In 2009, Animating Democracy, a program of Americans for the Arts, launched the Arts & Social Change Mapping Initiative. Supported by the Nathan Cummings Foundation, Open Society Foundations, CrossCurrents Foundation, and Lambent Foundation, this initiative sought to identify and profile existing sources of private- and public-sector funding for arts for change work and, in so doing, to gain insight into the current state of support for this work. The culminating report, Trend or Tipping Point: Arts & Social Change Grantmaking, draws together quantitative and qualitative data from a survey, interviews, and review of grantmaker conducted reports.
Arts Funding
AFTA Roundtable Report: The Role of the Arts in Strengthening and Inspiring the 21st Century Global Community
In envisioning a greater role for the arts in cultural diplomacy and engagement, thirty six national and international public and private sector leaders met at the Sundance Resort and Preserve in Utah on September 24-26, 2009. There they acknowledged the multiple roles the arts can play in strengthening cultural relations globally. Americans for the Arts believes this report may serve as a launching point to a new global dialogue between the public and private sectors and within our communities on the role the arts can play in improving relations between the U.S. and the world.
Arts for All: Case Studies in LA County
In 2008, the Arts for All Executive Committee commissioned Lynn Waldorf to conduct a series of case studies on the eleven vanguard school districts that joined the initiative within its first five years. The case studies document the progress made and issues confronted by each school district during the early stages of planning and implementing their arts plans. Key findings include:
- Half the Vanguard Districts adopted standards-based sequential curricula in music and visual arts within three years of initiating implementation. Fewer than 20 percent have added dance or theatre.
- 82% of Vanguard Districts reported they joined the Arts for All initiative to replace a patchwork approach to arts education with sequential instruction. Approximately half were also motivated by the opportunity to improve equitable access for all students.
- All the Vanguard Districts had either hired or assigned someone to coordinate the arts education reform effort–a factor that was considered critical to achieving their goals. In general, districts with full-time coordinators in administrative positions were able to progress the furthest.
Staying In School – Arts Education and New York City High School Graduation Rates
In New York City, the cultural capital of the world, public school students do not enjoy equal access to an arts education. In fact, in schools with the lowest graduation rates – where the arts could have the greatest impact–students have the least opportunity to participate in arts learning.
This report takes the first ever look at the relationship between school-based arts education and high school graduation rates in New York City public schools. The findings, based on data collected by the New York City Department of Education (DOE), strongly suggest that the arts play a key role in keeping students in high school and graduating on time.
The Art of Engagement: Trends in U.S. Cultural Exchange and International Programming
This survey and analysis examines the U.S. Department of State and its role in cultural diplomacy and international cultural exchange. The results indicate a decrease in U.S. government resources in these fields in the 15 years following the fall of the Berlin Wall and the demise of the Soviet Union. In 2007, the Robert Sterling Clark Foundation began to commission on U.S.-based cultural diplomacy and cultural exchange aimed at making the case in reinvestment in these areas, especially in light of the erosion of international sympathy towards the U.S. more recently. SEE REPORT
Also see the Timeline of U.S. Public and Cultural Diplomacy1999-2009.
National Arts Index: the Health and Vitality of the Arts in the U.S.
The National Arts Index is a highly distilled annual measure of the health and vitality of arts in the United States by using 76 equal weighted, national-level indicators of arts activity. This report covers an 11-year period, from 1998 to 2008. The National Arts Index fell 4 points in 2008 to a score of 98.4, reflecting losses in charitable giving and declining attendance at larger cultural institutions, even as the number of arts organizations grew. The 2008 downturn in the Index was not wholly unexpected. With 100,000 nonprofit arts organizations and 600,000 more arts-related businesses, 2.24 million artists in the workforce, and billions of dollars in consumer spending, the arts industries largely track the nation’s business cycle.
