Arts Intranet

When people ask what I do, I frequently describe myself as an “arts bureaucrat.” My boss hates that moniker and reminds me that there is plenty of visioning, policy-making, leading and communications in my role. He’s right, of course. But “arts bureaucracy,” boring though it sounds, is one of my most important roles.

I started doing trainings for arts advocates almost a decade ago. At that time, I gave a lot of thought to what advocates need to know in order to start being advocates. I came up with two messages. First: you already know enough to be an effective advocate. And second: carry a little water for all of us.

Mesa Arts Center has just concluded its fourth year of Creative Aging programming, in partnership with several local organizations that serve seniors, people with dementia, and their caregivers. Creative Aging is a process where organizations utilize the arts to reach seniors, and employ trained teaching artists to engage them in creative activities that benefit their physical, mental, and emotional health.

"If I could wish for one thing in this life it would be that I might live long enough to hear the music of the American spirit emerging from thousands of fine civic orchestras in large places and small; see good plays, joyously presented and viewed in every American community almost every night; see fine pictures by native American artists decorating the walls of a multitude of American homes of every economic status."

The powerful effects of the arts on our well-being is undeniable. We do it because we enjoy the act of creation, even if it’s just for ourselves. But mostly, it’s for the love of it. 

When we propose to contribute toward making a place more healthy, equitable, and vibrant, we should be in and of the community—but not saving the people in it. 

This is the first in a weekly series of posts drawn from the newly released book, "To Change the Face & Heart of America: Selected Writings on the Arts and Communities, 1949-1992," by Robert E. Gard. This excerpt, "Invocation: What Is Our Calling?," was originally published in 1969.

It’s been a few months since I joined the Americans for the Arts team and I've had the opportunity to learn a lot about the interesting and diverse work that you're doing and how our tools, resources, and member network are helping you get it done.

We often share your stories in our member e-newsletter Monthly Wire, but I wanted to dig a little deeper into some of your projects and programs and really get to know your work. I'll be jumping in periodically to share what I'm learning about member activity so that you can get to know each other a little better and to find some new, creative ways to use your membership!

With the 2016 arts advocacy season upon us, I’ve updated the popular “Top 10 Reasons to Support the Arts.” Changes this year include #3 with the updated BEA/NEA’s new Arts in the GDP data as well as the addition of the public’s support of the arts as part of a well-rounded education (#2).

These are just 10 of many case-making arrows to include in your arts advocacy quiver, but we know there are many more. What is your #11?

With the start of a new year comes the start of a new General Assembly session, at least in my home state of Virginia, and also for three-quarters of our states’ legislatures. And for our state so begins the battle for increased funding for our state arts council—the Virginia Commission for the Arts. This Wednesday, arts leaders and supporters from across our Commonwealth will gather for Arts Advocacy Day when we will meet with our state representatives to plead our case. And just what is that case?

Happy New Year from all of us at Americans for the Arts! Together our work has helped transform America’s communities through the arts.  

Share with ARTSblog readers one way the arts helped transform your community in 2015, in the comments below and on social media! Tag us @Americans4Arts.

Congratulations on your success in 2015! We look forward to an exciting and productive New Year.

2015 is almost over, and what a year of successes and changes we've had as a country. The unemployment rate dropped to its lowest level in more than seven years; the Supreme Court ruled in favor of same-sex marriage nationwide; a landmark climate change agreement was approved; the U.S. embassy reopened in Cuba after 54 years; and a week ago, the Every Student Succeeds Act passed--a tremendous win for arts education. The arts won a number of other legislative victories too, such as increased federal arts funding and arts-friendly legislation regarding both IRA tax rollovers and visa law along with key successes at the state and local levels.

When a potential supporter for creative youth development approaches me, one of the first things I tell them is to look at the numbers. This model works. Students who participate in rigorous, arts-based after school programs perform better in school and have higher graduation rates than that of their peers who do not participate in the arts. I reference programs such as The Wooden Floor in Santa Ana, Say Si in San Antonio, ARTS in San Diego – the results are impressive. It is at this moment that I have their attention. I have connected my work to something they value: academic success.

2015 was a huge year for the arts! From the monumental new federal K-12 education law, the Every Student Succeeds Act, to a funding increase of $2 million for the National Endowment for the Arts, to key federal charitable tax provisions being made permanent, arts and arts education policy have progressed immensely this past year.

A young dancer recently told me she would be so happy if architects of community change and innovation and planning came to her with a request to put her skills to work for her community. Nothing would make her happier as an artist.

She’s just waiting for the invite! So, why doesn't this happen more often? And why do artists find it so hard to get a seat at the community planning table?

In recent meetings about the role of arts in community building and development, including the four regional meetings of the New Community Visions Initiative this fall, participants from the arts told us that they have a hard time getting a seat at that table. They sense that people in other sectors don’t seem to take arts seriously as a community development partner.

Corporate art collecting may be motivated by a number of objectives, from creating an aesthetically pleasing work environment to fostering employee engagement to strengthening a company’s image. Businesses that place a high value on art within and beyond the workplace likewise demonstrate an appreciation for innovation, creativity and corporate social responsibility. For the global furniture, interior architecture, and technology company Steelcase, corporate art collecting has created a thriving interplay between art, design and inspiration over the course of its 103-year history.

Did I say perfect?

Yes. Yes, I did. And here are just three (of many more*) reasons I believe that's true.

1) The gift of experience doesn’t clutter your kids’ bedrooms.

Okay, this is a big one for me (that’s why I made it Reason #1!)

Families – and individuals – are experiencing increasing physical (and technological) clutter.

