Blog Posts for Leadership

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.


Tim Mikulski

Not Just Butts in Seats...Eyeballs on Screens

Posted by Tim Mikulski, Jun 27, 2011 1 comment


Tim Mikulski

Tim Mikulski

Tim Mikulski

I have now successfully attended four Americans for the Arts Annual Conventions (Philadelphia, Seattle, Baltimore, and San Diego) as a member of the staff.

In my previous two roles, I worked with the dedicated members of the State Arts Action Network while in the Government and Public Affairs Department and I managed the Arts Education Network under the Local Arts Advancement Department.

While in those positions, I was happy to attend conventions as a way to get to the know our members beyond email addresses and phone numbers, but it was through Twitter that I was able to network with my new arts education colleagues from across the country before I even met them.

It's amazing what kind of relationships you can build 140 characters at a time.

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Hoong Yee Krakauer

Engaging Corporate Citizens - 'Begin with the Small and Possible'

Posted by Hoong Yee Krakauer, Jun 27, 2011 0 comments


Hoong Yee Krakauer

Blogger Hoong Yee's sketch of Stephanie Madden.

Does this happen to you at a convention?

I find myself feeling being swept under by the torrent of talk, ideas, cool people to follow up with, session after session of topics I am intrigued by and of course, the beautiful San Diego weather, and views of the bay are a constant distraction as well.

The fear pounding in my heart is, “What difference can I make now, right now?”

Where to start, who to talk to, what part of the world first?

I hate when this happens. So bad for the skin.

So I was delighted to hear a poetic piece of advice cut through a cavernous ballroom, something that Stephanie A. Madden, the Arts and Cultural Manager of Bank of America, shared with us in answer to this very sentiment at a conference session at the Americans for the Arts 2011 Annual Convention in San Diego.

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Hoong Yee Krakauer

How to Build and Protect Intellectual Property with Uncle Sam

Posted by Hoong Yee Krakauer, Jun 24, 2011 0 comments


Hoong Yee Krakauer

A sketch of Jean by blog post author Hoong Yee.

I love listening to smart women and being surrounded by many of them this weekend at the Americans for the Arts Convention in San Diego. There are ballrooms filled with people who are committed to working in the arts and with the arts to make life better.

Of course we know how the arts affect how we live together in this world. We are the arts people. However, I often forget that sometimes we need to think of ourselves as creative industries and creative exports especially when working in a global mindset.

After I stumbled out of the sunlight, properly caffeinated and ready to begin my conference blogging for the day, I  found myself in a session entitled, "Building Bridges: International Cultural Exchange" featuring two innovators, Jean A. Bonilla and Stephanie A. Madden. 

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Theresa Cameron

Perserverance and Imagination

Posted by Theresa Cameron, Jun 24, 2011 0 comments


Theresa Cameron

Theresa Cameron

Perseverance and imagination.

These are two words that successfully describe what rural and small arts organizations continually do.

I was once again reminded of this first-hand as I listened to the rural and small arts organization peer group discussion at our Annual Convention in San Diego last week.

It’s been a few years since Americans for the Arts held a rural and small local arts agencies gathering and attendees were excited to talk to, and learn from, each other.

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Breena Loraine

Finding the Right Words: Facts and Figures to Aid Your Fight for the Arts

Posted by Breena Loraine, Jun 22, 2011 2 comments


Breena Loraine

Making the Case for the Arts Session - #AFTA11

It is now more important than ever to defend funding and preservation of the arts. This was the subject of “Making the Case for the Arts,” a session at this year’s Americans for the Arts convention.

While many reasons for supporting the arts were addressed, Randy Cohen, Vice President of Research and Policy at Americans for the Arts, presented research mostly on the significance of the arts with regard to education, the economy, personal development, and healthcare.

Education. Studies show that, regardless of income level, students who are highly active in the arts are less likely to drop out of school by 10th grade (1.4 percent vs. 4.8 percent).

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Adriane Fink

Social Media & Cause Marketing Broaden Appeal, Reach of Philanthropists (from Arts Watch)

Posted by Adriane Fink, Jun 22, 2011 3 comments


Adriane Fink

Adriane Fink

Social Media. We know we need it. But are we really getting the most out of our Facebook accounts and Twitter feeds?

Corporations across the country are paying close attention to the online craze and have discovered that using social media to partner with nonprofits allows them to reach the broadest possible audience in a cost-effective way. The results show a stunning use of creativity benefiting the nonprofit world. Let me share a few statistics with you.

With over 500 million active users, one in every 13 people on earth now uses Facebook. Over 50 percent log in every day. 48 percent of 18-34 year olds check Facebook when they wake up, and 28 percent do so before getting out of bed. Not to be left behind, Twitter has also rapidly expanded, with over 200 million registered accounts and 155 million tweets per day.

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