The greatest month of the year is upon us - National Arts & Humanities Month!
On September 21st, more than 400,000 people came out for the People’s Climate March in New York City. And what could be found in that sea of thousands, carrying messages of fear and hope and action, was art. Ben Pomeroy from Hyperallergic was on the ground documenting the handmade creations—many collaboratively built—that were central to the march, acting as sounding boards and representing the diverse array of voices within the thousands.
BASETRACK LIVE is a multidisciplinary work including theater, music, news media, journalism, and technology. While embedded with the First Battalion, Eighth Marines in Southern Afghanistan, a group of photojournalists led by Teru Kuwayama started the online project that became the authentic dialogue of the performance. Connecting Battalion members with their families and others around the world, the online project became a platform for documenting the range of perspectives and the emotional tolls of deployment and beyond.
Last Wednesday, New York City officials showed their support of arts organizations by announcing a new initiative called "Culture Active In Disasters" (CultureAID).
The program will be a "response and recovery network to reduce redundant communications, pool available resources and share best practices about emergency preparedness."
Each year, Americans for the Arts, through the Business Committee for the Arts, recognizes ten U.S. companies for their exceptional commitment to the arts through local partnerships with artists and arts organizations, arts and culture grants and sponsorships, matching gift and corporate giving campaigns, volunteer programs and pro bono services, initiatives that engage employees and evoke creativity in the workplace, and board membership and leadership. This year, the BCA10 honorees will be celebrated in New York City at an evening gala on Oct. 1.
WASHINGTON/NEW YORK—September 3, 2014—Americans for the Arts, the nation’s leading nonprofit organization for advancing the arts and arts education, today announced the honoree companies selected by the Business Committee for the Arts (BCA), a division of Americans for the Arts, as the BCA 10: Best Businesses Partnering with the Arts in America for 2014.
Artist Elizabeth Egbert, recently director of the Staten Island Museum, passed away on Saturday at the age of 69. She had worked around the country as a public artist with pieces in Mesa, Arizona and shown at the Socrates Sculpture Park in New York City. She was an artist, sculptor, and community activist. She was also an educator and taught at Hunter College and the College of the Arts in Philadelphia.
It's that time again: Americans for the Arts is seeking at least 200 partners to make this Arts and Economic Prosperity Study larger and more comprehensive than ever before--and we invite YOU to be a part of it!
On Monday, August 11, the world lost one of its most loved comedians and most talented artists - Robin Williams. With over four decades in Hollywood under his belt, it's undeniable that he left his mark on pop culture forever.
Elizabeth Streb is an internationally acclaimed American choreographer, performer, and teacher of contemporary dance and movement. Her choreography, which she calls "POPACTION," challenges us rethink the interface between people, technology, and society.
Last week, the Lincoln Center announced a new, alternative initiative to educate and certify arts educators in three years who will be placed in up to 120 New York inner city schools. The Lincoln Center is partnering with CUNY’s Hunter College School of Education, the New York City Department of Education, and the United Federation of Teachers to launch the “Lincoln Center Scholars Alternative Certification Program.”
The U.S. House Appropriations Committee today approved legislation restoring $8 million in FY15 funding cut from both the NEA and NEH. Ranking Member Nita Lowey (D-NY) secured the funding restoration within the non-controversial manager’s amendment offered by Interior Subcommittee Chairman Ken Calvert (R-CA). Heading into the committee markup, Rep. Chellie Pingree (D-ME) was also prepared to offer an amendment to restore the cuts to the NEA and NEH. The funding restoration now returns each of these agencies to their current FY14 level of funding of $146 million for FY15.
Longtime arts advocate Anthony Turney passed away July 4, 2014. Turney had a varied career, spanning several cities, starting in New York as an event producer. He would eventually become Deputy Chairman of the National Endowment for the Arts in Washington, DC; Executive Director of the Dance Theater of Harlem; Administrative Director of the San Francisco Opera; and CEO of the NAMES Project Foundation. In 1996, he was ordained to the Episcopal diaconate and continued to work as a member of the clergy until his retirement.
NYC Mayor, Bill De Blasio, recently announced a $23 million increase to the city’s education budget specifically for arts education. The allocation is in response to the report by city Comptroller, Scott Stringer, which found 28 percent of city schools lack even one full-time certified arts teacher, especially with the South Bronx and Central Brooklyn.
A note from Susan Molinari, Vice President for Public Policy at Google, about an incredible project Google's Cultural Institute just completed commemorating the 70th anniversary of the Normandy landings:
Americans for the Arts is pleased to announce the 2014 BCA 10: Best Businesses Partnering with the Arts in America, which recognizes 10 businesses of all sizes for their exceptional involvement with the arts. The awards will be celebrated on October 1, 2014 at a gala presentation and dinner in New York City, which will highlight the ways in which today’s businesses are using the arts to inspire employees, stimulate innovation, and foster creative collaboration all across the country.
