- The excellent commentary on Outrageous Fortune is so plentiful that I won’t pretend to try to link to all of it. Two bloggers not part of Isaac’s group caught my eye with their posts, however. First, Guy Yedwab makes an important point about individual incentives (and inertia) getting in the way of systematic change. Second, Chris Ashworth sings the praises of artmaking as paid for by non-art day job, and suggests that the economic chains that bind artists may be, for some of them at least, a prison of their own creation.
- Speaking of Isaac, he’s getting 15 minutes (okay, five questions) of fame over at Culturebot.
- I love it when blogs turn into businesses. Andrew Dubber’s New Music Strategies is now not just a website, but a thing.
- “Pop up” galleries, short-term exhibitions in vacant storefront spaces or even condos, are totally taking the mainstream media by storm. On Friday, the WaPo and the Wall Street Journal reported on the fast-growing trend in DC and New York, respectively.
- Via the Clyde Fitch Report, the Rockefeller Foundation Cultural Innovation Fund is back, thankfully unaffected by Joan Shigekawa’s departure for the NEA.
- Umm, what? The Judith Rothschild Foundation (run by a sole trustee) has defaulted on all 17 of its grants to visual artists from the past year? This is why philanthropy needs to be professionalized, folks.
- This week’s BLOGGER ON FIRE is the suddenly resurgent team at Advance the Arts, who are using their platform to summarize key findings of recent arts-related research conducted by community foundations in California. The researchers found that there is near-universal agreement in Orange County that the arts are critical for education and development of children and that a vibrant cultural sector is important to the community, and that two-thirds of San Diegans would be willing to pay more taxes to support the arts; and reported on a creative economy planning effort out of Monterey County. A promising trend toward making this site a more useful resource. (A close second in the sweepstakes: Nancy Roob of the Edna McConnell Clark Foundation doing a guest stint over at Intrepid Philanthropist.)
- More thoughts on new research with arts implications from Philadelphia’s Gary Steuer.
- Guy, this one’s for you: check out emcArts’s attempt to create a “Breakthroughs in Shared Measurement“-esque Adaptive Learning System for arts organizations responding to the economic crisis.
- The hot topic over in the social entrepreneurship world this week is a proposal from three Generation Y founder types who have decided to offer equity in, well, themselves (i.e., their lifetime earnings), in exchange for investments in the social ventures they’re spearheading. Scott Walters is already contemplating the implications for artists, though I’m guessing the market one could realistically command would be significantly less robust unless one’s career is already in pretty good shape.
- Speaking of Generation Y emerging leaders, how about Buck Jabaily? The artistic director of Single Carrot Theatre is taking over the executive director position at the Greater Baltimore Cultural Alliance at age 25.
- Remember the exchange between charity raters GiveWell and Philanthropedia that we highlighted a couple weeks back? Well, a blogger named Saundra Schimmelpfennig (YES!) ratcheted up the pressure even more after that, prompting another response from the Philanthropedia team. Really fascinating stuff if you’re interested in (a) how to judge the effectiveness of charities, (b) principles of transparency, or (c) incisive yet civil debate.
- Sean Stannard-Stockton’s been running an open forum of sorts for comments on the White House Social Innovation Fund. He submitted his own here, which synthesize some the ideas offered by others. Sean also reposted a great column from Larry Blumenthal on failing with style in philanthropy.
- An interesting article on how the academy is “typecast” as a liberal place, thus catalyzing a kind of self-selection effect in the people who aspire to become professors. Numerous applications to the arts (especially in light of recent discussions on the diversity of the field) seem potentially relevant.
- Missed this last week, but Croatia has a new president — and he’s a composer! Not only that, but Ivo Josipović plans to write an opera about the life of John Lennon while in office.
- Hmm…is aligning publications with universities a new model for nonprofit journalism?
- Looking for plane tickets on the cheap? Here are some tips you may not have tried. (h/t Stephanie)
