Here are some thoughtful comments about the arts sector, from my colleague Barry Hessenius, former director of the California Arts Council.  He’s an arts advocate extraordinaire and always has a lot of good things to say about the meaning of the arts in our world.   You can find Barry’s Blog at http://www.westaf.org/blog/.

“And the beat goes on…………..”
I ran across an interesting Opinion piece in the Christian Science Monitor on myths about arts entitled: “Anyone could paint that and 7 other myths about art” wherein the author sought to dispel seven common myths about art – click here: www.news.yahoo.com/s/csm/20090806/cm_sam/yjohnson

That got me to thinking about prevalent myths about the nonprofit arts world that the public has been spoon fed over the past decades, and which hamstring us in our efforts to gain support. Here then is my take on the subject:

Nonprofit Arts managers are lousy business people and Four other Myths about the Nonprofit Arts.

1. Nonprofit arts managers aren’t real business people. The very moniker of “nonprofit” has been taken to mean that those involved aren’t real business people. They are ‘do-gooders’ who don’t understand or adhere to strong business practices.

False. All arts organizations are at their core, small businesses, and those who manage them are some of the best business practitioners anywhere. They are faced with continuing finance and other business dynamic challenges that would torpedo the average business enterprise and they continue to survive amid the worst of circumstances. Of necessity, they are creative, adaptive, experienced survivors – familiar with personnel matters, budgets, fund raising, program development and management, payrolls, board relations, marketing, public policy and all of the other areas savvy business leaders must deal with.
2. The nonprofit arts should be funded by the private sector not with public funds. If they can’t stand on their own in the market they shouldn’t be in business.

False. Government subsidizes all kinds of private sector industries with special treatment and money in the form of subsidies, investment, tax breaks and more (the current debate on health care but just one example of special treatment given to the private sector; the for profit film industry is another example where jurisdictions fall all over themselves to grant special consideration to film companies coming to work in their areas). Moreover, the nonprofit arts are about protecting cultural legacies and the preservation of art forms that are important to the whole of society. They generate far more public dollars and economic activity than they receive in government funding.
3. The nonprofit arts don’t have public support or as wide an audience as other forms of entertainment.

False. The aggregate attendance at nonprofit art performances and exhibits far outdraw the aggregate number of people who attend either movies or sporting events.
4. Too much of nonprofit arts are either controversial or just plain worthless junk.

False. A very tiny percentage of all the arts produced in any given year in America are even remotely controversial or critically panned as worthless. Moreover, the decision as to the value of any given work of art rightly belongs in the eye of the beholder. The arts have as a core part of their creation the assumption of risk on the part of the artist. A society that wants to move forward must champion that assumption of risk as a basic tenet of progress.
5. The arts are a luxury, a ‘frill’.

False. The arts are an essential to any society. Not only a practical necessity – as an economic engine, as a part of the education of our young people and part of preparing them for jobs in the “creative” global economy, and as critical to the tourism industry, urban revitalization efforts and even health care, but also as a means to promote tolerance, understanding and acceptance, and to build cultural bridges across the planet. We are in the midst of the new “creative driven” economy, and the arts play a fundamental role in keeping us competitive and facilitating new industries, new ways of thinking and new ideas.
We need to work harder to dispel these myths if we are to make progress in convincing the public as to our value to our culture. We need to develop more advanced and sophisticated lobbying (not advocacy, but lobbying) capacity to succeed in breaking down these barriers. We simply cannot afford to let these myths continue in the public psyche or the media coverage of who we are and what we do.

UPCOMING:

Next Week: Barry’s Blog’s Second Annual Listing of the Top 25 Most Powerful and Influential Leaders in the Nonprofit Arts

September: An unprecedented six week national public dialogue and discussion of the role of the National Endowment of the Arts’ in Arts & Culture in American society – featuring a veritable Who’s Who of Arts leadership from our national organizations, our city, state & regional arts agencies, foundations and funders, thinkers, consultants, academia, past leaders of the Endowment, the various arts disciplines, and the private sector arts industries. Details to follow.

Have a great week.

Don’t Quit.

• League of Wisconsin Municipalities
• Wisconsin Alliance of Cities
• Wisconsin Towns Association

• A plaque suitable for display in your community city hall, Chamber office, or other location.
• Recognition during the annual conference of the League of Wisconsin Municipalities, Wisconsin Alliance of Cities, and Wisconsin Towns Association (depending on honored community’s affiliation)
• Recognition at Arts Wisconsin’s annual Arts Day, held each spring
• Featured in print and email publications and websites of Arts Wisconsin and affiliated statewide organization

• Demonstrable, ongoing commitment to the arts by business and government leaders, agencies and organizations.
• Heavy commitment of volunteer resources
• Meets a clearly defined community need
• Tangible results
• Broad and diverse community support
• Innovative and creative in its approach to integrating the arts with civic strategies

• Contact information for nominee and nominator (name, title, address, telephone number, fax number and email)
• A description of the program or project, including a discussion of its objectives, goals, outcomes, and supporters.
• An explanation of how the community, program or project addresses each of the six criteria for selection that are outlined above.
• A letter of support from a top elected official and/or community leader of the nominated community (this letter can be from the nominee).

