As part of its recently released Blueprint for Collective Action for the Arts initiative, Cincinnati-based United Arts Fund, ArtsWave, has announced its’ new strategy will allocate funding based on five community goals.
The City of Austin, highly regarded for its culture of live music, released the findings of its first music census in June 2015. The census reported that over 68 percent of Austin musicians made less than $10,000 annually and that 20 percent were living below poverty levels. In addition, the city found that respected music venues were closing due in part to rising rental costs.
The Michigan Film Office announced that it is re-branding as the Michigan Film & Digital Media Office. Having been established as a film office since 1979, the new Michigan Film & Digital Media Office believes its name change will better reflect its expanded portfolio in growing Michigan’s creative media industry.
In recognition of the Arts & Business Council of New York’s 50th Anniversary and its many accomplishments over decades of service to the arts and business communities in our city, Mayor Bill DeBlasio declared November 17th "Arts & Business Council of New York Day". Arts & Business Council of New York will hold its 3rd annual Arts Volunteer Fair the same evening, continuing its commitment to fostering arts and business partnerships in New York City.
Turnaround Arts and Wolf Trap Foundation for the Performing Arts announce a national partnership to support arts-integrated learning in early childhood classrooms across the country. Through in-class services for young children, ongoing training for educators, and resource development for the early childhood community at-large, the two organizations will work together to use the arts as a tool to improve student outcomes and school culture.
The Minneapolis city government is participating in a program called Creative CityMaking—which places 9 local artists within 5 city departments to work on city planning. The program's goal is "to create strategies for tackling community challenges — things like reaching out to the city's youth and trying to get a higher rate of response from people of color for surveys and city meetings.” Creative CityMaking is the first program of its kind in Minneapolis and is successfully connecting the city to its residents.
Last month, the Massachusetts House and the Senate both overrode Gov. Baker's veto and approved $14.16 million in funding for the Massachusetts Cultural Council (MCC). It marked an increase of 49%—from $9.5 million to $14.16 million—in the Commonwealth's investment in the creative community over the past three years.
Blue Line Arts, a Roseville, CA-based gallery, arts education, and cultural facility recently announced its acquisition of select programs of the Arts & Business Council of Sacramento (SacABC).
The programs that Blue Line Arts will continue to operate, starting in 2016, include Prelude to the Season, an annual arts excellence awards show; and Flywheel, and incubator that trains artists to hone practical business skills.
On the 10th anniversary of one of our country's worst natural disasters, New Orleans makes room to process the events of Hurricane Katrina, celebrate what has been accomplished so far, and highlight the rebuilding that still needs to be done.
The Ogden Museum of Southern Art is one of many cultural institutions hosting a special interactive exhibit for visitors and city residents. The basement walls of the museum are covered with neatly printed cards of stories from survivors.
Earlier this month, Seattle Mayor Ed Murray announced that the city’s first Civic Poet will be Claudia Castro Luna. The new Civic Poet position will serve as “an ambassador for Seattle’s rich literary landscape and represents the city’s diverse cultural community.” The Civic Poet program will be administered by the city’s Office of Arts & Culture.
Anyone in the art market who was not already paying attention to the social media platform Instagram had to sit up and take notice in April after the actor Pierce Brosnan visited the showroom of Phillips auction house in London. Mr. Brosnan snapped a selfie in front of a work he admired: the “Lockheed Lounge,” a space-age aluminum chaise longue by the industrial designer Marc Newson.
Each year, Americans for the Arts honors the best businesses partnering with the arts in America through the BCA10 awards. This summer, two of our previous honorees, Golden Artist Colors, Inc. (BCA 10 2012) and Scholastic Inc. (BCA 10 2013) have partnered to provide an unprecedented opportunity for art educators. Teachers of students who received recognition in the 2015 Scholastic Art & Writing Awards were invited to submit painted art-pieces for a chance to participate in a weeklong artist residency through the Sam & Adele Golden Foundation.
On Wednesday, August 12, the Des Moines Register published an op-ed by John Pappajohn titled "The Arts Mean Business in Iowa." The op-ed comes several days ahead of the Iowa Arts Advocacy Caucus, held on August 14 and co-hosted with the Iowa Arts Council, Iowa Alliance for Arts Education, BRAVO Greater Des Moines, NAMM, and the United States Conference of Mayors.
When it opens in the fall of 2016, Sacramento’s new downtown arena Golden Center 1 will be home to five public art installations worth $9.3 million. While Sacramento City Council initially received praise for integrating public art in the new arena, they received much backlash in March 2015 when they first selected New York City artist Jeff Koons’s Coloring Book sculpture—with a price tag of $8 million. Local artists condemned the City Council’s lack of support of the city’s own talent pool.
Illinois is entering its second month without a passed budget after Governor Rauner vetoed the Legislature’s proposed Fiscal Year 2016 budget—the Legislature did not support the governor’s reforms and surpassed state revenues by $3 billion. To cut down on government expenses due to the budget stalemate, Gov. Rauner ordered the closure of state facilities which include five state museums.
A newly released half-hour documentary tells the story of The Science and Technology High School in Springfield, Massachusetts, where dropout rates are so high and standard test scores so low that the state rates it Level 4. At Level 5 the state has the right to take over the school and possibly send its 1500 students out into the city’s struggling public school system.
