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 responsibility [...]

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.

A recognized voice gives valuable tips on how arts organizations can thrive in a down economy—and inspires a mayor to act for arts

Michael Kaiser, sponsored by
Sacramento Region Community Foundation
This is the story of what a community—even one facing economic and social issues—can do to stake a claim for arts, and of how a community foundation can spark this public commitment.
California’s challenges are visible in its capital, where images of a tent city housing hundreds displaced by [...]

Online arts hub ignites community creativity

SparkOC.com
Where is art? Thanks to SparkOC.com, that’s a question of the past for cultural consumers in Orange County. The area’s arts council and community foundation teamed to create a one-stop info source for area residents and visitors.

Who cares about arts? It’s surprising…

Orange County Cultural Indicators Report
Who knew? A surprising 64 percent of residents say that they or their family members create or participate in arts. It’s a fact that shows the value of research, and it came from the Orange County Cultural Indicators Report, this community’s first-ever study of arts giving and donor perceptions. The study [...]

Creative economy: What’s the plan?

Creative Monterey County
While lots of communities want to build a creative economy, too few are able to pull everyone together around a plan. Not so in Monterey County, where collaboration, research and dialogue led to a countywide blueprint for collective action. The process was led by the Community Foundation for Monterey County in tandem with [...]

Arts = jobs, spending, healthy economy

Arts and Economic Prosperity III
A new study helps answer the old question: What do arts bring to communities? It documents the economic impact of the nonprofit arts and culture industry, and covers 156 communities and regions representing all 50 states and the District of Columbia. The study was conducted by Americans for the Arts. It [...]

Bucking the trend: More public funding for arts

Arts Council for Monterey County
Less public support for arts is the trend in many communities. Monterey County has reversed the pattern. Here is a happy story of increased commitment to arts by a local government, and of collaboration between a community foundation and arts council to make it happen. It begins in the context [...]