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.


Americans for the Arts

Emerging Leader Survey Results – What do they Mean to You?

Posted by Americans for the Arts, Apr 27, 2010 1 comment


Americans for the Arts

by Emily Spruill and Stephanie Evans

As the Americans for the Arts’ Emerging Leaders Council started to develop our focus for the coming years, we kept asking ourselves, who is our audience?  What do they need?  So before we start assuming how we can help emerging leaders, we decided to ask you.  The Emerging Leaders Council spent 2009 drafting the questions for an Emerging Leaders Network Field Survey.  By January 2010, 554 of you had let us know about yourself and what’s on your mind.

The survey confirmed a lot of what we thought to be true:  Most of you are very active in seeking out professional development – either within your community or at national convenings.  The majority of you (over 75%) are also very involved with advocating for the arts at the local and/or national level.

While the survey results indicate that emerging arts leaders want and need professional development, only 31% of you indicated that there is a budget line for professional development in your organization’s budget. It is clear that organizational support for employee’s professional development has been reduced or eliminated entirely in 2009/2010 budgets.

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Michael R. Gagliardo

The Deal Breaker

Posted by Michael R. Gagliardo, Apr 22, 2010 0 comments


Michael R. Gagliardo

Today I took about 60 fourth, fifth, and sixth graders to hear a performance by the Alabama Symphony Orchestra.  For most of these students, it was the first time they had ever heard a live performance by a symphony orchestra – for some of them it may be have been the first time they had heard a symphony orchestra AT ALL.  The funny thing is, they’re all string players.  They are all a part of our in-school string program, and they’ve all been playing for at least seven months.  But if it weren’t for today’s performance, they may have gone through their two years of string classes without ever hearing an orchestra perform. 

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Timarie Harrigan

Volunteer this Year (from Arts Watch)

Posted by Timarie Harrigan, Apr 21, 2010 0 comments


Timarie Harrigan

Just last week, Independent Sector released the estimated value of a volunteer hour in 2009. What’s an average hour of our volunteer time worth? $20.85 in 2009, up from $20.25 in 2008. And according to the Corporation for National and Community Service, volunteers across the country spent 8 billion hours volunteering in 2008. That’s $162 billion worth of volunteer time! Now those are some impressive numbers but I have a feeling we can make 2010 count even more.

 The release of these figures was a great way to kick off National Volunteer Week, which runs April 18-24. National Volunteer Week is a signature event of Points of Light Institute which celebrates all those across the nation that volunteer to improve our communities.

Last night in Washington, DC, Points of Light Institute and Service Nation held “Inspire…Serve…Solve,” a reception to celebrate the accomplishments of the national and community service movement. Today, ServiceNation held a Leadership Luncheon and Solution Sessions. These important events were backed by major businesses from around the country including Bank of America, Gap Inc., and Target. Not only do these companies value volunteering, they are also huge supporters of the arts.

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