SAAN Meeting
April 7, 2013
Washington, DC
Arts Advocacy Day
April 8 - 9, 2013
Washington, DC |
The Cultural CongressHosted by the Washington State Arts Alliance
April 22- 24, 2013
Seattle, WA
Arts & Culture Legislative Visits Day
Hosted by Citizens for the Arts in Pennsylvania & the PA Arts & Culture Coalition
May 7, 2013
Harrisburg, PA
Arts DayHosted by Ohio Citizens for the Arts
May 15, 2013
Columbus, OH
To have your upcoming event featured in The SAANBox, contact Kim Kober at kkober@artsusa.org. |
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Rhode
Island State Representative Donna M. Walsh wants to boost Rhode
Island’s growing arts community and its economy, particularly through
tourism. To do this she has introduced legislation
to extend Rhode Island’s existing tax-free art zones to include the
entire state. For one-of-a-kind works of art, her proposed legislation
would eliminate the 7 percent sales tax. She says foregoing this revenue
is an investment in creating more jobs in galleries and nonprofits,
more opportunities for artists to devote more time to their work, and
increased opportunities to expand our vitally important tourism
industry. Rhode Island also plays host to one of America’s finest arts
schools, the Rhode Island School of Design, and she believes the bill
would help encourage graduates to stay, work and create in Rhode Island.
“We need a tax change that will encourage this trend to bring more
tourists and art buyers to Rhode Island,” says Walsh. “My legislation
builds on the experimental arts districts already in existence to
provide the same benefit to artists and those who display and sell their
work statewide.”
Arkansas State Senator Bryan King has introduced legislation to cut art education in half.
SB 826, which is named, "An act to provide public school students with
additional opportunities to pursue a more rigorous study of visual art
or the performing arts," would change Arkansas law to let elementary
schools offer 40 minutes of visual arts or performing arts, rather than
40 minutes of both. The bill's more rigorous study provision is loosely
defined that in either seventh or eighth grade, students will have to
participate in visual arts or performing arts. The state department's
spokesman, Phyllis Stewart, says the bill's requirement for middle
school is less rigorous than what is now required in seventh and eighth
grades. Frameworks for those grades require instruction in both visual
art and music.
School
district officials for the Mars Area School District in Pennsylvania
have had to make cuts to art, foreign language and physical education
programs.
That did not sit well with high school science teacher Peters Black.
The school board, he said, “is cutting one of the most successful
programs in the school. We had an amazing art program. I would compare
the caliber of art shows here to that in much bigger school districts.”
He said the area's job growth and housing boom lead him to believe that
the district can support arts programs. Black posted a petition on change.org
asking the school board to reinstate arts funding. The petition also
lists many careers that are supported by the arts program and provides
links to resources about the benefits of art education.
New
York City is an essential character in the Spider-Man series, but until
now versions of the movie have been primarily filmed in Los Angeles.
"The Amazing Spider-Man 2," which is expected to open in May 2014, is
the first film about Gotham native Peter Parker, Spider-Man's alter ego,
to be shot entirely in New York. The film's producers said they were
ultimately drawn from Los Angeles to New York by the maturing
film-production industry here. Tax incentives offered by the state
amount to 30% of the film's production expenses, which includes ticket
items such as makeup, plywood, trucks and lighting (but not actors'
salaries). "The Amazing Spider-Man 2" is expected to create 3,500 jobs,
but one issue is that much of the job creation happens in already
wealthy areas of the state such as New York City and Long Island.
Spider-Man will go to Rochester to film a chase scene because speed laws
upstate aren't as restrictive as New York City's.
The
Milwaukee Public School district (MPS) in Wisconsin currently has
approximately 80,000 enrolled students, but only 81 full time arts
teachers, or roughly one arts teacher for every 1,000 students.
