Here’s the second in my series of posts giving you a little introduction to each site on my blogroll. For this go-round, we’ll look at some blogs that got added to my RSS reader in the early days of Createquity. As one might expect, these start to move beyond the music focus to include a few on general arts management and philanthropy.
Fractured Atlas blog
I heart Fractured Atlas and have been a member for a couple of years, but wasn’t aware that they had a blog until its founder, Adam Forest Huttler, posted a comment on one of my thoughts on effective philanthropy posts and a reaction over at his site. As far as I’m concerned, the FA blog is as close to must-read status as it gets in the arts — Adam and his staff are top-notch thinkers and the blog frequently features thought-provoking content.The GiveWell Blog
I’ve posted twice before about GiveWell, which might just be the most fascinating organization on the planet (another post is forthcoming soon). This is their blog, which used to be much more interesting in the organization’s early days before the founders’ little marketing meltdown about a year ago. For a while, the content got very much on the dry side, consisting mostly of snippets of information that were previews of what would go in the reports. Now, the tone is a little more lively and there is some dialogue with other philanthropy blogs on the web. If you care about philanthropy or developing-world aid, you’ll want to check it out.Notes from the Kelp
Composer Alex Shapiro, who is one of my favorite people anywhere, offers a blog rich in the natural scenery of her gorgeous surroundings (first Malibu, California, and now San Juan Island in Washington State). In an innovative twist, she pairs each post with a snippet of her music chosen for the occasion. It’s like having a glass of wine with your blogging! To Alex’s vast credit, she was one of the first people to link to Createquity. The rest of her website is worth checking out as well.Soho the Dog
Music critic and composer Matthew Guerrieri is the author of Soho the Dog, an entertaining and informative source for musicology and commentary spiced with insights from economics and the occasional hilarious comic featuring Mahler and Strauss.Take It to the Bridge
Take It to the Bridge was originally formed to bring collective action to bear against the Knitting Factory so that artists could get the rights to the master recordings of albums that had been released on the now-defunct Knitting Factory label. When that effort was successful, the organization stuck around and eventually formed this blog. Take It to the Bridge was also active when Tonic closed, circulating a petition demanding that the city finance a new, equivalent space for improvised and experimental music. The blog itself is characterized by infrequent spurts of content, and in fact the most recent post is from last April. However, when there is activity it usually means that something important is going on.The Artful Manager
Andrew Taylor is a consultant and director of the Bolz Center for Arts Administration at the University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Business. His blog, which is another member of the ArtsJournal consortium, focuses on general issues of arts management. His program sounds really interesting and I sometimes feel envious from over here in the Eastern time zone. (But then I read about wind chills in the Midwest tonight and I decide that New Haven suits me just fine, thankyou.) The commentary and ideas are thoughtful and well worth your time.