On Friday, November 21, I was fortunate to attend the National Arts Policy Roundtable at the NYU Wagner School of Public Service, hosted by SNEAC (the Student Network Exploring Arts & Culture). The early morning event featured two panelists who have served on President-elect Obama’s arts policy committee (legendary philanthropist Agnes Gund and conductor JonathanRead More
Around the horn: President-elect edition
Wow…been quite a week, hasn’t it? My election-watching story isn’t as dramatic as some, but I’m glad I decided to break with tradition this year and watch returns with company instead of in the privacy of my home. Something about history makes you want to experience it with others. Anyway, on to the issues ofRead More
I am famous
This past Friday, WNYC’s Brian Lehrer Show broadcast a 32-minute segment on arts and culture policy and funding. As I mentioned last week, this was part of the “30 Issues in 30 Days” series for which several topics have been opened up for public discussion via wiki. I’m proud to say that two of myRead More
Fascinating experiment in crowdsourcing
Via PhilanTopic, the Brian Lehrer Show on WNYC is running a series this month called “30 Issues in 30 Days,” looking at how Obama and McCain stack up on various questions of the day. Every Friday, one of the issues is given its own Wiki page so that show listeners (or, really, anyone) can collaborateRead More
Awesome.
WASHINGTON—The National Endowment for the Arts announced Monday that it has begun construction on a $1.3 billion, 14-line lyric poem—its largest investment in the nation’s aesthetic- industrial complex since the $850 million interpretive-dance budget of 1985. “America’s metaphors have become strained beyond recognition, our nation’s verses are severely overwrought, and if one merely examines theRead More
Splashing Around the Pool
A roundup of tasty tidbits for your weekend: Adam Forest Huttler is really smart. The founder of Fractured Atlas delivers a very lengthy, but entirely worth reading analysis of what MBAs can bring to the nonprofit sector, and arts organizations in particular. I am by no means a card-carrying member of the “business skills canRead More
Knowledge, part II
I promised a month ago that I would share more cool links as I found them from my work-related research on cultural studies and online tools. Here’s a selection for you: HealthyCity. What Mapping Westchester County did for the tony suburbs of New York, HealthyCity does for Los Angeles. Click on “Advanced Mapping” to seeRead More
Art and politics
I mentioned how I was surprised that at the National Performing Arts Convention in Denver, political speech at the plenary sessions was so openly embraced. Well, maybe I shouldn’t have been: according to the NEA’s Artists in the Workforce report (pdf), eight of the top ten states by number of artists per capita are blueRead More
Once more, with feeling
As a final epilogue on NPAC before it completely disappears from our memories (the official blog is already looking pretty dead), and in the spirit of contributing constructively to the discussion, I thought I’d share how I voted among the choices that were given to us at the final AmericaSpeaks town hall meeting/caucus session, andRead More
Knowledge
As I mentioned on the blog a little while back, I’m working in California this summer for the Hewlett Foundation. Though my internship started last week, I’ve refrained from blogging explicitly about work thus far because I didn’t want to violate any understandings of confidentiality. Nevertheless, I’m thankful that the staff has graciously and generouslyRead More