Although MPS hopes to raise that number to more than 100 teachers next
year, it is increasingly turning to partnerships with nonprofit arts
organizations to fill the void. Danceworks, a performance troupe with a
great reputation in Milwaukee, is active in as many as 45 schools
throughout the area, offering programs both during and after school.
According to director of education Amy Brinkman-Sustache, “What we try
to do is accommodate, if we can, to what they are doing in the classroom
and what we can tie into the curriculum.” In related news, the budget
proposed by Gov. Scott Walker projects little or no increase in funding
to public schools over the next two years while maintaining limits on
school districts’ ability to add to their annual budgets through
property tax increases.
Stanford,
Kentucky Mayor Bill Miracle says he wants to start a discussion about
merging the Stanford arts program and the county's tourism program which
he says could save money and provide a more robust arts program for the
whole area. The prospect of factory layoffs provide
a significant threat to Stanford’s potential tax revenues for next year
and Miracle said he is concerned that if there are any more layoffs
within city limits, it will reduce Stanford's payroll tax revenue and
force the city to start considering cuts as it plans next year's budget.
A merged program could potentially have a budget of $90,000-$100,000.
This year, the Stanford arts budget is a little more than $48,000 and
the county spends somewhere in the vicinity of $53,000 on its tourism
program. |
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Masooma
Khan, an art teacher at the Chicago Math and Science Academy in
Illinois, decided her students needed a lesson in bullying and gang
violence after a spate of neighborhood shootings and the death of one of
the school's students. "Words choke whether you see
it or not," read the text on one piece that shows a woman being
strangled by an arm made of words. Senior Daniel Sanchez has been in
Khan's classes for two years and said previous art classes were "bland"
in comparison. "Art was just art," but this year Khan's classes have
inspired him to pursue a minor in the subject when he goes to college to
major in English. Eventually, he said, he wants to write and illustrate
a comic book. "That's my dream," he said after school, working on his
Advanced Placement art portfolio in Khan's classroom. "Art and writing
for me connects deeply with one another."
For the next two years, San Francisco's Bay Bridge will have quite the nightlife.
Officials threw the switch March 5 on a new public art installation,
turning on 25,000 LEDs affixed to the suspension cables on the western
span. This public art installation will shine from dusk until 2 a.m.
each evening with patterns of light that never repeat, thanks to a
computer program created by artist Leo Villareal. This program, based on
software used by graphic artists to simulate rain or snow for movies
and games, allows Villareal to flick points of light on and off
according to a specific set of rules that he determines. "You have
thousands and thousands of points and they all have simple rules [to
follow] and somehow, something complex emerges," Villareal said. "That's
really the art."
The Tax Foundation has released the 2013 edition of Facts and Figures: How Does Your State Compare?, a pocket-sized guide ranking all fifty states on forty different measures of tax and fiscal policy.
Topics include income tax rates, business tax climates, and excise
taxes on products like beer, wine, cigarettes, and gasoline. Each of the
forty measures has its best and worst performers. Most favorably ranked
states include Alaska, with the lowest combined state and local tax
burden; Wyoming, with the most attractive state business climate; and
Tennessee, with the lowest state debt per capita. Least favorably ranked
states include California, with the highest marginal income tax rate;
Kentucky, with the highest excise tax on wine; and New York, with the
highest gasoline tax.
Concern is growing behind the scenes that Greater Boston’s vibrant arts and culture landscape is built on shifting ground. Every
source of public, corporate, foundation and individual support for
nonprofit arts and culture is shrinking as costs (inevitably) expand and
signal research shows that the break-even business model
well-intentioned funders and other “stakeholders” have urged on cultural
nonprofits for years has broken down. According to TDC of Boston, a
nonprofit consulting and research group, as many as three out of four
nonprofit arts organizations across the country are operating in the
black, but with so few assets and cash reserves that some are in danger
of compromising their artistic missions. “The issue in the arts sector
isn’t survival,” says TDC Principal Susan Nelson. “Organizations can
hang on for a very long time. They just get smaller and smaller. The
question is: Can these organizations actually do work of the quality
they want? Can they take risks? Are they able to attract artists of
quality and maintain the long-term interest of their audience? That’s
where the threat is right now.” |
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LinkedIn Groups and Company Pages for Nonprofits
Tuesday, April 23, 2013 at 1 PM EDT
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 WebTuesday, April 30, 2013 at 1 PM EDT
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! SeriesEVALUATION
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.
