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.


Joshua Russell

Leadership is About Opportunity

Posted by Joshua Russell, Apr 06, 2010 1 comment


Joshua Russell

Josh Russell

Roughly 2.5 years ago, a group of younger arts professionals decided that the impending crisis of readiness of leaders in the arts was an issue we needed to get involved in. So, we formed a steering committee and created genARTS Silicon Valley to help prepare emerging arts professionals to step into leadership roles in the arts. As is the case with groups like this, we knew what the vision was but we felt getting the right people at the table was the most important way to begin.

Over the course of the first couple of years, we have explored different ways and opportunities to support emerging leaders and their path to leadership. We have convened strategic conversations with our peers, launched a mentorship program and have partnered with other networks to expand our reach and enable networking opportunities within our sphere as well as beyond it. But I have recently had an epiphany.

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Jeanne Sakamoto

The Next Generation of Arts Leadership

Posted by Jeanne Sakamoto, Apr 06, 2010 6 comments


Jeanne Sakamoto

I first want to extend my gratitude and appreciation to Americans for the Arts for its interest in the important subject of supporting emerging arts leaders in California and beyond. Here at the Irvine Foundation, we take a keen interest in exploring ways to better develop and equip the next generation of arts leadership since this topic was highlighted as one of five key issues in our 2006 study Critical Issues Facing the Arts in California: A Working Paper.

We have since commissioned additional research in order to better understand this issue and were surprised to learn that, unlike many nonprofits in other sectors, the arts field in general does not face this so-called “leadership crisis” of not having qualified insiders who can assume control of their organizations when needed. Instead, the research showed that we need to pay attention to how best to develop and retain existing administrators for leadership positions and that (no surprise here) arts organizations don’t dedicate nearly enough resources for leadership and professional  development programs to meet the large demand for accessible and affordable services. Many younger survey respondents spoke of a desire to learn how to run a nonprofit “like a business” and for opportunities for skills trainings, conferences, mentorships and networking opportunities amongst peer groups. And although most people see the value in these opportunities, they are often the first things that get cut when the budget belt tightens.

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Deena Mirow Epstein

The Importance of Mentorship

Posted by Deena Mirow Epstein, Apr 06, 2010 10 comments


Deena Mirow Epstein

As a baby boomer, I have started to think not only about retirement, which is looming over the horizon, but also about how to better relate to the 20 and 30-somethings who are waiting in the wings and how to help prepare them to take on leadership roles.

At the George Gund Foundation, I have become the mentor for participants in our Gund Fellows program, an informal position that has offered me the chance to work with some extremely bright, energetic and talented young people. It has been incredibly rewarding and has been a growth experience for me as well as for them. Being able to “payback” by passing along my experience and knowledge has been fulfilling, and they have exposed me to new ideas I might otherwise have missed.

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Katherine Denny

Rethinking Arts Funding

Posted by Katherine Denny, Apr 05, 2010 2 comments


Katherine Denny

Despite - or maybe because of - the economic downturn, new, forward-thinking arts funding models are booming. In my dual capacity as grants administrator and grants seeker, I pay careful attention to the reaction of funders in good times and bad. As we all know, arts funding has historically been limited; recent decreases in philanthropic giving overall doesn’t help.  A few young leaders, however, have responded to these limitations by creating new funding models.

What has occurred is a transition from traditional giving through proposals with guidelines to democratized giving through popular vote and/or reliance on small donations. The young leaders who are behind these new systems are using tools they know best:  social media and critical mass. Two models – launched out of Brooklyn, NY in 2009 – are starting to take off:

Kickstarter (www.kickstarter.com):  an online fundraising tool, in association with Amazon.com, allows users to solicit individual donations from friends, family and just about anyone who knows the website exists. Any artist or arts organization is able to upload a proposed project to Kickstarter, then market the project to their friends and networks.  Reminiscent of the success of the Obama/Biden Campaign of 2008, a project becomes successful through widespread solicitation of smaller donations using online media. Small donations which, these days, are more stable than a foundation grant. And the result is a streamlined individual giving campaign with minimal effort but with potential to fill that funding gap many arts organizations experience.

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Ms. Shannon E. Daut

Take the Leadership Reins

Posted by Ms. Shannon E. Daut, Apr 05, 2010 4 comments


Ms. Shannon E. Daut

I thought I’d start my first blog post with a little about myself. I am at the end of the Emerging Leader spectrum, as I am 35 and have worked in the field for almost eleven years. I was extremely blessed and fortunate to have entered this field working for an organization with leadership that sincerely values the input and perspective of young people. I began working at WESTAF in 1999, almost fresh out of college, in an entry-level position.

Since that time, I have advanced steadily and now am in senior management at the organization. I believe this is the result of the aforementioned qualities of the WESTAF leadership, but also due to the fact that I worked assiduously to expand my role within whatever position I held, so that I was continually growing both personally and professionally. And part of it was just luck, I’m pretty sure.

When I think about my experience compared to those of my peers, I know that my ambitious tendencies would have likely been squelched had I been at a different organization. All the emerging leader professional development opportunities in the world will have little meaning if those who hold leadership positions do not encourage and support the emerging leaders in their ranks. I was never presented with a plan for how to develop myself professionally; rather, I sought out opportunities and proposed them to our executive director, who would approve it.

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Marc Vogl

Keeping Talent in the Field

Posted by Marc Vogl, Apr 05, 2010 4 comments


Marc Vogl

Marc Vogl

Soon after I started my job at Hewlett a couple years ago I was at a party in San Francisco talking to a woman who had just turned 30. Let's call her Tina (she's not called Tina but this is my first blog post and if I want to make up aliases, who's gonna stop me?).  Tina worked for a Bay Area arts organization. The mission of the organization was inspiring, she said, as were the artists she was employed to support. The people she shared an office with were more than co-workers, they were her friends. So, why wasn't Tina happy with her job? Why was she disenchanted with her prospects in the field she'd chosen? Why, to be blunt, was Tina on her way to law school?

There are a million personal reasons that go into the major decisions we make in life, and the work we do in the arts doesn't occur in a vacuum. So I get that no philanthropic initiative to increase the odds that smart, talented, driven people contribute their skills and passion to making great art possible, and are incentivized to stay in our sector for the long haul is not going to work for everyone. No matter how much professional development training, mentoring, or peer networking Tina received, no matter how much her boss acknowledged her contributions, asked for her input, empowered her to turn ideas into action - or even if she had been better paid and had health insurance (!) - she may still have decided this was not the career for her.

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