NEWS: The SAANBox - March 11, 2013

State & Local News

Minnesota lawmakers are looking to amend the state’s smoking ban to eliminate an exemption for theatrical productions. State Senator Barbara Goodwin says that now that alternatives exist, there’s no reason actors should subject the audience to tobacco fumes, or glorify smoking onstage. Minnesota is one of 11 states, plus Washington, D.C., in which smoking bans don't apply to actors lighting up on stage. Goodwin said she proposed her bill on behalf of a constituent, a frequent theatergoer with a severe allergy to cigarette smoke. Minnesota's exemption dates to 2007, when a group of theaters asked lawmakers for a pass as they put the final touches on the statewide smoking ban. Minnesota Citizens for the Arts' lobbyist Larry Redmond said his organization will fight against any change. He called it a matter of artistic freedom and doesn't believe the real thing must always be used, but that it's important to have the option.

A New Hampshire House Bill that sought to abolish the Department of Cultural Resources (HB 561) was killed in the House on March 7. As expected, Representative Steve Vaillancourt, the bill's sponsor, pulled the bill off the consent calendar, where it was recommended by the Executive Departments & Administration Committee as Inexpedient to Legislate, and asked for a roll call vote. The roll call vote was 253 to 86 to kill the bill.

Nonprofit arts venues in New Jersey are caught in the crosshairs of a fight over state legislation that would ban the use of paperless tickets to performances and sporting events. The legislation is backed by consumer groups and ticket brokers, who say it would create a freer, more transparent ticket market. It is opposed by venues, sports teams and Ticketmaster, which view paperless tickets as an anti-scalping measure that will hurt fans while helping brokers. The legislation has other aspects that are worrying to nonprofit performance venues that argue it could eliminate strategies like dynamic pricing — the ability for a theater to increase ticket prices if a production is in demand — which are fundamental to their business models. Those organizations further complain that some of the bill's provisions preclude them from offering "early bird" tickets to certain donors or contest winners.

Oklahoma’s Art in Public Places program is currently under a moratorium that does not expire until next year, however new legislation (HB 1430) has been introduced that would extend the moratorium through 2017. Earlier this month, the House Calendar Committee voted to keep the bill on the table and it has appeared on the agenda for today, March 11. Oklahomans for the Arts are at the state capitol and providing live updates via their Facebook page. Additional information can be found on their blog.

ARTicles

"Wicked," the hit Broadway musical, "has gotten a new surge of importance because of all the bullying that has come to the nation's attention," said Christine Dwyer, who plays green-skinned Elphaba in the touring production. Since 2010, "Wicked" has taken an anti-bullying message into schools. They are joined by several arts groups that battle bullying with puppets, magic, improvisational acting and other trappings of their craft. For children, the arts are an effective teaching tool for delivering the anti-bullying message, said Jennifer Bonner, whose arts education center provides training to local arts teachers in Orange County, FL.

Schools that have higher levels of student participation in fine arts receive higher academic ratings and have lower drop-out rates, according to a new analysis of Texas high schools and middle schools. Average student enrollment in fine arts courses is 17 percentage points higher in high schools that are rated “Exemplary” than in those rated “Low Performing,” based on data from the Texas Education Agency on 951 high schools. Schools with the lowest drop-out rates on average have 52 percent of their students enrolled in fine arts classes while schools with the highest drop-out rates have only 42 percent of their students in fine arts courses. The data from 864 middle schools followed the same trend as high schools. The analysis was conducted by the Texas Coalition for Quality Arts Education (TCQAE), which includes more than 50 fine arts education organizations, and the Texas Music Educators Association (TMEA).

Technology's prevalence presents opportunities for educators to bring fine arts into the classroom, panelists said at a SXSWedu discussion at the Austin Convention Center. Screens are really replacing text as tools of primary communication,” said Amy Guadagnoli, director of creative services at the Austin-based organization Resources for Learning. “The new literacy is visual literacy. It's screen literacy, but it's also media literacy. What we've learned is that even though you pass out new devices to students, it doesn't necessarily make them better communicators.” Resources for Learning has developed a series of course materials for high school students that integrate fine arts and technology, using technology as a tool for creative expression. Educators can access the course materials for free at www.txartandmedia.org, and Guadagnoli said the initiative is designed to help students discover what they want to say and then find the best ways to say it.

Tech Talk

Nonprofit ABFs: Always Be Fundraising

Gary Laermer, Senior Vice President & Chief Development Officer for the YMCA of Greater New York, discusses how social media is the new frontier in today’s fundraising landscape and provides tips with examples about how to transform a tweeter to a patron.

