- I really, really want to write about the new National Arts Index from Americans for the Arts, but I just have too much else on my plate right now to do it justice. Luckily, I am not the only arts policy blogger on the web: you can read Randy Cohen’s explanation at ARTSblog here, along with reactions from Judith H. Dobrzynski, Barry Hessenius, Bill Ivey, Michael Rushton, and Gary Steuer.
- In case you’re not tired of all the “new frames for the arts” talk yet, check out this 5-day blog-a-thon on ArtsJournal focused on Bill Ivey’s concept of “Expressive Lives.” (Speaking of Ivey, Zack Hayhurst points us to a rather disturbing exchange with retiring Congressman John Shadegg reported in Ivey’s book Arts Inc. If anyone doubted Republicans’ insincerity when it comes to the NEA, there it is in full view.)
- Some L3C updates this week, all courtesy of Thomas A. Kelley III at the Nonprofit Law Prof Blog: there’s a symposium in Vermont on how the hybrid form fits into social enterprise next month; and Robert Lang, the originator and “zealous promoter” of the concept, is pushing struggling newspapers to embrace low-profit or nonprofit status. I still marvel at how resistant my classmates and professor in my media economics course in b-school were to the notion of nonprofit journalism as the future just two years ago; I wonder what they’re thinking now? (In case you doubt the importance of newspapers and professional journalism in the digital age, a new report from the Pew Research Center concludes that “most of what the public learns is still overwhelmingly driven by traditional media—particularly newspapers.”)
- Ouch: the New York State Council on the Arts looks like it’s in for it in 2010. I’m going to go way out on a limb (ok, not) and guess that this year is not going to be the end of state arts council woes. (Even Minnesota’s constitutional amendment tripling arts funding seems to be running into some implementation issues.)
- In other New York news (thanks CFR), a tax-abatement scheme to encourage landowners to offer below-market, long-term leases to nonprofit theater companies and other performing arts venues has been endorsed by a majority of the arts and culture committees of the 12 Manhattan community boards. This proposal has been in the works for a while, but it’s nice to see it gaining some momentum. Let’s hope it doesn’t meet with the same fate as the musicians’ union’s star-crossed bid to help jazz venues by lifting the sales tax levied on club admissions.
- More reporting on the Americanization of the European cultural funding system. Less government support, more tax breaks, more private philanthropy. I have to admit it’s rather touching to read about the French defending their culture so fervently. I wish we could learn from that here in the States. Alas, I fear that what’s happening here is less cultural exchange than a magnetic pull towards the U.S.’s largely laissez-faire approach to the arts.
- The Design Trust is partnering with Added Value and the City of New York to create the nation’s first citywide plan for urban agriculture. Arts advocates really need to start talking with environmental folks. Their aims are very compatible, and these guys are getting it done. (As an aside, I actually think of the arts as part of the environment, especially in an urban context. They’re not just compatible; they’re two sides of the same issue.)
- Whither the philanthropy crowdsourcing movement? The Chase Community Giving project has run into yet more controversy even as it announced the winner of the $1 million top prize (it’s Invisible Children). It seems – shocker, this one! – that a highly stratified system of rewards promoted cheating and unethical behavior! Well, for all that, I still think this Pepsi Refresh contest looks pretty cool. Let’s see if they learn their lessons.
