Around the horn: heat wave edition

First Things First EMCArts’s Director: Activating Innovation position, which we first posted about in March, is open again. Details here. Cool Projects You simply MUST watch the entirety of this video produced by the fine citizens of Grand Rapids. Organized after an article published on Newsweek’s website named Grand Rapids one of “America’s Top 10Read More

El Sistema: The Movement

One man’s vision to create an after-school orchestral music education program in Venezuela back in 1975 has inspired cultural organizations and artists across the United States to take action and innovate in music education for social change.

Kansas Arts Commission vetoed by Governor

Well, it’s happened. After initially eliminating the agency via executive order, only to be defied by the Kansas state legislature which restored $689,000 in appropriations, Governor Sam Brownback has vetoed funding for the Kansas Arts Commission. Although this action does not formally eliminate the agency — it still exists in theory, just with no moneyRead More

Around the horn: staycation edition

ART AND GOVERNMENT Remember that debate a while back about whether video games qualified as art? Well, the NEA just declared it over by including support for “digital games” in its new Art and Media program. To Scott Walters’s everlasting chagrin, however, the NEA is still providing funding to organizations in New York, LA, andRead More

TEDx Talk

“Never Heard of ’Em”: Why Citizen Curators (not Daddy’s Money) Should Decide Who Gets to Be an Artist.

Around the horn: Donald Trump edition

I’m happy to announce that I will be speaking in Chicago this Saturday, May 7 at David Zoltan’s TEDxMichiganAve event (you can buy tickets here). The talk is tentatively titled “Never Heard of ‘Em: Citizen Curators and Who Gets to Be an Artist,” and I will be synthesizing themes from my post on artistic marketplaces,Read More

Cool job of the month

Director of Development and Membership, Grantmakers in the Arts Grantmakers in the Arts is seeking a Director of Development and Membership. A qualified applicant should have experience planning and implementing resource development strategies. Key actions include initiating and providing oversight of all policies and procedures related to fund-raising; identifying, cultivating, and soliciting major gift prospects;Read More

The Social Network: Volunteer Edition

In honor of National Volunteer Week, let’s take a look at managing volunteers in true Createquity fashion–from a research-based perspective. Volunteers do a lot for arts organizations. They get mailings out the door, they get audience members to their seats, they bring in thousands of dollars, and they contribute their professional expertise to organizations theyRead More

Around the horn: government shutdown edition

Comings, Goings, and Mergers The nation’s three largest composer-focused arts service organizations have announced a major realignment. The American Music Center and Meet The Composer will merge into a new entity called New Music USA, while AMC’s membership and professional development programs will be transferred to the American Composers Forum. This is the legacy ofRead More

Cool jobs of the month: March

Director: Activating Innovation, EmcArts EmcArts, a social enterprise and program agency for innovation in the arts, is seeking an entrepreneurial leader to develop the company’s newest area of work in Activating Innovation field-wide. EmcArts has pioneered programming to spur innovation in selected arts organizations across the country. Building on this success, and recognizing the increasingRead More