Consumers spend nearly $150 billion annually on entertainment and the arts. How does this breakdown to spending on the arts in your individual community?
The Arts & Business Council of New York is talking employee engagement on Twitter this Thursday, May 29th!
On May 24th the new 30-acre park on Governors Island will open to the public and will be the location of several public art pieces and the beginnings of a new public art program. Artists like Susan Philipsz and Mark Handforth have created artworks specifically for the site. Upcoming works will include a permenat sculpture by British artist Rachel Whiteread.
On September 10th, New York City officials showed their support of arts organizations by announcing a new initiative called "Culture Active In Disasters" (CultureAID) . The program will be a "response and recovery network to reduce redundant communications, pool available resources and share best practices about emergency preparedness." Tom Finkelpearl, the New York Cultural Affairs Commissioner, and Joseph Esposito, the New York Office of Emergency Management Commissioner, jointly announced CultureAID.
The exhbition "This Land Is Your Land" will be on display starting at the end of May in NorthPark Center in Dallas, TX. Ivan Navarro, a native born Chilean artist, created a series of water tower artworks that intergrate neon and text. The artworks, formarly on display in Madison Square Park in New York City, are situtated within a shopping plaza. Visitors can walk underneath them to see the text installed within the water towers, which reference a vital structure used to support the city.
Historical public artwork "Subway Riders" by artist Ralph Fasanella will be taking a trip over the next three years as part of a traveling exhibtion. "Subway Riders" was installed in the New York City subway in 1980's and is one of the more signficant publicly accessible pieces on display in the subway system. It will be exhibited with the show “Self Taught Genius: Treasures From the American Folk Art Museum.”
The annual congressional letters to the U.S. House and Senate Appropriations Committees saw boosted support; the bipartisan House letter led by Congressional Arts Caucus co-Chairs Reps. Louise Slaughter (D-NY) and Leonard Lance (R-NJ) received 134 signatures! Last year, the letter yielded 95 signatures. In the Senate, 29 Senators signed a similar letter led by Sen.
The new cultural affairs commissioner for New York City is Tom Finkelpearl, the president and executive director of the Queens Museum. Mayor Bill de Blasio appointed Mr. Finkelpearl, who will act as the representative for the arts in a city known to many as the cultural capital of the world. Mr. Finkelpearl will be responsible for a $156 million budget.
Congressional Arts Caucus co-Chairs Reps. Louise Slaughter (D-NY) and Leonard Lance (R-NJ) are co-leading a letter requesting $154.466 million for the NEA in FY 2015. In the Senate, Sen. Tom Udall (D-NM) is circulating a letter in support of NEA/NEH funding at the $155 million level for FY 2015.
Museum champions in the U.S. House and U.S. Senate are circulating bipartisan letters in support of “robust” funding for OMS in the coming fiscal year. In the House, the letter is led by Reps. Paul Tonko (D-NY), Michael Grimm (R-NY), and Arts Caucus co-Chairs Reps. Louise Slaughter (D-NY) and Leonard Lance (R-NJ). In the Senate, it is led by Sens. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) and Roy Blunt (R-MO).
Long round-trips aboard Amtrak trains dedicated solely for the purpose of writing? This is an idea that New York City-based writer Jessica Gross tweeted at Amtrak without ever thinking it could come true. But it did come true—when Amtrak offered Gross a free “test-run” residency aboard a train that traveled from NYC to Chicago and back. Now, the idea continues to grow as hoards of writers are contacting Amtrak to find out how to participate in the innovative writer residency.
Between the moving 33 marriages officiated by Queen Latifia during the big-winners Macklemore and Ryan Lewis performance (oh, and Madonna!), the memorable performances by Daft Punk and Beyonce/Jay-Z, and the funny dancing of Taylor Swift - it was easy to miss a special, first-time-for-the-Grammy's award that recognizes artist's teachers - the Music Educator Award.
At the end of last year, Dean Mary Schmidt Campbell of the Tisch School of the Arts at New York University retired. She has been the face of arts and culture in New York for over 23 years. Prior to her role as Dean at Tisch School, she was the chairwoman of the New York State Council on the Arts, commissioner of New York City’s Cultural Affairs Department, and Executive Director of the Studio Museum in Harlem.
So what is on this arts and culture leader's agenda for the New Year?
On Tuesday, November 19, The Arts and Business Council of New York (ABC/NY), a division of Americans for the Arts, presented testimony at a New York City Council hearing on a proposed bill that calls for the city to develop and impleme
