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.


Scott Provancher

The Arts Innovation Challenge

Posted by Scott Provancher, May 19, 2011 0 comments


Scott Provancher

Scott Provancher

Why is it so rare to find successful examples of innovation and entrepreneurism in the arts industry in America? The arts industry, after all, is filled with creative individuals who are working in a country that idolizes the lone entrepreneur business leader (Steve Jobs, Bill Gates, Mark Zuckerberg, etc…).

After watching this video about Google Art Project and realizing disruptive innovations that could change the way we experience art are not coming from the arts industry, but from for-profit technology companies, I began searching for answers.

Though we often like to believe innovative ideas that turn into successful businesses or products happen from a solitary “eureka” in one person’s head, the fact is that they usually don’t. Organizations and individuals who successfully produce game-changing innovations have very disciplined approaches to nurture creative ideas, assemble the right minds to develop them, put the necessary financial resources behind them, and most importantly are comfortable with taking risks. 

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Adam Huttler

Stop Pretending You’re an Accountant

Posted by Adam Huttler, May 19, 2011 5 comments


Adam Huttler

Adam Huttler

For decades now, the conventional wisdom has been practically knee-jerk: if you want to do your own thing in the arts, the first step is to start a 501(c)(3) corporation. I’m not sure this was ever good advice, but I’m positive it’s lousy today.

Don’t get me wrong: the 501(c)(3) model is a great choice if there are visions of marble columns dancing in your head. That’s because the rules and regulations on tax-exempt organizations are predicated on the archetype of a perpetual, quasi-public institution. Like all corporations, 501(c)(3)s by default are immortal; they are designed and expected to outlive the participation of their founders and are difficult to shutdown. Moreover, federal and state-level charity regulations are complex and onerous but generally pretty effective at preventing (or at least mitigating) abuses of the public trust. 

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Rebecca Novick

What is Your Community Benefit?

Posted by Rebecca Novick, May 19, 2011 0 comments


Rebecca Novick

Rebecca Novick

The reason for the tax break for nonprofits is that nonprofits are meant to provide a “community benefit."

When you apply for nonprofit status, the forms you have to fill out include making a case that the benefit you will provide (often expressed in your mission statement) is worth the state letting go of your potential tax revenue.

If you’re starting a homeless shelter, it’s pretty obvious that it is (“lessening the burden of government” is explicitly listed in the IRS guidelines for exempt purposes). But what about your small theater company? Your chamber ensemble? Your single-choreographer dance company? What are you explicitly doing to (more from the IRS language) relieve the poor and distressed, advance education, and combat community deterioration?

Does art in general help achieve these aims? 

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Christy Bolingbroke

New Tricks for Old Dogs

Posted by Christy Bolingbroke, May 19, 2011 0 comments


Christy Bolingbroke

(This title and entry is not meant to insult any one artist, institution, or dog.)

From my perspective, many artists originally incorporated because they saw other people doing it; other people getting grant monies to support their work and determining 501(c)(3) must be the way to go. These same artists somehow persevered, endured, and/or emerged as institutions thirty or forty years later and feel the nonprofit ball-and-chain is something that somehow happened to them. Is this need for alternative models a real issue or is it a midlife crisis for the incorporated arts field? 

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Mr. Salvador Acevedo

Diversifying Your Audiences: the Financial Argument

Posted by Mr. Salvador Acevedo, May 19, 2011 0 comments


Mr. Salvador Acevedo

It is not only the fact that audience participation is decreasing among typical audiences, it is also that there are less people who fit that profile in our societies.

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