You've heard from Jeff McCarter, Founder & Executive Director of Free Spirit Media, now Andrea Hart, Civic Media Program Coordinator shares how her values appear in her work. I’ve created hyperlocal digital news programs that contextualize learning and build on students’ cultural capital within schools or community spaces in Chicago since 2011. I currently serve as Free Spirit Media’s Civic Media Program Coordinator, and various roles in other entrepreneurial journalism projects. At FSM, I have the privilege of working to create … [Read more...]
It’s a work in progress, but it’s crucial work
"It's about them." "We're all alive." "We're all going through this crazy path of life." Jeff McCarter, Founder & Executive Director of Free Spirit Media shares how the values of the organization surround human dignity and the people their programs serve. McCarter challenges organizations to really own their values, but believes that it is always a work in progress. … [Read more...]
Clyde Valentin: Values
Clyde Valentin, Director of the SMU Meadows Arts + Urbanism Initiative shares how values appear in his work through acknowledging equity and inequity, acknowledging people everyday and recognizing that mistakes happen. … [Read more...]
Jess Solomon: Values
I created a graphic about how my values, work and every-day decision making coalesce. As I was doodling, I was thinking about Toni Cade Bambara’s prolific words: “As a cultural worker who belongs to an oppressed people my job is to make revolution irresistible…But I think for any artist your job is determined by the community you’re identifying with.” She doesn’t explicitly mention values here but we typically share them with the communities we are a part of. At the macro and micro level, these relationships are constant feedback loops. My … [Read more...]
Ari Weinzweig: Congruency & Values
We promised a video this week featuring Ari Weinzweig, co-founder of Zingerman's and here it is! Weinzweig shares the difference between values and beliefs and the importantance of having congruency between the two, in any business environment. Share your reactions with us in the comments section or at #ValuesNAS. … [Read more...]
Taking Down the Hedges
Respect. Access. Inclusion. Transparency. Authenticity. These are the values held deeply by Hope McMath, Executive Director of the Cummer Museum of Art + Gardens. McMath shares how these values are part of the decisions she makes both internally at the museum, through hiring and organizational culture, as well as externally in the community. She tells the story of literally taking down the hedges that surround the museum and what physical and symbolic meaning a row of bushes can have. … [Read more...]
A peek into Zappos
Wait. There's more on Zappos. We told you it was a favorite. In January, Tim Cynova, Deputy Director of Fractured Atlas, shared his investigation into how Zappos created a culture where core values are at the center of each and every decision. Cynova, a self-proclaimed Zappophile found himself continually asking what would Zappos do? He went to visit the headquarters to find out exactly that. … [Read more...]
Organization Spotlight: Springboard for the Arts
One of the reasons Springboard for the Arts is able to take on and implement large scale projects with their small team is through leveraging their staff. The staff lives and breathes seven principles: We view artists as vital contributors to their communities. Our programs are delivered by artists to artists. Our capacity to build relationships is the basis of our effectiveness. We emphasize building systems of investment and support. We develop cross-sector collaborations. We operate with a sense of transformational … [Read more...]
Values and What We Do
It’s pretty easy to identify the values of a cultural organization or initiative. Most mention them somewhere on their website, if not have an entire web section dedicated to this. We talk about values often, too. Inclusivity, equity, excellence are all frequently discussed at our conferences. Values are important to identify and certainly important to name, discuss and debate. It’s helpful for potential stakeholders to know what you stand for and for the world to know what we stand for, as a field. But I’m less interested in talking … [Read more...]
Being the Boss
NAS produces publications, videos and other management tools to inspire those working in the field to take a fresh look at their work and the challenges they face. Over the last few years we have amassed quite a large catalog of content. We’ve sent NAS staff members into the archives to pick their favorites and share them here. This week NAS’ President & CEO, Gail Crider, shares one of her favorite NAS videos. Brian Kennedy, Executive Director of the Toledo Museum of Art speaks about the book Being the Boss: The 3 Imperatives for … [Read more...]
Growing the Pie Together: Fostering Giving Networks in the Arts
Over the past nine months, I’ve witnessed something truly remarkable take shape: a network of committed givers in the arts. Not a network that operates on a tit-for-tat basis, not a group that invests in others with the goal of personal gain in the long run, but individuals who are just as dedicated to advancing each other’s work as they are to advancing their own. This network is the Creative Community Fellows cohort. If you’ve ever been involved in an arts network (or, heck, any job-focused affinity group) you know this is rare. The flow … [Read more...]
An Arts Advocacy Conversation in Salt Lake City, UT
The Utah Museum of Fine Arts represents an arts institution that sits within and reports to an institution run by folks outside the field - The University of Utah. A staff member of the Utah Museum of Fine Arts speaks with University President, David Pershing on he views and values the arts. When I say “the arts,” what does that mean to you? The term, “the arts,” symbolizes to me all that is stimulating to the sense in a profound way in the performing arts – from beautiful music (a single voice or a choir, or a single instrument or an … [Read more...]
An Arts Advocacy Day Conversation in Hartford, CT
Kristina Newman-Scott, Director of Marketing, Events and Cultural Affairs for the City of Hartford, Connecticut asks her colleagues Brian Matthews, Director of Housing for the City of Hartford and Khara Dodds, Director of Planning for the City of Hartford how they see, value and advocate for the arts. Listen to their conversations below and share what you heard from colleagues outside of the arts. [soundcloud url="https://api.soundcloud.com/playlists/90218204" … [Read more...]
An Arts Advocacy Conversation in Thayer, MO
Founder of the Oregon County Food Producers and Artisans Co-Op, Rachel Reynolds Luster poses the three simple questions to a member of her Thayer, MO community. Elizabeth, 16 years old: When I say “the arts,” what does that mean to you? "music, dancing, acting" Where do you see arts in your community? "I don't." Tell me about a moment you connected with arts personally. “Learning to clog dance at Marilynn's Clogging Studio and play guitar.” Advocate for the Arts! Click on the Twitter logo to … [Read more...]
An Arts Advocacy Conversation in Lynchburg, VA
I spoke with Anna Bentson, the Assistant Director of the City of Lynchburg's Office of Economic Development, about how she views and values art. What most struck me is that her early childhood contact with art and artists was through her family and in turn that has influenced how she values and views art in her life today. Her relationship to art is personal and I think this gets to the core of a very valuable lesson. Anna's family was filled with musicians. She said, "My grandparents were musicians (actually from a long line of professional … [Read more...]