August, 2006
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2006 Alliance Regional Meetings A NEW ALLIANCE INITIATIVE: The Harlem Project SENATE COMMITTEE LEVEL FUNDS ARTS EDUCATION, PUBLIC BROADCASTING FUNDED IN SENATE COMMITTEE |
Alliance Rurals Conversation
The Rural Partners will convene the third in the series of Rural Conversations on Friday August 18 at 10 am. Watch the Rurals list serve for the online sign-up. Post your questions and concerns when you sign up and help formulate the agenda.
2006 Alliance Regional Meetings
The Alliance Regional Meetings are always a wonderful opportunity for Alliance staff to visit exceptional arts organizations throughout New York State, catch the excitement of what’s happening in the arts in various regions; see old friends and meet new ones, and get in touch with what is on the minds of those working creatively in the field of community-based arts organizations. The 2006 series of regional meetings was exceptional in many ways. The Alliance staff would like to thank our hosts: Westchester Arts Council, Greene County Council on the Arts, Arts Council for the Northern Adirondacks, ARTS of the Southern Fingerlakes, Arts & Cultural Council of Greater Rochester, Arts Council of Buffalo and Erie County and Huntington Arts Council.
The meeting schedule focused this year on state and national arts advocacy updates and building new audiences, a widespread need of the field identified in last years’ regional meetings and in Fast Forward Think Tank Meeting and Report. The handouts presented at the meetings were full of useful information.
If you are an Alliance member, but were not able to attend a regional meeting this year, and would like to get copies of these handouts, see below.
• Guide to Voter Education by Non-Profits during a Political Campaign, see the advocacy section of our website; www.thealliancenys.org
• The Creative Industries Report and resources, and NYS and Federal funding updates, email Judy Weiner at: jweiner@thealliancenys.org
• Building New Audiences handouts, email Martha Strodel at: mstrodel@nycap.rr.com.
COMMUNITY ACTION TEAMS REPORT
We are proud to provide you with a report on our Community Action Team (CAT) project which was conceived by the Alliance in response to a new role that many arts organizations were taking on within their communities throughout New York State - that of economic and social change drivers.
NEA support for this project allowed the Alliance to bring in outside consultants to four sites selected in a competitive application process. While the opportunity was open to arts organizations throughout the state, the guidelines stated a preference to support projects in communities where access and skill development opportunities were limited, and communities with significant underserved populations. All of the requests were highly individualized and indicated a need for assistance to carry through on project plans conceived prior to the release of the Request for Proposal. The best showed strong indications of solid planning, community outreach and growing collaborative efforts towards project goals
Central New York Community Arts Council (CNYCAC) was already a major player in the revitalization of downtown Utica, NY, with a long history of partnering with area arts, county and city economic development interests. Five years ago, CNYCAC led a collaborative effort to produce a study of the economic impact of the arts in the region they serve. They were at the community table, and had generated a great deal of interest in using the arts as a redevelopment tool. CNYCAC proposed three goals; 1) unite area arts organizations as an active and unified voice in the re-visioning process and planning for the region; 2) reposition CNYCAC as a full service agency to the counties they serve and represent their voices in regional re-development; 3) develop a regional cultural coalition to address the identified needs of artists and arts organizations in the region. They worked with consultant Craig Dreeszen to host a regional Arts Summit and develop regional cooperative initiatives to address these needs. 36 cultural organization leaders attended the Arts Summit: as a group, they identified three areas of concern: 1) lack of a regional cultural identity and need to develop and market this; 2) lack of funding; 3) need for more effective local and regional advocacy.
CNYCAC Accomplishments
• support for CNYCAC’s leadership role to represent the cultural sector in regional planning
• collaborative marketing and audience development through an interactive cultural calendar, directories, print promotions and shared advertising. CNYCAC will seek funding for regional marketing and audience development.
• initial work on regional arts advocacy strategies
• future interest group committees established to explore identified needs coming out of the Arts Summit.
Genesee Valley Council on the Arts (GVCA) is the primary arts service organization for rural Livingston County. Their office is located in Building #4 of the Livingston County Campus in Mount Morris, NY - a TB sanitarium built as a WPA project. Mount Morris is a gateway to Letchworth State Park - another WPA and CCC project, which annually hosts 750,000 visitors.
Their project grew out of interest from the art and social history of the county. The county owns what is thought to be the second-largest collection of WPA easel paintings in the U.S. The paintings have been documented and appraised, but have been stored in the basement of the sanitarium. GVCA and the county proposed restoring and sharing this collection with regional residents and park visitors, by establishing a public gallery to display and study the work. They selected a team of regional consultants: Wilma Townsend’s role was to develop a plan for the conservation, storage and display of the artwork and initial research on the collections and artists represented. Christopher Clarke helped them decide to place the gallery in Building #4 of the campus, with the recommendation that converting their present office space into a multi-use/multi-access space for the county’s art community would best serve citizens and visitors.
