A newly published study from Mexico reports repeated listening to certain classical works helps ease the debilitating symptoms of clinical depression. “Music offers a simple and elegant way to treat anhedonia, the loss of pleasures in daily activities,” the research team, led by Miguel-Angel Mayoral-Chavez of the University of Oaxaca, reports in the journal The Arts in Psychotherapy. (This summary is based on the article published by Tom Jacobs on the journalism website Miller-McCune. The article contains links to various sources, including a site to download the initial study findings from The Arts in Psychotherapy.)
SHORT FILM: Enlivening the Senses: Arts – Learning at the Core of Education
From the Washington Post: “This 14-minute film does a great job detailing the impact of arts education on the development of children’s cognitive, artistic, social and psychological development. The film, ‘Enlivening the Senses: Arts|Learning at the Core of Education,’ was created through a partnership between the nonprofit organization Arts/Learning and the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts.”
Case Study — Creative Capital: Sustaining the Arts
Creative Capital provides grants to individual artists using a venture capital model-the money comes with guidance and governance. Artists receive money as milestones are reached and also receive guidance on managing their lives and business to increase their sustainability. But as Ruby Lerner, CEO of Creative Capital, looks to the organization’s next decade, how can she ensure the sustainability of this high-touch, uniquely individual model?
Nonprofits, Innovation, and Performance Measurement: Separating Fact from Fiction
A new Johns Hopkins University survey has revealed widespread innovation among the nation’s nonprofits, as well as efforts by those organizations to measure their programs’ effectiveness. The vast majority (82 percent) of responding organizations reported implementing an innovative program or service within the past five years, and 85 percent reported measuring program effectiveness.
Audience 2.0: How Technology Influences Arts Participation
When compared with non-media participants, Americans who participate in the arts through technology and electronic media — using the Internet, television, radio, computers, and handheld devices — are nearly three times more likely to attend live arts events; attend twice as many live arts events; and attend a greater variety of genres of live arts events, according to Audience 2.0: How Technology Influences Arts Participation. The report describes the demographic characteristics of U.S. adults that participated in the arts (such as concerts, plays, and dance performances) via electronic media (e.g., TV, radio, computers and portable media devices) in 2008, based on the Survey of Public Participation in the Arts (SPPA). Separately, the report examines broad categories of arts participation via Internet. The report also investigates factors contributing to the likelihood of some Americans experiencing art through media. Finally, the report considers the relationship between media-based arts activities and other types of arts participation, such as live attendance and personal arts creation. June 2010. 146 pp.
All Volunteer Force: From Military to Civilian Service
The central message of this report is that a new generation of veterans is returning home from Iraq and Afghanistan without sufficient connections to communities, is enthusiastic to serve again, and points the way forward for how our nation can better integrate them into civilian life. Although the 1.8 million veterans are from every corner of our nation, they are strongly united in their perspectives regarding civic responsibilities and opportunities as they return home. What’s more, the findings show that OIF/OEF veterans are underutilized assets in our communities, and their continued service is likely to improve their transition home. We believe there is significant potential to increase volunteering and civic engagement among this generation of veterans.
