when the final chord has sounded, and the thunderous applause had faded, my students will have met new friends, new connections, who share this common bond. 

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