GVCA Accomplishments
• GVCA is in the process of locating the necessary resources to repair, preserve and exhibit the paintings. The collection has generated interest and secured new funding, increased membership and local business support.
• The project opportunities have resulted in a 3-year planning process to increase and expand/adapt their present facilities into a multi-use center with a “New Deal” Gallery and programs that center on the New Deal and WPA paintings. The plan includes a curriculum for K-12 and adult learning.
• Besides giving GVCA full use of Building #4, the county has committed extra funds per year toward costs of running the gallery and the New Deal programs. Together, they are also in initial discussions on possible use of another campus building - the old TB auditorium - as a community performance space.
• GVCA has developed new community partners with two area cultural organizations to display some of the paintings while Building #4 is being converted.
St. Lawrence County Arts Council (SLCAC) is a small, rebuilding organization that serves a large rural county. With a volunteer staff of one, they had managed to connect with their communities in celebrating and promoting the arts and area artistic resources. At the time the CAT opportunity was announced, they had secured their first grant from the county to pay a part-time staff person and first year support from the New York State Council on the Arts. Their successful outreach in the county had created a demand for cultural programs in various communities; at the same time, they needed to relocate their office and were considering a space that could accomodate a visual arts gallery, shop and classrooms. They outlined three goals in their proposal: 1) develop a central arts facility in a region of little access to arts programming; 2) assistance in stabilizing and strengthening SLCAC - organizational and managerial procedures, plus the board and volunteer pool - as it took on arts programming; 3) use their experience in creating an artspace as a model for satellite programs and spaces in other communities throughout the county.
Consultant Elaine Giguere worked on-site with the SLCAC board and staff to outline 3-year goals and an action plan to strengthen the organization and build support and marketing for the new artspace. Craig Dreeszen agreed to assist in follow-up by reviewing SLCAC organizational plans and budgets as the new art space developed.
SLCAC Accomplishments
• revised mission and goals, and developed a 3-year organizational plan
• developed written roles & responsibilities for board members
• opened ARTS CENTRAL in downtown Potsdam with gallery exhibitions, gift shop and a full schedule of art workshops
• organized a series of summer workshops in both Govenour and Waddington.
Westchester Arts Council (WAC) is the largest, private, not-for-profit arts council in New York State, serving more than 150 arts organizations, 43 school districts, hundreds of artists, and audiences numbering over 1 million. WAC has renovated their new home, a 9-story abandoned bank building in downtown White Plains, into a multi-purpose arts center called the Arts Exchange. It houses artist studios, meeting and class rooms, and office space for the council and other related businesses. On the ground floor is the Grand Banking Room, with a gallery, performance and meeting space run by WAC and a new county Cultural Tourism Center. Their overall plan is to make the Arts Exchange the hub of arts activity for the greater White Plains community, which has a richness of diverse ethnic, racial and cultural residents and neighborhoods.
WAC worked with Donna Walker-Kuhne last year to conduct an internal audit in preparation for a major audience development campaign targeting the African American community. Prior to activating a specific campaign, the decision was made to first understand the perceptions and barriers to arts participation of the target market in order to craft efforts that would be meaningful and engaging. The CAT proposal goals were 1) to build partnerships and relationshps with new African American community leaders and organizations while nurturing existing relationships developed through earlier work; 2) hold interviews and focus group meetings to discuss areas of concern with these leaders and groups and develop audience participation tactics that would be meaningful and engaging; 3) build awareness of WAC and the Arts Exchange, and other cultural programs and opportunities in Westchester County.
WAC Accomplishments
• Through a series of phone interviews and focus group meetings, Ms. Walker-Kuhne helped WAC build new relationships with their African American communities, understand their barriers to involvement in WAC and regional arts offerings
• Develop new arts programming in partnership with the African American community of White Plains
NYS Music Fund
Cycle 1 Grant Awards Announced
Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors (RPA) has released a list of first cycle grant recipients for the New York State Music Fund. 153 grants totaling $13 million were awarded for performances, presentations, commissions and educational programs taking place throughout New York State. Included are projects that reach a diverse range of New York communities through radio and other media.
Statewide representation is excellent on the list of grantees; of the 153 recipients, 64 were from upstate and Long Island, and the amount they will receive totals almost $4 million. The remaining amount will go to support programs in the five boroughs (counties) of New York City.
We congratulate all of the New York State Music Fund Cycle 1 grant recipients! The Alliance worked closely with Rockefeller Philanthrophy Advisors on guidelines and the statewide outreach and promotion. We spread the word to our statewide network; in turn, our members did an excellent job of notifying their area groups of this wonderful opportunity.
Cycle 2
RPA has announced the second cycle of grant awards with application deadlines on August 7th, August 18th and September 12th. To view the Cycle 2 guidelines and a list of first cycle grant awards, visit: rockpa.org.