“The arts are like a little black dress; right for every occasion, but one size doesn’t fit all.” - Commander Moira McGuire, Clinical care coordinator; Walter Reed National Military Medical Center

Jamie Bennett, President of ArtPlace America, recently shared this missive with me and I couldn’t agree more. The arts are unique in their capacity to inspire, motivate, connect, give voice, and, all in all, lead to great things.  And, to quote another great source, Spiderman, “with great power comes great responsibility.” 

I first met Jessica Wilt 5 years ago. She and I were both new to Americans for the Arts...I was a new staff member and liaison to the arts education advisory council, and Jessica was a newly minted council member.

Jessica immediately took a leadership role within the council, helping us craft a strategic plan for arts education at Americans for the Arts. Her leadership in arts education in New York City gave her plenty of expertise in arts education planning. Jessica was a tap dancer and teaching artist. She worked in the education departments at Dance Theater of Harlem and Flamenco Vivo Carlota Santana. She served on the Leadership Committee of the New York City Arts in Education Roundtable and was a school board member for VOICE charter school.

In 1995, as you surely know, Oklahoma City was the site of a bombing. A man drove a truck up one of the streets in downtown, pulled into a parking lot, went into a church and prayed, left, drove another block and parked in front of a federal building. Then he got out and blew the truck up, killing over 140 people including a bunch of children who were in a daycare in the building.

I got to see the memorial that was built on the site of the bombing. That road is now a glassy slip of water bounded on each end by gates. Where the building was, there are now ornamental chairs—smaller for children, larger for adults—to commemorate each life lost. Across the street, a gigantic, swooning tree that survived the blast stands guard. And throughout the city, at all of the street intersections that became makeshift helipads when responders rushed to the scene, there are deep red and tan bricks laid in resonating circles that pulsate out. The tragedy and the resilience of the place have literally been embedded in the roads, and the vision and perseverance of the people has been memorialized through art.

“Not everything that can be counted counts, and not everything that counts can be counted.”  Undoubtedly, we’re all familiar with this quote, which is popularly but erroneously attributed to Albert Einstein.  (In fact, this statement first appeared in 1963 in Informal Sociology: A Casual Introduction to Sociological Thinking,” written by sociologist William Bruce Cameron.) 

Whether or not Einstein said it originally, there’s irrefutable truth in the statement. And, this idea causes us to think about two key aspects of evaluation and assessment: what’s the best way to measure what we believe we can, and how to deal with the “unmeasurable.” 

In 2014, Animating Democracy, in partnership with the Art x Culture x Social Justice Network (ACSJN) and the Nathan Cummings Foundation launched the Evaluation Learning Lab. The lab builds practical knowledge and resources in three areas as they relate to arts and social change projects and programs:  measuring social impact, evaluating artistic/aesthetic dimensions, and equalizing power in evaluation.

Over the past year, guided by the Lab’s theory of change, we’ve gathered 20 artists, arts practitioners, funders, and evaluators in learning exchanges that combined case studies, presentations and discussion around existing evaluation theories and approaches, analysis of current frameworks, criteria, guidelines, and tools, and development of new tools for ethical practices.

It’s a scientifically proven fact that some of the most interesting things that happen at a conference occur outside of the meeting rooms. 

They happen in the hallways.

They happen in the hotel rooms, if that’s how you roll.

And they happen at the bar.

There’s a very specific reason we pitched a session to the National Arts Marketing Project Conference on behalf of the Philadelphia-based Wyncote Foundation.

In a year’s research in 2014, we set out to understand the conditions and capacities that are encouraging innovation in the deployment of digital technology in the cultural sector, particularly among legacy cultural institutions. 

The banner is dying. It has served us well, but after two decades in the spotlight, its time is coming. Don’t get me wrong, banner ads continue to be extremely effective, but something has arrived that aims to blow banner out of the water. Welcome, Native.

Native advertising has been around since the early days of print media. They are ads that read like content, an advertorial. 

Dear friends and colleagues,

I'm writing you to share the news that tomorrow is my last day as the director of Art, Culture + Tourism for the City of Providence.

Today I write to thank you for all that we have accomplished together in re-creating Providence. 

All across the country, students are back in school and this month, and Americans for the Arts and KRIS Wine are teaming up again to support arts education.  The arts can positively impact the entire school culture—especially student motivation, attitudes, and attendance— and research further demonstrates the myriad benefits of an education in the arts.  Recognizing these facts, Americans for the Arts and KRIS Wine are proud to announce the launch of the sixth annual “Art of Education” contest. Through this program, KRIS will award 16 winning schools a total of $25,000 in grants to support their arts programs.

Ask an outsider what they know about Iowa, and they may say one of three things, CORN ... HOGS ... and FARMLAND. Yes, Iowa is known for its agricultural bounty.

But visit the world-famous Art Institute of Chicago, and you’ll undoubtedly run into “American Gothic,” a painting universally recognized as a cultural icon — created by Grant Wood, an Iowan.

The explosion in the numbers of artists and arts activities in the 1940s and 1950s left a legacy that continues today, and what may come as a surprise is that in Iowa, the arts serve as an economic driver that attracts companies, creates jobs and grows local and state revenue. Without a doubt, the arts mean business in Iowa.

Anyone that is in my presence for more than ten minutes will probably pick up that I am passionate about two things outside of my family: Sports (particularly football and basketball) and artistic expression (particularly music and film). I’ve often debated with various friends whether or not sports could be considered art, and opinions have varied.

Last Tuesday, ballet was trending on social media. More specifically, Misty Copeland’s story of becoming American Ballet Theatre’s first African-American female principal dancer was trending. Following the ABT announcement, the internet flooded with congratulations for Ms. Copeland from faithful and new fans alike. Perhaps most moving was how personal many of the well-wishes were, written as if being sent to a dear friend or family member.