99507
Recentering the Artist
Even within our own sector, artists are expected to forgo compensation for the greater good—building a system of support for social service agencies and nonprofits that excludes the arts, and specifically individual artists. We all know that artists, not organizations, make art—yet why is it so often like pulling teeth to solidify artist fees? And why are there so few funding opportunities for individual artists?
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99506
Advocate: At All Levels—At All Times—For All People
Day in and day out, we work on behalf of so many that we may never meet. Whether a student in an art class or school chorus, a senior citizen in a quilting guild, a potter fashioning pieces for an Empty Bowls food pantry fundraiser, or a writer or composer bringing important subject matter to the page or the stage—they are relying on us to move the needle in public discourse about the power of the arts.
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99502
Why Does it Matter?
Content sponsored by University of Massachusetts Amherst Arts Extension Service.
Identity, cultural democracy, excellence, justice—just a few of the “whys” behind our work. We have many spiritual ancestors who can help us articulate our “why” because, as discussed in Fundamentals of Arts Management 6th edition, this work has been weaved throughout our country’s history. I urge us all to take to time to connect with our own sense of “why.”
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99501
Artists, Arts Patrons, and Access to Capital
Several community organizations are working to create innovative solutions that improve access to capital related to Memphis’s creative class.
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99500
Increased Corporate Contributions to the Arts Are No Certainty
Arts organizations are already in the right position to maneuver for a bigger part of the philanthropic pie, but they face a number of challenges—not least the fact that competition for philanthropic funds is likely to intensify. As the arts enter a heightened competitive funding environment against any number of other social issues, will artists be forced to stifle their creativity to attract funding from businesses that are increasingly nervous about entering the firing line of an unconventional administration?
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99479
The Arts Transforming Education
Four Milwaukee schools are closing out their first year in the Turnaround Arts program, a model that uses the arts and arts integration to help turnaround schools. While it may be too early in the process for the schools to gauge impact on traditional school improvement indicators such as math and reading, what we did observe was teachers who started collaborating more, and teachers trying new strategies that reinvigorate the classroom for them and for their students.
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99469
The Arts and Veterans: A Mighty Force
The Fourth of July is a time to honor and reflect on the determination and sacrifices of our service members in making our freedom possible. Over the years, stories have emerged of how veterans across the country come back—and what they give back—after overcoming sometimes decades of struggles with combat and service-related illness and injuries. Many of these veterans say that the arts saved their lives—but in finding their creative voice, they are also enriching our lives too.
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99454
Reflections on the 2017 Americans for the Arts Annual Convention: Framing is Everything—Social
Framing is the narrative one creates about ideas, pictures, symbols—the impressions formed about oneself, others, and the environment they inhabit. Non-profit and for-profit are simply tax delineators, but an entire world of framing has developed within those terms, where some organizations see themselves as charities rather than economic and social value producers. In truth, arts organizations do not come to society requesting a “hand out,” but offer a “hand full”—building more socially equitable, sustainable, and economically prosperous communities. With this “hand full” mentality, arts organizations are value producers, like businesses.
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99452
A Platform for a Powerful Voice
After my father passed away suddenly, Poetry Out Loud gave me a link to connect to others with. It gave me the empowerment to confidently and unapologetically exist. It let me speak with my own voice. I will never, in my entire life, forget this organization and all of the people who created it. Without it, I solidly feel as though I would still be lost. I would feel as though my thoughts were not worth sharing, that my existence STILL had to be apologized for. I owe everything to Poetry Out Loud and I owe everything to art.
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99381
Storm the Barricades! But, which ones?
Content sponsored by University of Massachusetts Amherst Arts Extension Service.
Advocacy is fundamental to building a vibrant and lasting cultural community. In our chapter on advocacy in “Fundamentals of Arts Management,” published by the UMass Amherst Arts Extension Service, you will learn the ins and outs of arts advocacy from creating strategy, to building alliances, to the details and protocol of conducting a meeting with an elected official.
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99373
From Jobs to Dinner to Even Milking Cows, the Nonprofit Arts Are a Multi-Faceted Economic Powerhouse
In 2015, Americans for the Arts set out to determine the economic impact of the nonprofit arts industry through Arts & Economic Prosperity® 5 (AEP5), the largest national study of its kind. It has been five years since the last such study, which came shortly after the Great Recession. We focused on 341 regions representing all 50 states and the District of Columbia, including 14,439 arts and cultural organizations, and an extraordinary 212,691 audience members. Surveys were collected throughout 2016, and results were revealed June 17 at Americans for the Arts’ Annual Convention in San Francisco. The numbers are remarkable.
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