Social Media for Nonprofits: 3 Ways to Engage Do-Gooders

Shares information about how nonprofits can use social media to engage volunteers, with tips ranging from identifying potential volunteers to how to keep them coming back.

Nonprofit 911: Neuro-Nudges for Nonprofits

Thursday, March 14, 2013 at 1 p.m. Eastern

Are you working with your donor's (or volunteer's) brain, or just trying to change it? Major marketing dollars are wasted because campaigns fail to address the way our brains are wired. Trying to "sell" someone on your non-profit's cause is nearly impossible. Donating money or time is inherently "irrational" because there's no benefit to the donor, so totally rational appeals don't work. Nevertheless, non-profits can work with our hard-wired tendencies for altruistic behavior and, with the right "neuro-nudges," maximize the return on marketing dollars.

Attend this webinar and take away the following brain-science-based tips:

§  How to use the simplest tools - images, words, even type fonts - to increase the potency of your message

§  What tweaks you can make to your print, web, and in-person outreach that will provide you with more efficacy

§  Why neuromarketing is appropriate for any organization, any size!

LinkedIn Groups and Company Pages for Nonprofits

Tuesday, April 23, 2013 at 1 p.m. Eastern

This webinar begins with a general introduction to LinkedIn, a social network with more than 200 million professionals worldwide. Nonprofits are increasingly participating in the LinkedIn community through LinkedIn Groups and Company Pages. This webinar will teach you how to successfully create, manage, and promote a LinkedIn Group for your nonprofit and highlight best practices and demonstrate how to manage discussions, subgroups, templates, and announcements.

Also discussed is how to tap into the power of LinkedIn Company Pages already created and managed by others that are related to your mission and programs. The webinar closes with information on how to claim and set-up your organization’s Company Page and an exploration of the ever-expanding Company Page tool set.

How Nonprofits Can Successfully Use YouTube and Create Video Content for the Social Web

Tuesday, April 30, 2013 at 1 p.m. Eastern

This webinar begins with a demonstration of how nonprofits can successfully design and launch a YouTube Channel for both desktop and mobile viewing – even if the nonprofit isn’t currently producing videos. The webinar discusses the basic hardware and software needed to create videos in-house on a limited budget. The webinar also demonstrates click-by-click the features of YouTube’s Nonprofit Program, highlights best practices, explores the extensive YouTube toolset, and showcases nonprofits that are exceling in their use of video. Finally, the webinar will closes with a brief exploration of Vimeo, UStream, and Vine and discusses how your nonprofit can make your video storytelling mobile.

Webinars Hosted by Americans for the Arts

The Evolution of Local Arts Grantmaking Series

Are you an organization or agency that makes grants? Then join us for this series that showcases arts funders who are refreshing, modifying or changing grantmaking policies and strategies to support the full cultural ecosystem of their cities, towns and regions. Learn how LAAs are shaping grant programs to stimulate and support arts creation and participation in response to shifting demographics and cultural landscapes.

§  The Evolution of Local Arts Grantmaking : Leveraging Investments in Creativity – What’s Next?

Wednesday, March 20, 2013 at 3 PM EDT

EVALUATION IN ACTION! Series

EVALUATION IN ACTION! webinars hone in on common evaluation challenges artists, arts organizations, and their community partners face. Each offers specific stories, techniques or tools, along with conceptual frameworks to guide thinking and design. The goal of the series is to sharpen evaluative thinking and build confidence and can-do capacity in evaluation methods that produce meaningful, useful information!

EVALUATION IN ACTION! is supported by the Nathan Cummings, Lambent, and Open Societies Foundations.

§  EVALUATION IN ACTION! Linking Your Work to Outcomes

March 28, 2013 at 3 PM EDT

Bulletin Board

The College Board is now accepting applications for the 2013 College Board Award for Excellence and Innovation in the Arts. This annual award recognizes and celebrates the achievements of six member institutions that have implemented an arts program that promotes student learning and creativity in exemplary and innovative ways.Take a look at the 2012 Arts Award brochure for profiles and photos of last year’s winning programs. One school from each of the College Board’s six regions will be awarded $3,500 to support the continuation and growth of their arts programs. Of the six finalists, one school will be named the national winner and will be awarded an additional $1,500. All applications must be submitted online by April 5, 2013. For more information, visit College Board online.

