How to Age Well through the Arts

Next Avenue, a national journalism service for America's booming older population, recently published a series called Vitality Arts with support from Aroha Philanthropies. The series, which includes videos and articles on the intersection of arts and aging, shows the powerful effect that participating in the arts can have on our minds, bodies, and souls.

Articles in the series include:

Learn more and access the whole series here.

The GuildNotes Fundraising Issue is Now Available

The latest issue of the Guild's quarterly publication, GuildNotes, is now available. In this fundraising-focused issue, members can access articles on leveraging corporate giving, fundraising to support ALAANA communities and movements for change, and integrating social media into a comprehensive fundraising strategy.

Articles in this issue include:

GuildNotes is the Guild's quarterly publication. It is produced for the benefit of National Guild members, with in-depth articles exploring current trends in nonprofit management, critical perspectives on arts learning, and practical tools for arts administrators to advance their work.

Learn more about GuildNotes and browse all Guild resources here.

Urban Gateways Launches $5 Ticket Program for Teens

Urban Gateways (Chicago, IL) just launched the Teen Arts Pass (TAP) program, which allows anyone aged 13-19 to register for free online to get a pass that allows them to buy $5 tickets at arts and culture organizations around the city. Some participating organizations include the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, the Lyric Opera of Chicago, and more.

Tarah Ortiz Durnbaugh, a performance programs manager at Urban Gateways and co-ambassador for the Guild’s Emerging Leaders Network, noted that TAP was inspired by a similar program in Seattle. “Our executive director, Eric Delli Bovi, found out about this idea at a national conference over 2 years ago, and he said, ‘We need to figure out how to make this happen in Chicago.’ So we started with a survey for Chicago teens to see if this would be of interest to them.”

According to WFMT, the 2017 survey polled 1,117 Chicago-area teens. Nearly 70% said that the number one barrier to attending performances in Chicago is that they cost too much; 81% reported that they would be more likely to buy a $5 ticket for an arts event in Chicago.

“Based on this data, we took it as the greenlight to initiate the Teen Arts Pass,” Ortiz Durnbaugh said. WFMT goes on to report that, “Before the launch of the pass, Urban Gateways created a teen council to get direct input from Chicago youth. Teens were influential in all aspects of the pass, from choosing the program colors to piloting the use of the TAP website.”

Read the full article and learn more about the program here.

About Urban Gateways

Urban Gateways engages young people in arts experiences to inspire creativity and impact social change (mission). The organization works to overcome social and economic barriers for youth to access Chicago's artistic and cultural vitality, fostering a more creative and artistically responsive society. Urban Gateways was founded in 1961 to connect youth to the city’s many arts and culture institutions as a vital tool for personal growth and expanded opportunities. Through a range of initiatives, young people acquire and refine artistic skills, demonstrate their talents, engage in critical thinking, explore new possibilities, and contribute to the civic discourse of our community. The organization conducts Arts Education, Creative Youth Development, and Civic Engagement initiatives that reach over 80,000 youth across 250 locations annually. Programs are 100% free to participants.

 

New Research on Nonprofit Diversity Efforts

The Center for Effective Philanthropy (CEP) recently released a report entitled Nonprofit Diversity Efforts: Current Practices and the Role of Foundations. “Based on survey responses of 205 leaders of nonprofit organizations with annual expenses between $100,000 and $100 million, [the report] provides a collection of data on topics such as how diversity relates to the work of nonprofits and what demographic information nonprofits and funders alike are collecting — and how that information is used,” CEP writes.

The report provides information on how nonprofits view their diversity goals as well how funders have historically been involved in their diversity efforts. To help with data collection, the CEP worked with their Grantee Voice Panel.

Learn more and download the report.

 

COCA Collaborates with Fashion Incubator, Royal Family Designer

A recent news article highlighted a collaboration between Center of Creative Arts (COCA) and the St. Louis Fashion Incubator to provide a summer teen fashion intensive camp. The collaborators worked with Jo Flannery, a designer that has put together outfits for queens, princesses, and other members of the British royal family.

According to FOX, “Area high school students considering a college with a fashion program are getting hands-on experience with experts and St. Louis fashion incubator designers.”

“I'm making a linen flowery shirt,” says Kelsey Gibson, a future designer.  “It's like a way to express yourself.  That's the first thing you see when you see somebody is their clothes which is kind of the personality of what they're wearing.”

You can read the full article here.

About Center of Creative Arts (COCA)

COCA – Center of Creative Arts is the fourth largest multidisciplinary community arts center in the country, one of only 16 schools in the nation accredited by the Accrediting Commission for Community and Precollegiate Arts Schools (ACCPAS), and a national leader in innovative arts education. With a mission to enrich lives and build community through the arts, COCA serves 50,000 people of all ages and skill levels, taught by a faculty of distinguished arts educators.

 

Wharton Receives Funding and Citation of Excellence from NJSCA

In a recent round of more than $15.7 million in grant funding from the New Jersey State Council on the Arts, Wharton Institute for the Performing Arts (WIPA) received $35,000 in funding as well as a citation of excellence.

