“Most of the discussion of the Bernard Madoff scandal has focused on the impoverished zillionaires who are now mere millionaires. Yet much of the money invested by Mr. Madoff was money destined for charities, and so the losers will include some good causes and truly disadvantaged people. A few private foundations have owned up to [...]
The Seattle Times reports on the ArtFund Poll, making the leap from non-profit’s responses on their expectations to present them as fact. The responses to the question, “Have you revised your attendance expectations” are reported in the past tense as, “A quarter of the groups report subscriptions have fallen off 10 percent.” Read More.
Like millions of Americans, many legislators still view our country’s commercial engine through a bifurcated lens. They believe that for-profit businesses drive the economy and create wealth, while not-for-profit organizations simply make grants, collect donations, and provide services. However, in the last 20 years, as philanthropy has grown exponentially in America, we now have evidence [...]
Tyler Green on Arts Journal:
“When it comes to the coordination of scientific research between the Department of Homeland Security and the Defense Department, or the impact of stem cell research on American policy and state and federal budgeting, there’s an obvious home office: The White House science adviser. When it comes to coordinating, say, state-level [...]
David Smith (Senior lecturer in American history at Baylor University) in the Wall Street Journal:
But despite the severity of the troubles facing arts institutions, they’re nothing new. Nor is the call for a cabinet-level office for the arts. In 1952 the head of the American Federation of Musicians said that “the sad and declining estate” [...]
Comments of John Rockwell on the National Arts Journalism blog:
“…the likelihood of this country shifting over to a major public financing model for the arts, as opposed to our current private philanthropy with tax deductions, seems improbable any time soon. And without that marriage of pomp (a secretary in the cabinet) and substance (real money [...]
William R. Ferris (former NEH Chair) in the New York Times:
“Over the years, America has developed an impressive array of federal cultural programs—in addition to the endowments for the arts and the humanities. These include the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, the Institute of Museum and Library Services, the Library of Congress, the National Archives, NPR, [...]
Tim Smith in the Baltimore Sun:
“It’s easy to imagine a cabinet post that oversees the NEA and other exisiting (sic) cultural organizations in the government and that uses the office to push for a renassiance (sic) of arts education in schools and the shoring up of cultural institutions across the country. Other countries, including the [...]
Comments by Lee Rosenbaum’s Blog on Arts Journal:
“I’ve got nothing against better coordination among government programs involving the arts and humanities. Regular meetings of representatives from the relevant offices and agencies could foment creative synergies. Perhaps a White House official with advisory, not managerial, responsibilities could help facilitate this without inserting what we emphatically DON’T [...]
A. Barton Hinkle in the Richmond Times Dispatch:
Let’s take a straw poll: All those in favor of putting Dick Cheney in charge of the nation’s arts and culture, please raise your hand. Anybody?
Okay, how about Mike Huckabee?
Pat Robertson?
Rick Santorum?
Thought so.
Read More.
Robin Pogrebin in The New York Times.
“Some cultural figures have even been calling for a cabinet-level arts czar. In a radio interview last fall on WNYC’s “Soundcheck,” the music impresario Quincy Jones said that when he next spoke to Mr. Obama he would “beg for a secretary of arts” along the lines of the culture [...]
Lisa Pruitt on the Legal Ruralism Blog
“In part because of Ferris’s role in studying Southern culture and in part because of these opening paragraphs mentioning rurality, I thought his proposal might be particularly attuned to rural and/or Southern culture. I guess I am looking pretty hard for signs that someone is thinking about rural America [...]
“If, in fact, we believe that the arts are and should be integral to our society, why not elevate this important concept by appointing an arts and culture cabinet position? This advisor would make recommendations to all branches of government as to the health and vibrancy of the arts in all aspects of US society: [...]
Anonymous post on creatisphere blog:
“In the U.S. we left in part because we faced little funding, or working several jobs so we could just do what we were meant to do. Being abroad now for almost a decade I have seen the countries that do support the arts have a stronger presence artistically globally, children [...]
To: President Barack Obama
Congratulations and thank you for all you do.
Your good friend Quincy Jones said: “…next conversation I have with President Obama is to beg for a Secretary of Arts.”
We the undersigned support Quincy Jones’ plea.
Thank you.
Click here to sign the petition.
The $10.9 million includes more than 3,600 gifts from more than 1,500 donors, with 28 percent coming from The Atlanta Opera Board, 16 percent from foundations and government, 13 percent from corporations and 22 percent from individuals.
The Atlanta Opera said individuals at the highest donor level were Dr. and Mrs. James W. Bland Jr. and [...]
It has been a tough season for Intel, the world’s largest chip maker. Intel’s stock price slipped 42% in 2008 and its fourth-quarter numbers were poor, with net income off 90% from a year earlier. In such a difficult economic environment, cuts to non-essential spending would seem natural, like the company’s substantial corporate social responsibility [...]
Here’s a concise summary of the line items in the Economic Stimulus Bill that directly fund the arts, from Bill Cleveland posted on Community Arts Network. Read More.
Even before he took the oath of office, Barack Obama and his administration were laying the groundwork for sweeping changes — even in the arts. On Thursday, Jan. 15, Bill Ivey, the former chairman of the National Endowment for the Arts who now heads Obama’s transition team for arts and culture, convened a meeting of [...]
That, apparently, will be Valerie Jarrett, White House Senior Advisor and Assistant to the President for Intergovernmental Relations and Public Liaison. Jarrett stated upfront that she is a “true friend and partner” and wants to work with the philanthropic sector. Her office, she said, will be the foundation and philanthropic community’s “gateway” to the federal [...]
