This report shows the results of Teaching Artists and Their Work Survey: ATA’s Survey on What are Meaningful, Supportable, and Sustainable Environments for the Work of a Teaching Artist. The focus of the survey, conducted between September 2009 and March 2010 was Teaching Artists’ experiential knowledge. Teaching Artists’ from fifty states and the District of Columbia responded to the survey.
General
Rich Americans’ Philanthropy Dropped in 2009, But not for the Arts
Rich Americans’ Philanthropy Dropped in 2009, But not for the Arts
Bank of America and Merrill Lynch recently partnered with the Indiana University’s Center on Philanthropy to conduct a survey on the giving habits of individuals with high net-worth. The study highlighted the arts as the category with the biggest divide between wealthy and middle class giving habits, with religious giving the second biggest difference. Households with incomes of $200,000 or more, or a net worth of at least $1 million, devoted 7.5 cents out of their charitable dollar to the arts during 2009, compared to a penny for the population at large. Nearly three out of four wealthy households gave to the arts; for the general population it was just over one in 13.
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/culturemonster/2010/11/rich-arts-charity-merrill-lynch.html
Engaging Audiences
In the midst of hard economic times, it is clearly more challenging for arts organizations to take the long view and continue to devote time and effort to building new audiences. But this report on a recent gathering of representatives from more than 50 Wallace-funded arts organizations in six cities concludes that participation-building efforts and the resulting lessons are more vital than ever to the long-term health of arts organizations and the entire arts sector. Especially in hard times, the report says, it’s essential for leaders of arts organization to take careful stock of the long-term influences and challenges affecting the arts sector such as demographic shifts and new technologies that are creating entire new “spaces” for people to come together and experience the arts. The report describes how organizations are responding creatively to those challenges using such means as market research, re-branding, and drawing audience-building lessons from other sectors such as professional sports.
Neuroeducation: Learning, Arts, and the Brain
Neuroeducation: Learning, Arts, and the Brain, the culmination of a summit sponsored by The Johns Hopkins University School of Education’s Neuro-Education Initiative, focuses on the convergence of neuroscientific research and teaching and learning, with an emphasis on the arts. This free publication features a prolegomenon by the late Dana Chairman William Safire and full text of the keynote address given by Jerome Kagan, Ph.D., Harvard University, at the Hopkins summit. Highlights of the symposium are featured in an executive summary, edited transcripts of panel presentations, and a synthesis of roundtable discussions. You may e-mail your request to: bjeffries@dana.org.
BOOK: Letters to a Young Artist: Straight-up Advice on Making a Life in the Arts
ABOUT THIS BOOK
From “the most exciting individual in American theater” (Newsweek), here is Anna Deavere Smith’s brass tacks advice to aspiring artists of all stripes. In vividly anecdotal letters to the young BZ, she addresses the full spectrum of issues that people starting out will face: from questions of confidence, discipline, and self-esteem, to fame, failure, and fear, to staying healthy, presenting yourself effectively, building a diverse social and professional network, and using your art to promote social change. At once inspiring and no-nonsense, Letters to a Young Artist will challenge you, motivate you, and set you on a course to pursue your art without compromise.
The Arts Ripple Effect: A Research-Based Strategy to Build Shared Responsibility for the Arts
The Fine Arts Fund of Cincinnati released a report on their year long inquiry into what language and messages resonate to build community support for the nonprofit arts as a public benefit. Entitled “The Arts Ripple Effect,” the report finds that framing the benefits of nonprofit arts in relation to an ever widening circle of positive impacts resonates most strongly with both current arts supporters and non-arts supporters. In addition to highlighting the communication frame that works, the report also details multiple frames with less impact on changing people’s perceptions of the nonprofit arts as a public good worthy of public investment.