Business Speak: Can We Talk? SeriesWith
the launch of The pARTnership Movement in 2012 we explored mutually
beneficial ways of partnering with business to further both arts and
business goals. With this series we will provide detailed instructions
for the methods and models to create successful partnerships.
Businesses
often promote volunteerism as one of the key elements of employee
engagement and arts organizations are looking for ways to increase
involvement with skilled volunteers. Learn practical strategies on how
to build and fund a successful volunteer program in your community.
Presented by:
Deborah Edward, Executive Director, Business for Culture and the Arts;
Susan Myers, Associate Director, Business for Culture and the Arts;
Megan Low, Director of Services, Arts & Business Council of Greater
Boston.
This
webinar is presented in partnership with the Arts & Business
Council of New York and is supported, in part, by public funds from the
New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the
City Council, and by the New York State Council on the Arts with the
support of Governor Andrew Cuomo and the New York State Legislature.
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Colorado Creative Industries (CCI), a division of the Colorado Office of Economic Development and International Trade, announced that Margaret Hunt has been selected as the new director.
Hunt comes to CCI from the Utah Division of Arts and Museum, where she
served as the executive director since 2005. In this position, she led
the agency through significant changes including the merger of two state
agencies: the Utah Arts Council and the Office of Museum Services. Hunt
was elected by her peers to serve on the board of the National Assembly
of State Arts Agencies and has been a trustee of the Western States
Arts Federation for five years. She has received numerous leadership
awards including the governor's leadership award for contributions to
community and economic development, and United Way's Volunteer of the
Year award. Hunt is a visual artist, and her work appears in public and
private collections including the Salt Lake City Airport Collection. She
attended the University of Utah and Naropa University in Boulder.
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.
Visit the scholarship page to find information about scholarship qualifications. The deadline to apply is February 28- so apply today!
National Endowment for the Arts Announces Funding Guidelines Available for Fiscal Year 2014 Grants
Art
Works is the NEA's largest funding category, supporting the creation of
art that meets the highest standards of excellence, public engagement
with diverse and excellent art, lifelong learning in the arts, and the
strengthening of communities through the arts. The next deadline for Art
Works applications is August 8, 2013.
The Challenge
America Fast-Track category offers support primarily to small and
mid-sized organizations for projects that extend the reach of the arts
to underserved populations -- those whose opportunities to experience
the arts are limited by geography, ethnicity, economics, or disability.
These grants feature an expedited review process with approximately six
months from application to notification. The deadline for Challenge
America Fast-Track is May 23, 2013.
For guidelines and application materials visit the NEA website. |
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Spotlight on... The Washington State Arts Alliance
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The Washington State Arts Alliance is producing the 2013 Cultural Congress, April 22- 24 in Seattle, Washington with support from ArtsWA, 4Culture, Seattle’s Office of Arts and Cultural Affairs, The Seattle Center, and Theatre Puget Sound.
The Cultural Congress brings together a diverse group of cultural
leaders to strengthen skills and cultivate partnerships through
intensive workshops, peer dialogue, and dynamic speakers.
During the conferences, participants will attend sessions such as Secrets of Successful Arts Partnerships and The Future is not in the Original – The Digital Age and hear from keynote speaker and former Chairman of the National Endowment for the Arts, Bill Ivey.
The Washington State Arts Alliance has built an entire website around the conference, which you can view online. For more information about the Alliance, visit them on Facebook and Twitter. |
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