The first question (suggested topic) posed for this panel blogging on the Private Sector relationship was: How to define the relevance of the arts to business in the face of urgent and basic social needs. Once again we make the mistake of always approaching the business relationship from the perspective of our needs and not theirs. It is, think, an arrogant conceit and a strategic misstep to always approach this issue from what we want and need.

For three decades, the nonprofit arts sector has been seeking – with very limited success – to capitalize on intersections between it and the corporate / business community. The vast majority of efforts in this arena have been small and localized (i.e., individual arts organizations attempting to build bridges and form partnerships / alliances on individual, isolated projects, often limited to seeking corporate sponsorships; or Arts & Business Council/Business Committee for the Arts initiatives, for which arts organizations have shown far more enthusiasm than businesses). Larger forays into the promotion of sector wide collaborations have principally been limited to periodic dialogue characterized by the most general of precepts; lacking specificity, strategic / practical next steps, and any timeline for the accomplishment of specific agenda items. 

As I begin this year-long journey of addressing the compilation of the Future of the Public Voice in Arts Advocacy, I can’t help but start by referencing a webinar I participated in a few weeks back on the status of funding of state arts agencies.

This presentation showed a slide demonstrating the total state appropriations for state arts agencies over the past eighteen years. As we were told, funding has gone up and down consistently over stretches of time, consider the visual of a roller coaster. We were told that when state resources and revenues go down, so too do the funding of the state arts agencies. However, when revenues come back elected officials understand the importance of arts funding and the economic impact that it holds, thus increasing funding.

I don’t know about you, but that doesn’t make sense to me. How can the arts only be seen as important in good times? How can the economic impact of the arts only be realized in times of surpluses? I think that there is a fundamental problem if most across the country subscribe to this reasoning. Now, some may say that cuts are being made across the board and therefore fair. But are those cuts truly equitable? Consider a 10% cut from a department budget of $500 million and a 10% cut of that of the $5 million budget of the state arts council. It’s not just about the size of the cut, but what the cut will cost that program or agency.

When talking about private sector or corporate funding .… it occurred to me that we toss around the word corporation like there is one person on the other end of that word. And indeed, corporation is derived from the Latin word for body “corpus”, with one definition of corporation as ‘any group of persons united or regarded as united in one body’.

However, for the arts organizations that seek funding in today’s environment, this definition poses a conundrum. Who is the corpus in corporation? In the recent past, arts support might have come through a champion in the company’s executive offices, or through the corporate foundation. It was easier to navigate the decision maker (s) for philanthropic support when funding dollars were coming from one source.

But corporations are not made up of one individual. They are made of many individuals, just as the definition states. These individuals are in positions of authority. They have their own operating budgets, their own P&L statements, and decide, on a day to day basis, the budget dollars spent.

Continuing from my first blog post...

Feeling like we'd leveled off in our effort to build broad support for the arts, we decided to get more information. We studied how people think about the arts -- that is, we engaged in some real research over the past 18 months. With this information, we’re crafting a new communications strategy—one built on a deeper understanding of the best ways to communicate about the arts—that we believe will lead to increased shared responsibility and motivate action in support of the arts.

In order to create a more constructive dialog, we had to explore the dynamics of the current public conversation—in the media, for instance—as well as in the thinking of the majority of people who do not focus on the arts in their daily lives. Understanding attitudes and beliefs more deeply is a key to negotiating them more successfully in future efforts. A new argument, or lens, on the issue is useful to the extent that it can move people to a collective perspective and shared action in support of the arts.

When legislators, business leaders, community leaders, and others all take in the same core message seen through the same lens—and in turn repeat them to their own constituencies—the resulting echo chamber can begin to transform the accepted common sense on the issue.

by Kristin Symes

The James Joyce Pub, just a short walk from the Baltimore Marriott Waterfront.

Wondering what the food is going to be like in Baltimore this summer when you come to visit during the Annual Convention? It should come as no surprise that a city generating so much buzz about its recent growth and downtown development also boasts some of the greatest chefs and cuisine to match. It's as if Baltimore has experienced a gastronomic renaissance. The locally grown culinary scene has sprouted a new crop of extraordinary restaurants for you to harvest.

Baltimore has an emerging culinary scene and is quickly becoming a hot spot for foodies from around the globe. With culinary accolades appearing in Gourmet, Food & Wine, and Bon Appétit, and with two Baltimore chefs recently featured on The Food Network’s hit show, Top Chef, it’s clear that Baltimore is finally gaining the culinary recognition it deserves.

Local restaurants feature sophisticated and original menus that embrace the farm-to-table concept. No longer is Baltimore thought of as only the home of the crab cake (although we do have the best!). The city's progressive compilation of cutting-edge eateries pedaling fresh, funky-fusion recipes like crispy Thai string beans, lobster mac and artisan beers has put Baltimore on the map as an up-and-coming culinary city not to be missed.

The benefits that the arts bring our communities are extensive, but often the value is difficult to appreciate or not readily measurable. It is for this reason, cultural community leaders need to communicate the economic value of the arts and speak in the language of the corporate community by offering research and quantitative facts to compete for funding dollars.

Americans for the Arts is a prolific source of this information which can be used to build a case for arts funding. But, in building that case, one needs a few research tools in their toolbox.