March has been designated by the American Alliance for Theatre and Education (AATE) as Theatre in our Schools month, the time of year to advocate and celebrate the benefits of theatre education and raise awareness of theatre education’s power to improve academic achievement, raise SAT scores, and stimulate innovation and creativity among young people. The Department of Education reports a 16% drop in public elementary school instruction for drama/theatre over the past ten years, and a 3% drop in secondary schools. For more information on the benefits of school theatre programs, regional conferences, or Theatre in our Schools month, visit http://www.aate.com.

Register Now for Arts Advocacy Day

April 8–9, 2013

The 2012 election has made a dramatic impact on Congress with more than 80 new members of Congress taking office in early January. The 113th Congress will renew the focus on reducing the federal deficit through program cuts and revenue raisers that could detrimentally impact nonprofit arts organizations. It is imperative that arts advocates work together to help educate members of Congress about the role the arts play in spurring economic growth and job creation. Register Now!

The Americans for the Arts 26th Annual Nancy Hanks Lecture on Arts and Public Policy

The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts Concert Hall

Washington, DC, April 8, 2013, 6:30 PM

Grammy Award®-winning musician Yo-Yo Ma will deliver the Americans for the Arts 26th Annual Nancy Hanks Lecture on Arts and Public Policy. Receive two free tickets to the lecture with your Arts Advocacy Day registration or reserve your general admission single ticket online today.

Registration is now open for the 2013 Americans for the Arts Annual Convention!

This year, arts leaders from across the country will gather in Pittsburgh, PA from June 14-16 to find ways to improve the story of how the arts build better lives, communities, and workplaces. A series of exciting speakers and arts innovators will discuss why the arts are the best kept secret when it comes to building healthy, diverse, and engaged communities. Our Annual Convention also provides an opportunity for peer groups interested arts education, cultural diversity, emerging leaders, public art, fundraising, and more to meet each year to connect and share their work.

In addition, three preconferences offer attendees a chance to dig deeper:

The Public Art Network Preconference explores critical issues facing the field and includes case study tours illustrating how Public Art contributes to Pittsburgh’s distinction as America’s most livable city. The Public Art Network Preconference is generously sponsored by McKay Lodge Conservation Laboratory.

Our first ever Cultural/Arts and Entertainment Districts Preconference examines Pittsburgh in depth—and is your opportunity to see up-close how arts & entertainment and cultural districts work. The Cultural/Arts and Entertainment Districts Preconference is generously sponsored by The Claude Worthington Benedum Foundation and the National Endowment for the Arts.

The Emerging Leaders Preconference teaches participants to adapt at the individual level in order to more effectively lead change in their communities. The Emerging Leaders Preconference is generously sponsored by Carnegie Mellon University Master of Arts Management Program.

Feature Your Professional Development Grant on our Convention Website

Is your organization or community offering any upcoming professional development grants? Americans for the Arts is currently compiling a list of funding sources for the 2013 Annual Convention in Pittsburgh, PA from June 14- 16, 2013. If you know of any opportunities that would help our attendees get to the convention, we would love to feature it on our Ways to Save page! In order to be featured, please email Anette Shirinian at ashirinian@artsusa.org with the name of the organization, grant title, and link to the website.

Spotlight on... Minnesota Citizens for the Arts

Minnesota’s Arts Advocacy Day was held last week - on Thursday, March 7th in the state capitol of St. Paul, MN. Minnesota Citizens for the Arts (MCA) led the charge recruiting artists and arts supporters from across the state, with a total of more than 700 advocates in attendance. The State of Minnesota operates on a biennial budget cycle, making the 2013 legislative session a particularly crucial time for arts supporters to raise visibility.

Advocates asked legislators to follow through on the promise of the Clean Water, Land and Legacy Amendment that dedicated funds to conservation and the arts. Last year arts advocates had to fight off suggestions that the funds be used to build a stadium. On Arts Advocacy Day, MCA’s Executive Director Sheila Smith said, “We are asking that at least 50 percent of the Legacy Amendment’s Arts fund go through the highly accountable and transparent Minnesota State Arts Board and Regional Arts Council system because it ensures that citizens in all 87 counties will benefit. We are concerned about some bills that would earmark the resources intended for all Minnesotans to benefit only a few.”

For arts supporters unable to travel to the capitol, MCA utilized their new VoterVOICE action center to ensure that even advocates with only a few minutes to spare were able to make their voices heard.

Visit the Minnesota Citizens for the Arts Facebook Page to see pictures from the event, and follow MCA on Twitter to see retweets from legislators that they met with.