To learn more about the purpose of this new program and application guidelines, please go to http://rockpa.org/special_programs/the-new-york-state-music-fund/. Should you have any questions or wish to register, you may email nysmf@rockpa.org or call 212-572-6480.
The Music Fund will support exemplary music projects of all genres being created by today’s living musical artists who have limited access to mass commercial distribution such as noncommercial forms of popular music like indie rock, country, hip hop, reggae, and others. In addition to the creation and performances of new musical works, the Music Fund will support nonprofit organizations offering music education programs in community- and school-based settings designed to enrich rather than replace existing arts curricula, and recording and media dissemination projects that expand New York residents’ access to music.
A NEW ALLIANCE INITIATIVE: The Harlem Project
The Alliance, Columbia University Teachers College, and the Harlem Arts Alliance are collaborating on an innovative new Research Apprenticeship project in the Fall 2006 which will give students at Barnard, Columbia and Teachers College hands-on experience advocating for the arts with the Harlem community.
This project emerged as the Alliance considered many of the issues confronting our field as they emerged and were discussed in our 2005 research to understand the trends and issues facing New York State’s cultural organizations. We began that project with an online needs assessment survey, followed by regional forums and the Fast Forward Think Tank Meeting in Glens Falls in Sept 2005. The resultant Fast Forward Report asked the following questions:
Who Are the Next Generation of Arts Leaders?Nonprofit organizations of all types are on the brink of a huge retirement wave in the next 5-15 years that will sweep veteran leaders from staffs and boards in unprecedented numbers. Are there enough future arts leaders in the pipeline or will the field be scrambling to recruit and train leaders? Are those coming into the field trained and prepared to deal with the excruciating competition for audience and dollars, changing demographics, and shifting trends in entertainment and learning? Do they understand the power of grass roots advocacy and can they exercise it to its potential? What will happen to public discourse about the arts if there is not a younger generation with a passion about the arts to replace them?
Can we create a network of stakeholders with a common community arts agenda that includes students, arts leaders, artists, board members, audience members, parents, elected officials, and the general public with a vested interest in advancing a dynamic community arts agenda?
Can we provide real life training grounds to develop professional skills in leading and managing organizations with increased capacity, funding and community relevance? Advocacy strategies and public discourse about arts public policy are an essential part of this picture.
Can we integrate new internet networking and communication tools to better position communities with an advocacy advantage?
From this thinking emerged a new collaboration with Columbia University Teachers College and the Harlem Arts Alliance that will be a research apprenticeship where students develop appropriate research and advocacy tools; have joint advisement from the Alliance and Harlem Arts Alliance and community interaction; develop practical tools, materials, projects and presentations for real-world advocacy for the arts, artists and arts institutions and participate in Arts Day in Albany.
The Alliance hopes to engage students in NYS arts advocacy and create a group of next generation arts leaders with advocacy experience; identify stakeholders in Harlem community and engage them and their issues in statewide advocacy efforts; expand use of the Alliance Online Advocacy Center among Harlem residents and students; create a model of how we can work with student advocates in other parts of the state.
SENATE COMMITTEE LEVEL FUNDS NEA AND NEH
The Senate Appropriations Committee approved the FY 2007 Interior Appropriations bill in June, keeping funding for the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) and National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) at 2006 levels. The action contrasts with that of the House of Representatives, which gave each agency an increase of $5 million. The full Senate will consider the bill either in July or after Labor Day, and advocates are hoping to persuade the Senate to improve on the House's recommendation; the NEA needs at least $5 million in new funding to keep up with inflation and increased administrative costs. As a reminder this funding also includes a re-allocation of some of the Challenge America funds for other purposes within the NEA budget.
ARTIST BILL MAY BE REDRAFTED
The chief senator sponsor of the bill that would allow artists to claim a full tax deduction when they donate their work to art-related charities is considering combining the bill with three other measures that would affect charitable gifts of artwork. The new combined bill would require charities to retain donated works for three years and would also change some of the rules on appraisal and valuation of gifts.
ARTS EDUCATION, PUBLIC BROADCASTING FUNDED IN SENATE COMMITTEE
On July 20, 2006, the Senate Appropriations Committee approved in the FY 2007 appropriations bill an increase in funding for the Department of Education's Arts in Education program and the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB). In February, the administration proposed severe cuts to CPB and zeroing out the arts education program, and on June 13, the House Appropriations Committee followed these funding recommendations. Historically, the Senate has reversed the CPB and education cuts that the House approved, and it is believed that this will be the case again when the two chambers convene a conference committee to negotiate a final bill, which is not expected for several more months.
The Alliance of New York State Arts Organizations has a long history as New York's primary service association for community based arts and cultural organizations. The Alliance provides leadership and vision, and delivers services, resources and tools that strengthen cultural organizations. The Alliance informs the field on statewide and national issues affecting the arts and assists local arts agencies in building community support.
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