Adding up the elements of arts leadership in Los Angeles…

Growing visibility for the California Community Foundation For more than 20 years, California Community Foundation has been an agent for the arts in multiple dimensions across Los Angeles County. This spring, staff realized the time had come to pull the strands of activity together and allow a holistic look at the leadership this organization is [...]

New catalog highlights Fellowships for Visual Artists

California Community Foundation is changing the artistic face of Los Angeles For a winning example of how a community foundation supports individual artists, look to L.A.  Since 1988 the California Community Foundation has awarded nearly $1 million to 157 emerging and midcareer artists through its Fellowships for Visual Artists.

An Arts philanthropist’s bold action has community-wide impact

ArtPrize supports culture, education and economics in Grand Rapids One “little art experiment” has turned into a prime example of how philanthropy and arts can have seemingly limitless positive effects on a community – drawing praise from school children and senior citizens, from business and government leaders, and from individual artists as well as major [...]

Last in a series on public policy, arts and community foundations…

A Capitol event: connecting with elected officials California’s nonprofit arts organizations add $5.4 billion to the state’s economy annually, creating more than 160,000 jobs and generating nearly $300 million in state and local taxes. This message that arts are part of the solution—and part of the creative economy— set the stage for a spring legislative [...]

Second in a series on public policy, arts and community foundations…

A mayor can make a world of difference San Francisco Mayor Christopher’s action to enact a hotel tax to support the arts nearly 50 years ago is mirrored in Sacramento today via Mayor Kevin Johnson. Motivated by his life-long respect for the arts, and inspired by a community foundation event featuring Michael Kaiser, president of [...]

First in a series on public policy, arts and community foundations…

Pursuing public policies that advance the arts in California communities. What does a community foundation have to do with government policies and spending that support the arts? Any number of things, it seems. That is the finding from a lively two days spent sharing knowledge among a group of ten community foundations working to generate [...]

When a community foundation leads in the arts, great things can happen…

Oliver Ranch Foundation is a story more than 25 years in the making, and one with an unlimited future—thanks to the community spirit of a truly visionary couple, and the distinctive capabilities of Community Foundation Sonoma County.

The “ripple effect”: Building shared responsibility for the arts

Guest post by Margy Waller, Cincinnati Fine Arts Fund Many of us have spent years searching for the strongest possible message and the best case on which to build support for the arts. Yet, the messages we have used to create dialogue in communities across the country have not yielded the broad sense of shared [...]

Giving hope and help to arts leaders in the midst of a deep recession…

Embracing dynamic adaptability in the Bay Area Is there anything special arts funders can do to help nonprofits and artists deal with the continued effects of a down economy? Something beyond continued funding opportunities, capacity building, and technical support?

Community foundations see the big picture, and help usher in a new era of municipal collaboration in the arts

Launching the East Bay Cultural Corridor Talk about a multiplier effect: Here’s how two community foundations leveraged private foundation dollars to seed a four-city partnership for the arts. It’s an equation worth knowing in regions where acting together is the better path for growing a vibrant, sustainable arts landscape.