Art in the News - 2015
Read the latest arts news
The Mayor of London, Boris Johnson, recently announced a major new initiative that will see thousands of London schoolchildren being given the chance to participate in and learn about dance. The initiative is backed by award-winning choreographer Wayne McGregor and leading dance organizations.
After convening a conference meeting to reconcile the Senate’s and House’s proposed budgets, on July 8, the Massachusetts’ Legislature passed the FY2016 state budget. It includes funding the Massachusetts Cultural Council at $14.16 million.
Following the success of Americans for the Arts’ National Initiative for Arts & Health in the Military summit in February 2015, an invitation was extended to our President and CEO, Bob Lynch, to write a guest column for a spring issue of the NACo County News. NACo’s Veterans Affairs Committee features the guest column online: Arts Help Veterans Heal.
The Arts Partnership of Greater Spartanburg recently received a significant grant from Bloomberg Philanthropies to execute a public art project with a purpose as part of Bloomberg’s Public Art Challenge.
The DC Council approved its 2016 budget on Tuesday, June 30; in the budget, the Council included $200,000 in dedicated funding to research and draft a unified cultural plan for the District of Columbia.
On Monday, July 6, the Oregon Legislature approved House Bill 2171, which extends the sunset date of that state’s film tax credit program. Currently, the film tax credit program offers up to $10 million in total tax credits to film and television productions that film in Oregon. HB 2171 would extend the program by another eight years.
South Carolina arts advocates were shocked on June 30 when Governor Nikki Haley announced that she would veto 87 budget items—among the vetoes was #21 which would eliminate $1 million in new, recurring funds for grantmaking in arts education from the South Carolina Arts Commission’s budget.
Matt D’Arrigo is Founder and CEO of A Reason To Survive | ARTS, a nationally recognized non-profit agency dedicated to changing the life trajectory of youth facing adversity through the arts and creativity. D'Arrigo and ARTS were recently featured in the San Diego Tribune in an article highlighting the arts center's newest endeavors.
Three years ago, Denver's Bonfils-Stanton Foundation, a long-time supporter of a variety of charitable causes, shifted their giving strategy to focus entirely on the arts. According to an article in the Denver Post, “Culture needed the money, the thinking went, and by targeting one area, the foundation could set itself apart from its peers and become a real player in the community.” The organization is now one of the most important voices in Denver’s arts scene, providing customized—and often critical—support to arts institutions, new art projects, and local startups to help build Denver’s arts profile.
In the first installment of the pARTnership Movement essay series, Americans for the Arts highlighted Des Moines as a key example of a community that has profited from partnering with the arts. The essay examines how local Iowa companies are integrating arts and culture into both the workplace and the greater Des Moines community to attract and retain talented employees, siting examples of organizations such as Kemin Industries and Principal Financial Group, Inc.
