The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation has just announced that it's grant-making will focus entirely on issues related to social justice. Elizabeth Alexander, President of the Foundation, said that their concern will be "Who haven’t we reached? Who haven’t we supported? Who hasn’t felt Mellon was interested in their work?" Here is link to the Artnet article that brought this to my attention: … [Read more...]
Ask
Ask not what your country can do for you. Ask what you can do for your country. Like most people on the planet, I have been consumed with reports on the pandemic threatening us all. I have also been trying to figure out what I can do, both in reducing the spread and in making things better for people. I've had much more success with the former. I've also been watching with great interest the number of arts organizations making content … [Read more...]
Storm Brewing
I've written before about the impact funding inequity is having on political discourse about government support of the arts. The Visible Hand was a response to Barry Hessenius' observations about funding controversies in San Francisco three years ago: A Potential Deep Divide in the Arts Sector. A colleague recently sent me the link to an article about a bill that has been introduced in the Pennsylvania legislature to examine "systemic racism in … [Read more...]
Riverside Art Museum
In May I was invited to speak at a convening of the Irvine Foundation's New California Arts Fund grantees. Each of the cohort's 14 arts organizations really gets engagement and is extremely active living out the work of connecting with communities. There were many, many wonderful stories of effective community engagement. However, one in particular made a deep impression upon me. One part of the impression was the power of an example that … [Read more...]
The NEA (and Other Things)
The NEA, along with the NEH, the IMLS, the CPB, etc., etc., is very important for both symbolic and practical reasons. And I know that my professional niche is the nonprofit arts and culture industry. With respect to "Engaging Matters" I have seldom written about issues not directly related to the practice of community engagement, but the fight over funding cultural support mechanisms is vitally important to our industry so I know I should be … [Read more...]
Library Lessons
A July article in the New York Times (Adding Classes and Content, Resurgent Libraries Turn a Whisper Into a Roar) told of the resurgence of libraries in New York City. Many readers might focus on the following paragraph: In the 2016 fiscal year [New York City] libraries received $360 million for operating costs, $33 million more than the year before — the largest increase in recent times. For the 2017 fiscal year, which began on Friday, city … [Read more...]
Relationships and Public Policy
by Karen Gahl-Mills This post is part of a series in conjunction with TRG Arts on developing relationships with both new communities and existing stakeholders through artistic programming, marketing and fundraising, community engagement, and public policy. (Cross-post can be found at Analysis from TRG Arts.) I had an interesting conversation with a smart colleague today, on the topic of the role of cultural organizations in civic affairs. We … [Read more...]
Client, Customer, Collaborator: A Roadmap
by Amelia Northrup-Simpson This post is part of a series in conjunction with TRG Arts on developing relationships with both new communities and existing stakeholders through artistic programming, marketing and fundraising, community engagement, and public policy. (Cross-post can be found at Analysis from TRG Arts.) Do you treat arts patrons like customers, clients, or collaborators? In the first post in this series, Doug Borwick laid out … [Read more...]
Public Policy and Community Engagement
Over a two month period last year, TRG Arts and Engaging Matters partnered on a series of posts examining relationship building as the foundation of effective fundraising, marketing, and community engagement. (Relationships All the Way Down) Coincidentally, in the midst of that series, voters in Cuyahoga County overwhelmingly approved (by a 3:1 margin! Yes, you are reading that correctly.) the renewal of a tobacco tax specifically earmarked for … [Read more...]
Reflections on a Conference
In November I participated in a conference sponsored jointly by New Mexico MainStreet, the New Mexico Historic Preservation Division, and New Mexico Arts. It was a multi-disciplinary gathering to cheer my liberal arts soul. It was also–as a result, I believe–one of the most productive conferences I have attended in years. At the close, the principal presenters were asked to summarize their takeaways as a prelude to participant discussion. What … [Read more...]