Arts Funding

The New York City-based Foundation Center has announced the launch of a data visualization tool to help grantmakers, policy makers, researchers, and others better understand the impact of philanthropy around the world. Philanthropy In/Sight allows registered users to create customized Google maps to explore giving patterns, emerging trends, and funding relationships globally, nationally, or at the community level. Updated weekly, the center’s data on some 97,000 grantmakers and more than 1.6 million grants can be combined with dozens of demographic and socioeconomic data overlays to create mashups that help users understand where foundation dollars are having the greatest effect and where funding is most needed.

“Arts in the Balance,” summarizing the fifth and concluding biennial survey of public and private arts funding in Los Angeles County, was released today by Southern California Grantmakers (SCG). SCG conducted the 2007/2008 survey in partnership with the UCLA Center for Civil Society. This year’s survey examined the extent to which arts funding sources and patterns have slumped — or, in many cases stayed much the same — over the past 10 years. The survey also provides insights into the current arts and culture funding climate within the context of trends that stand to impact the arts funding landscape in the years ahead. There are just over 1,000 arts and culture nonprofits in Los Angeles County, with approximately $1.2 billion in revenue. See News Release about the report, or the PDF of the entire survey.

From the “Executive Summary” – In 1989, government arts funding in the United States came under vitriolic political attack.  In the wake of complaints about taxpayers’ money being spent on offensive, “pornographic,” or “blasphemous” works, and in the face of threatened cutoffs of funding, the National Endowment for the Arts began to retreat from supporting potentially controversial artwork.  State and local funding agencies, although less vulnerable to attack, could not help but be aware of the political risks of supporting provocative art.  As the crisis deepened, many leading arts organizations shied away from outspoken advocacy of free expression for artists and arts institutions that receive government grants.

What is the role of the arts in American culture? Is art an essential element? If so, how should we support it? Today, as in the past, artists need the funding, approval, and friendship of patrons whether they are individuals, corporations, governments, or nonprofit foundations. But as Patronizing the Arts shows, these relationships can be problematic, leaving artists “patronized”–both supported with funds and personal interest, while being condescended to for vocations misperceived as play rather than serious work. In this provocative book, Marjorie Garber looks at the history of patronage, explains how patronage has elevated and damaged the arts in modern culture, and argues for the university as a serious patron of the arts. Compulsively readable, Patronizing the Arts challenges all who value the survival of artistic creation both in the present and future.

Marjorie Garber teaches English at Harvard University, where she also chairs the Visual and Environmental Studies Department and directs the Carpenter Center for Visual Arts. Her many books include Shakespeare After All and Academic Instincts (Princeton).

When an artist or arts administrator faces a funding cut, he or she need to be able to take swift and efficient action to mitigate the situation–mobilize advocates, create a message, and implement a strategy. To simplify this process, Americans for the Arts has developed this ever-expanding online tool to provide you with current information and key messaging, communications and advocacy strategies, and the research you need to make the case. Links to different topic areas (messaging, advocacy, etc.) are available from the website.