• Promotional brochures
• Press clippings
• Other program-related materials
• Up to three additional letters of support.

• League of Wisconsin Municipalities: Award to be presented at Opening General Session of 111^th Annual Conference, Wednesday, October 14, 2009, 1:30 p.m., at the Radisson Paper Valley Hotel, Appleton.
• Wisconsin Alliance of Cities: presentation TBA
• Wisconsin Towns Association: Award to be presented Tuesday evening, October 13, 2009 at association awards banquet, Holiday Inn & Convention Center, Stevens Point

According to The Business Journal of Milwaukee, these arts and culture critics have taken the latest buyout proposed by the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel: broadcast media columnist Tim Cuprisin, theater critic Damien Jaques, books editor Geeta Sharma-Jensen, education reporter Alan Borsuk, pop music writer Dave Tianen, and music/dance writer Tom Strini.

The Business Journal says, “Monday night was the deadline for Journal Sentinel newsroom staff to apply for the buyout; newsroom managers will make the final decision on which applications to accept. However, Greg Pearson, who is the president of the newsroom employees union, said about 30 people have applied.”

Wow!  What does the loss of all of those seasoned, thoughtful arts reporters and critics mean for Milwaukee’s arts sector and the community overall?   I sure don’t know right at the moment…but I’m pondering this and so should we all.

Click here for the full story.  And, listen to Tom Strini’s 7/28 WUWM “Lake Effect” interview with Bonnie North – he talks about this issue at length and his words are worth hearing.

This Friday, July 31, is the early registration deadline for the National Guild of Community Schools of the Arts’ 72^nd annual Conference for Community Arts Education, to be presented November 11-14 in Minneapolis.

National Guild of Community Schools in the Arts

Presented annually, the conference provides essential professional development and networking opportunities for staff, teaching artists and trustees in community arts education. This year’s conference program will focus on how to sustain your programs and organization during tough economic times and make the case for your work by demonstrating its impact and value. You’ll have the chance to network with more than 500 of your peers and bring home innovative new strategies for fundraising, cost-savings, marketing, community engagement and more.

There will be lots of wonderful speakers including Randy Cohen (Americans for the Arts), Gigi Antoni (City of Dallas’ Big Thought arts education program), Bill Ivey (former Chair of the National Endowment for the Arts), Donna Walker-Kuhne (national leader in audience development and arts marketing), and many others. We’ve also planned a “creative aging institute” in partnership with Minnesota Creative Arts and Aging Network and the National Center for Creative Aging as well as a “rural institute” in partnership with LaMoine MacLaughlin, director of the Northern Lakes Center for the Arts in Amery, WI.

Check out the highlights and register at www.communityartsed.org.

On Friday, July 24, the U.S. House of Representatives passed the FY 2010 Labor-HHS-Education funding bill, setting the initial appropriation level for both the Corporation for National and Community Service (CNCS) and Arts in Education programs (AIE) at the U.S. Department of Education for fiscal year 2010. The Senate Appropriations Committee is preparing to take up this funding legislation within the next week.

Arts Wisconsin and Americans for the Arts ask you to urge Wisconsin Senators Feingold and Kohl to match, or exceed, the funding levels for these programs set in the House.

We ask Wisconsin arts leaders to let their elected officials know that the arts and arts education are essential to the state’s success! Click here to send your message today.

Rocco Landesman

A recent New York Times article on Rocco Landesman, nominated to be Chair of the National Endowment for the Arts, noted the tumultuous years for the National Endowment for the Arts when the “national conversation” about the arts in our society focused more on defining art than on ensuring access to the arts for all Americans.  Landesman seems to have the right “bones” for the job – he’s known as a dynamo who gets what he wants, and that attitude will surely help bring more visibility to the agency.  We in the community arts world want to make sure that he understands and supports the arts at the grassroots as well as at the “grasstops.”    We’ll do our best to educate him about all that’s happening in Wisconsin.  Confirmation hearings start in August.

Click here for the article: For New Leader of the Arts Endowment, Lessons From a Shaky Past .

Read all about it!  How’s this for a morale-booster – our country’s First Lady speaking up for the arts!  This kind of support is priceless.  The Obama administration – and the Obamas themselves – really “get it” about the importance of the arts.

