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.


Alison Wade

Crowd-Sourced Philanthropy

Posted by Alison Wade, Jul 29, 2010 5 comments


Alison Wade

Whether or not you’re engage in social networking, there’s a good chance you have come across a crowd-sourced corporate philanthropy contest (such as Chase Community Giving, Pepsi Refresh, or the American Express Members’ Project) sometime in the last few months. These initiatives, in which companies award funding to the nonprofit or nonprofits that earn the most votes via Facebook, Twitter, or the company’s own website, are sparking discussion in nonprofit and philanthropy circles. Most recently, James Epstein-Reeves’ editorial in Forbes outlines the pros and cons of the crowd-sourced corporate philanthropy model. (The June 2010 issue of BCA News [.pdf 873 KB] also covered the topic.) So, what’s the consensus? Is the crowd-sourced philanthropy model the wave of the future?

In some ways, crowd-sourced philanthropy seems like a win-win for both companies and non-profits. For businesses, crowd-sourced philanthropy contests don’t simply promote positive brand recognition, but also stimulate consumer engagement (especially in examples such as American Express and Pepsi, where consumers/participants log on and vote for nonprofits in different rounds, meaning they will keep returning to the company’s website or Facebook page). On the nonprofit side, Epstein-Reeves points out that these contests help level the playing field by allowing nonprofits who previously may have been ineligible for corporate grants access to the funding and branding power gained from association with the corporation, as well as national recognition that typically does not come from the award of a more traditional grant.

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Liesel Fenner

Public Art: An Inherent Component of Creative Placemaking (from Arts Watch)

Posted by Liesel Fenner, Jul 28, 2010 0 comments


Liesel Fenner

Liesel Fenner

The National Endowment for the Arts Mayors’ Institute on City Design (MICD25) program recently awarded 21 grants totaling $3 million to support “creative placemaking projects that increase the livability of communities and help transform sites into lively, beautiful, and sustainable places with the arts at their core."

Substantial grant amounts of $25,000–$250,000 will address the budgets and scales at which communities are creating successful places where we live, work, and play. Many public art projects will be funded through the MICD25 grants including the City of Phoenix’s Gimme Shelter, a project within a larger work, Connected Oasis. Phoenix has an outstanding portfolio of public art projects many of which specifically address environmental issues. The recent 2010 Public Art Network Year in Review awards recognized Habitat by Christy Ten Eyck and Judeen Terrey, a garden habitat nourished by water from the Convention Center’s air conditioning systems.

Air conditioning—the panacea for the record-breaking heat much of the country has experienced this summer, however AC cannot always cool us as we navigate our daily routines. I have mapped out the shadiest routes to get to and from work. This summer’s weather has proven that cities must reduce the heat island effect of a rapidly changing climate. Thank you to the NEA for including sustainability as a goal in the MICD25 grant program! There is no better solution than public art and design to build sustainable creative places such as Gimme Shelter, which will provide shaded sidewalks, streets plazas, and open spaces.

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Michael R. Gagliardo

If You’re Interested in Future of String Music & Instruction, It’s Time to Make Some Noise

Posted by Michael R. Gagliardo, Jul 23, 2010 2 comments


Michael R. Gagliardo

Michael Gagliardo

In my last Green Paper post, I wrote about the cuts being made by the Culver County School System in Indiana.  The cuts, which were radical to say the least, were designed to save the strings program in the Culver County Schools.  They involved eliminating strings from instruments, having the school orchestras march at the halftime of football games, and having instrument repair work performed by state inmates in correctional facilities.  Outrageous.  But here’s the rub.

There is no Culver County, Indiana.  There is no town of Ford Creek.  Paul LaCosta, Bud Parker, and Beth Ann Pederson are fictional characters. The entire press release was a work of fiction.

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Michael R. Gagliardo

Following Up on the Half-Century Summit

Posted by Michael R. Gagliardo, Jul 23, 2010 0 comments


Michael R. Gagliardo

Mike Gagliardo

Mike Gagliardo

It’s now been almost a month since I attended my first Americans for the Arts Convention in Baltimore.  Sometimes it’s hard to put things into perspective immediately following an event.  So now that I’ve had some time to really take everything in and process it, I’ve made a few observations that I thought I might share.

I met a lot of interesting, knowledgeable people at the conference.  That’s certainly to be expected.  I think one thing that I missed, though, was the opportunity to talk directly to other artists – not just those in my field, but artists in general.  I’m in the category of individuals who are both practicing artists and managers of arts programs.  I’d love to talk to more people like me who face the daily challenges of balancing administration and artistic expression.  It’s tougher to juggle than you may think – sometimes you have to be the one to tell yourself no in regards to a project you’d really like to pursue.  The artist in you wants to move forward at all costs, as he sees the benefit to the program.  The administrator, however, is the one responsible for the money or the time or the facilities or all of the above, and often has to play the realist to the artist’s dreamer role.  It’s tough to manage, and I’d love to hear how my colleagues make it work in their situations.

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