"The arts challenge us to be creative and learn new skills, all of which help keep the mind astute and boost confidence. We congratulate and remain extremely grateful to [these] award winners for their contribution and dedication to preserving a vital resource in their communities that directly improves the quality of life for everyone," said NJ secretary of state Tahesha Way.

The Council honors New Jersey arts organizations, programs, and projects that receive the highest possible assessment of their Council grant applications by esteemed, independent panels of their peers with a Citation of Excellence. The Wharton Institute for the Performing Arts received the citation alongside 46 peer organizations in the state.

About The Wharton Institute for the Performing Arts

The Wharton Institute for the Performing Arts’ (www.whartonarts.org) mission is to provide the highest quality performing arts education to a wide range of students in a supportive and inclusive environment, where striving for personal excellence inspires and connects those we teach to the communities we serve.

 

Resource: What School Leaders Can Do to Increase Arts Education

The Arts Education Partnership (AEP) and the National Association of Elementary School Principals (NAESP) recently collaborated to release a guide for school leaders on effectively increasing arts education. This updated version of the 2011 guide provides concrete actions school leaders can take to:

  • Establish a schoolwide commitment to arts learning
  • Create an arts-rich learning environment
  • Examine the use of time and resources

According to the report, “Research confirms that students in schools with arts-rich learning environments academically outperform their peers in arts-poor schools. When included as an integral component of the school day, the arts positively impact student attendance, persistence and engagement; enhance teacher effectiveness; and strengthen parent and community involvement.”

Arts educators, parents, and community members are invited to share the report with local school leaders.

Learn more and download the report.

Lin-Manuel Miranda Launches Fund to Support Arts in Puerto Rico

Award-winning composer, lyricist, and actor Lin-Manuel Miranda, his family, and Hamilton have partnered with the Flamboyan Foundation to create the Flamboyan Arts Fund. This limited-term fund will be dedicated to supporting institutions, arts groups, and independent artists to ensure that the arts and culture continue to flourish through the rebuilding of Puerto Rico.

According to the Flamboyan Foundation, “Research has demonstrated that the arts provide immeasurable benefits to students, both socially and academically. And, as a cornerstone of Puerto Rico’s vibrant culture, the arts community not only provides important historical connection and creativity that impacts education, but it also has the potential to support the revitalization of tourism. Yet many arts institutions and artists on the island are at risk. By stabilizing the arts community, we can ensure families and communities have spaces for shared connection and creative expression. Together, we can help ensure that arts and communities are not just surviving, but are thriving.”

Learn more about the fund.

National Guild Joins Flint School of the Performing Arts in Limonest Celebration

The National Guild’s executive director Jonathan Herman, alongside board chair Duffie Adelson, recently joined Davin Pierson Torre, director of the Flint School of the Performing Arts (FSPA), for a trip in conjunction with FSPA’s exchange program with the Conservatoire de Limonest just outside of Lyon, France.

The Guild and the Flint School traveled to Limonest at the invitation of Mayor Max Vincent for the grand opening of the AGORA, Limonest’s new performing arts center. In addition to music and dance studios, the 30,000 square foot facility includes a 264-seat theater, multimedia library as well as an outdoor amphitheater. As Duffie, the Guild's board chair, put it: "What an inspiring, beautiful center set against the French countryside…Thank you, Davin, for introducing us to this opportunity and to so many wonderful people!"

The trip also coincided with The Suite in F project, a cross-cultural musical collaboration between faculty musicians from the University of Michigan-Flint, FSPA, and the Limonest Conservatory. The Flint School of Performing Arts and its Flint Youth Symphony Orchestra have maintained an exchange relationship with the Conservatoire de Limonest since 2004. Each year, master classes, rehearsals, and performances have been held in either Flint or Limonest. From “culture shock” pop-up concerts by the respective percussion ensembles of the schools to the two youth orchestras performing Gershwin’s “Rhapsody in Blue,” the two organizations have shared music and culture in their respective cities.

House Overwhelmingly Votes to Strike Down Grothman Amendment

On July 18, the House of Representatives overwhelmingly rejected an amendment that aimed to cripple the budgets for the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) and the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH). The amendment proposed by representative Glenn Grothman (R-WI-06) would have slashed NEA and NEH funding by $23 million each. The proposal was defeated in the house 297 to 114.

On July 17, the U.S. House of Representatives began consideration of spending measures on the House floor, including the Interior, Environment & Related Agencies Fiscal Year (FY) 2019 appropriations bill, which contains funding for the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) and the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA). During debate on the bill, Representative Glenn Grothman (R-WI-06) offered an amendment to cut $23,250,000 from each agency. Currently, the bill contains $155 million in Fiscal Year FY 2019 funding for each agency which would be a $2 million increase for both compared with FY 2018.

You can learn more about the victory and NEA and NEH funding here.