First Lady:  Exposure to the arts is essential

San Francisco Chronicle

By JOCELYN NOVECK,
AP National Writer
Friday, July 24, 2009

People much smarter than me (than I?) have written reams on the meaning, purpose and use of FaceBook and Twitter in our lives, at work and at play.  People like me tend to say, “Why, six months ago I didn’t even know what FaceBook was and now I use it all the time!” and that’s about the extent of my analysis of these programs.   All kidding aside, what I have managed to figured out so far about social media, and in particular Facebook, is that for a nonprofit arts organization, they are great promotional and informational tools.   (I’ve also figured out, as has everyone else, that they are great ways to connect with your past – best friend from middle school, first love from high school…but that’s the subject for another post.)  FaceBook allows a robust, ongoing, and multi-faceted conversation to take place on important (and sometimes not-so-important) issues, with an engaged and passionate constituency that expands every day.  This kind of conversation and contact is a boon to advocacy, service and development organizations like Arts Wisconsin, because it allows us to share ideas, provide services, get reactions, and understand what’s happening locally and globally in very comprehensive ways.

I confess that I am more hesitant about Twitter, because I feel like I haven’t quite grasped the essential idea of that service.  But I’m trying to learn!

Arts Wisconsin has almost 2000 members of our “Cause” page (and we’ve received over $200 in donations through that page) and has just established a “Fan” page that will enable us to more fully interact with our constituents.  We’ve gained several hundred fans in less than a week – I call that a pretty good way to connect!  If you are on FaceBook (and I’ll bet you are), become an Arts Wisconsin Fan today at www.facebook.com/artswisconsin!

Michael Kaiser, director of the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, DC, is making a 50-state tour this year to speak on the “Arts in Crisis” – what’s happening to the arts sector in these difficult economic times, and recommendations for action.

Mr. Kaiser will be in Madison on Monday, August 24, 2-5 pm, at the Overture Center for the Arts – his only stop in Wisconsin. This event is free and open to the public. (RSVP your attendance at info@overturecenter.com.)

I encourage every arts leader in Wisconsin (that would be all of us) to attend this presentation, as much for the opportunity to come together as a community as for what Mr. Kaiser has to say. I don’t like the use of the word crisis, because it has negative connotations, but if it’s going to be used, we need to think of it in the Chinese way -the characters commonly associated with that word are translated as “danger” and “opportunity” – and use it as a motivation for positive change.

We need more opportunities to talk and to share our ideas.  It’s always cathartic to vent a bit with your colleagues.  I expect a large crowd – 50 people registered already, and it’s a month away – and a lot of camaraderie and inspiration.

The Chines.

Americans for the Arts Annual Convention
Philadelphia, PA | June 20-22, 2008

American Evolution: Arts in the New Civic Life was the theme of the 2008 annual national convention presented by Americans for the Arts this past weekend in Philadelphia.

Wisconsin was well-represented at the convention with a contingent of 10 arts leaders, all of whom had many opportunities to show off Wisconsin’s creative sector and soak up ideas, models and inspiration from around the country to bring home. Among the issues “on the table” at the convention:

* A $15.3 million increase for the NEA approved by the House Interior Appropriations Subcommittee on June 11, which is now moving through the full Appropriations Committee and then the full House of Representatives
* The critical need for arts leaders to be advocates
* The next generation of leadership in the arts sector
* The changing nature of arts “delivery” and cultural infrastructure
* The arts as a powerful force in education, and how to keep the arts alive in schools and communities.
* New ads from “The Arts. Ask for More.” PSA campaign debut
* Recipients of AFTA’s 2008 Leadership Awards.

Tip of the week: Learn more about the conference and national arts and arts education issues
Check out AFTA’s “ArtsBlog” to get more information and perspective on the convention and national issues that affect you. Anne Katz, director of Arts Wisconsin, was one of the 15 arts leaders designated as an official “blogger” for the convention.

Additional tip: Show your support for increased state investment in the arts and arts education.
Here at home in Wisconsin, Arts Wisconsin urges everyone who cares about Wisconsin’s future to show support for the Wisconsin Arts Board’s New Economy Funding Initiative – an investment of $1 per capita for the Arts Board, the state agency dedicated to culture, creativity, commerce and community.

Join the list of supporters for more state investment in the arts and arts education, and send the link to your colleagues, peers, volunteers, and audiences to ask them to sign on too. We need a broad, diverse and continually-growing statewide coalition of arts, business, education, government, political and civic leaders and organizations to show their support for the New Economy Funding Initiative. Over 130 organizations and individuals have already signed up to show their support. There is strength in numbers!