90942
Arts Ed in Museum Spaces: Community Cooperation with The Shelburne Museum
Founded in 1947 by Electra Havemeyer Webb, the museum’s unique identity and massive collection is largely thanks to Mrs. Webb’s vast, diverse aesthetic tastes and interest in the unique style of folk art, American architecture, and design. In effect, she was arguably one of the first collectors of Americana, and employees liken entering the Shelburne campus to taking a step into Electra’s mind.
In addition to being a one-of-a-kind experience in the scope of New England museums, the Shelburne Museum is also deeply rooted in its local community. Perhaps due to Vermont’s inescapable small-town vibe, the museum’s long standing role as a local school resource, or its physical position at a key point on a main local throughway, the Shelburne Museum has long been a fixture of local Vermont life and a regular community leader in cultural and educational enrichment for all.
93835
Something That Will Leave A Mark
Editor’s note: This blog is part of a miniseries about the suite of tools, Encourage Creativity. The first portion of this post was written by Kristen Paglia, Ian's mother.
Last year my son, Ian, had the rare opportunity for a ten year-old kid to share his thoughts, opinions, and the details of his daily life with a group of adults who were actually interested. The director of an arts education organization, I jumped at the chance for my son to be involved in a video series aimed at “expanding the conversation of arts education nationwide.”
93833
Teen Turns From ArtsEd Participant to ArtsEd Spokesperson
I had no idea that art would even be one of my passions or interests. I quickly figured out that I loved to dance, play the clarinet, and that the stage felt a little like home. Now, as an eighteen year-old college student, I find that educating younger students like me is also one of my passions. Teaching dance is one of my favorite things I’ve ever done. I know what it is like to not have an outlet or activity to channel your emotions or feelings. Art can serve as this outlet for many. The importance of art for young inner-city kids like myself is substantial, but I believe it goes beyond that; art is a necessity for everyone.
This video project is the realization of one of my goals. There was a script, lighting, a director, a crew, and, most importantly, passion. The professionalism behind this project was beyond what I’d pictured and it was much different than the videos I usually record with my phone for my Instagram account. Being a part of a project like this was definitely something out of my comfort zone. I’m not someone who hides in their comfort zone, however, this project was something that threw me off my center. The crew and director were amazing and supportive, which eased my racing mind and jitters. Ultimately, this was a dream come true; I enjoyed every last minute of working on this project.
93832
How Tools from Americans for the Arts Aided Arts Education Advocacy Efforts in My Community
I will be forever grateful to Americans for the Arts (AFTA) for the timely research and training they provided for our region’s arts education advocacy efforts in the spring of 2013. Americans for the Arts’ Narric Rome reached out to the Arts Council of Greater Lansing after hearing headlines regarding the Lansing School District’s decision to disproportionately eliminate arts, music, physical education, and media teachers. As we were later to discover, news had quickly traveled to multiple national conferences, delivering fear of similar situations to follow in communities across the country.
93831
Making Major Asks to Private Donors
There is a gigantic, come-and-have-some, boatload of private sector money available to all arts organizations. New research from Richmond, Virginia confirms that most don’t ask for it.
What’s the pot of money? It is the money in personal pocketbooks of the arts organizations’ most loyal constituents: pocketbooks that already make ongoing donations in response to grassroots solicitations such as direct mail, special events, and crowd-source platforms. But new research shows that most arts organizations rarely have personal, look-you-in-the-eye meetings with their best donors to ask for major amounts of money. The donor who loyally and happily writes an annual $1,000 check never experiences a personal meeting to ask for $25,000.
93828
Arts Ed in Museum Spaces: The Rebirth of the Fitchburg Art Museum
The Fitchburg Art Museum (FAM), located in Central Massachusetts, is an interesting example of a small community museum founded for a very different local population than the one in which it finds itself today. This has led to an even more interesting fold of arts education within their walls, as you’re about to find out!
The FAM was originally founded by Fitchburg native and painter, Eleanor Norcross, in 1929 to share her collections of European, Egyptian, and ancient art with local middle class families. Today, the local population is approximately 40% Hispanic, as well as Laotian, Mung, and Cambodian. The Fitchburg Art Museum must not only appeal to this varied population that is so different from its founding environment, but also to a significantly different base of older families and private schools that also consider the greater Central Massachusetts area home; a tricky task for any small institution.
93830
Introducing…"Encourage Creativity: Teach the Arts"
Americans for the Arts (AFTA) believes that the arts are an essential part of preparing students for success in school, work, and life. We provide practical tools, advocacy resources, and research-based publications, such as our Field Guide and Navigator e-book series to help convince leaders of this important role the arts play in student success.
Because we work in the arts, one of most powerful forms of advocacy is using our art forms to communicate. Having artistic and high-quality materials, such as the Field Guide and Navigator e-books, is essential to how valuable these advocacy tools are.
93827
Where Does Corporate Giving to the Arts Go?
Recent studies by Americans for the Arts, Giving USA, and others have drawn welcome public attention to the role of corporate giving in the creative ecology–some sounding alarms and others offering rays of hope.
Now, the organization I run, Dance/NYC, is weighing in with State of NYC Dance and Corporate Giving, which segments available Cultural Data Project data on dance group budget size, type and geography to address equity in the distribution of resources. No matter how we segment the data, the findings are bleak for most dance groups and invite collective action to enlarge and stabilize business support.
93826
Student Advocates for the Arts in the College Classroom
In my last blog, I spoke about developing future arts advocates and some of the misconceptions that might prevent individuals from participating. To continue on a similar trajectory, there is one population, in my opinion, that we should target as the next generation of arts leaders who will continue to sustain theatre, dance, creative writing, visual art, and music for many generations to come: students.
93825
Cultural Districts and Communities: Catalysts for Change
This week’s blog salon on Cultural Districts and Communities: Catalysts for Change explored how cultural districts are improving, engaging, and sometimes changing their communities. Kicking off the salon, I introduced our new tool - the National Cultural Districts Exchange, which is a suite of online tools and resources to provide research and information about cultural districts. This new resource is meant to be an exchange of ideas, information, and resources - and this blog salon supplemented this new tool with great viewpoints and unique perspectives on cultural districts.
93824
Hôtel du Nord: You Can Check Out, But It Will Never Leave You
I’ve had many great opportunities to witness how different communities organize themselves through, around, or into arts and cultural districts. In September, 2014, I had the pleasure of visiting a community in Marseille (800,000 population) in the south of France, a cluster of 8 small neighborhoods that formed a fascinating and alluring heritage and creative district with an approach I hadn’t seen in the United States.
Marseille was motivated by the opportunity to serve as European Capital of Culture for 2013, an effort that brought together players across government, creative, and business sectors to build working relationships like they never had before. The now 30-year-old Capital of Culture program rotates through the nations of the EU selecting cities to show off their distinctive creative and cultural assets. A total of 75 municipal entities in the Provence region (1.8 million population) – an area with no history of regional planning and little cooperation – demonstrated unprecedented unity and cultural vitality for their year in the European spotlight. It was branded Marseille-Provence 2013 or MP2013.
