Blog Posts for Annual Convention

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.


Ms. Caryn Cooper

Building Creative Communities Through the Arts and…

Posted by Ms. Caryn Cooper, Jun 23, 2016 0 comments


Ms. Caryn Cooper

In 2015, Americans for the Arts launched a two-year program to explore the role the arts can play in partnership with other sectors to create healthy, vibrant, and equitable communities. The New Community Visions Initiative seeks to work with our institutional systems to find points of intersection to address arts impact in our communities. 

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Abe Flores

Resilient Arts Leadership from the Inside Out: The Arts Leaders Showing Us How

Posted by Abe Flores, Apr 25, 2016 0 comments


Abe Flores

Welcome to the annual Emerging Arts Leaders Blog Salon!  We asked over a dozen emerging leaders to reflect and respond to this year’s Arts Leadership Preconference theme: “Impact without Burnout: Resilient Arts Leadership from the Inside Out”. In the coming days you will read about the work of some of these leaders and their advice to the field.

To kick things off, I asked Beth Kanter, the lead facilitator and curator for this year’s Arts Leadership Preconference, four questions to help us define and better understand the concepts behind resilient leadership.

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Mr. Clayton W. Lord

AFTACON Keynote Speech: Remarks by Donna Brazile

Posted by Mr. Clayton W. Lord, Jun 23, 2016 0 comments


Mr. Clayton W. Lord

Donna Brazile, vice chairman of the Democratic National Committee and prominent political strategist, gave a keynote speech at our 2016 Annual Convention on the volatile politics we’re living with, and the vital role of the arts and arts education.

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Mr. Adam Fong

How does cultural identity impact arts leadership?

Posted by Mr. Adam Fong, Apr 25, 2016 0 comments


Mr. Adam Fong

How does cultural identity impact arts leadership?

“We really need someone who’s more out front, who relishes the spotlight, who can shake the hands and kiss the babies.” (A major donor)

Let us picture the figurehead of an organization. The lighting rod. The glad-handing executive, the creative dynamo, the visionary. The confident and outspoken advocate with the answers. Is that what we want from a leader? Can that be anyone, any gender, any age (within reason), any race? Can it be a senior black woman? A young disabled veteran? Can that be a third-generation Asian-American, like me?

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Ms. Flora Maria Garcia

#OrlandoUnited

Posted by Ms. Flora Maria Garcia, Jun 27, 2016 0 comments


Ms. Flora Maria Garcia

It was with conflicting emotions that I flew to Boston last Thursday to accept AFTA’s 2016 Michael Newton Award in the aftermath of the horrific tragedy in Orlando at the Pulse night club, the cornerstone of the LGBTQ community. Three reasons propelled me to move forward from a state of shock and pervasive, deep, emotional pain.

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Ms. Serena Johnson

The Importance of Organizations Investing in their Emerging Leaders

Posted by Ms. Serena Johnson, Apr 25, 2016 3 comments


Ms. Serena Johnson

“You need to pay your dues.”

This statement has always hit a nerve with me. Not because I don’t believe there is some truth to it, but because I believe that it focuses on a problem and not a solution. This often means that the task of “paying one’s dues”, which can be defined as “you need more experience,” is forced upon the emerging leader with no assistance and no direction provided. Decision making is for those with experience, for valid reasons, but what I question is how organizations help provide that much-needed experience to their emerging leaders.

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