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05/07/2008

New national project to examine impact of arts training
The Strategic National Arts Alumni Project (SNAAP) was launched on May 1 to examine the impact of arts training. It will provide a first-ever in-depth look at the factors that help or hinder the careers of graduates of arts high schools, arts colleges and conservatories, and arts schools and departments within universities, whether the alumni work as artists or pursue other paths. The Indiana University Center for Postsecondary Research will administer the annual survey in cooperation with the Curb Center for Art, Enterprise and Public Policy at Vanderbilt University. Over time, SNAAP findings will allow institutions to learn more about the impact of their educational programs to better understand, for example, how students in different majors use their arts training in their careers and other aspects of their lives. Policy makers and community leaders will be able to use SNAAP findings to understand local, regional and national arts workforce issues and market patterns. The results also will indicate how students who have trained intensively in the arts contribute to their communities and different areas of the economy.

04/21/2008

Cigarette tax is lighting the fire of arts groups
Even as the mortgage crisis, population loss and the departure of corporate headquarters have put the squeeze on Northeast Ohio, some local arts groups report they're faring reasonably well. That's thanks in large part to Cuyahoga County's cigarette tax for arts and culture, which supporters credit as a crucial stabilizer for tough times. The tax costs 1.5 cents a cigarette. Administered by the newly created Cuyahoga Arts and Culture, it was marketed to voters in part as a financial stabilizer for nonprofit groups that contribute to the area's rich cultural scene and boost its economic viability. It is doing just that, say arts leaders, and the current economic downturn makes a compelling testing ground.

04/03/2008

Falls Church Urged to Establish 'Arts District' With Tax Incentives
A scarcely-known resource provided to the City of Falls Church by the Virginia State Legislature in 2005 drew keen interest Tuesday as leaders of five area arts organizations addressed the monthly luncheon of the Falls Church Chamber of Commerce. Falls Church became one of only a handful in the state authorized to form an “arts and cultural district,” replete with tax and other incentives. On Tuesday, this obscure fact came to light, along with the fact that the City has never taken advantage of the opportunity. When asked for a show of hands on whether the City should establish an “arts and cultural district,” over three-dozen local business leaders raised their hands. The informal and spontaneous show of hands did not constitute any kind of an official vote, but the sentiment was clear following the speakers who, among other things, showed studies documenting the positive economic impact of arts institutions in any community.

04/03/2008

Local group to launch Arts Census
Washtenaw County will conduct an artist consenses as part of Washtenaw County's Community Cultural Assessment, will be included in the Arts Alliance's cultural plan for the county. The goal is to repeat the census every 3-5 years to report the health of the arts community. The Artists' Census will be available online at www.artscount.org. Hard-copy versions of the census will be located at public libraries and creative venues throughout the county. A full report is expected to be complete in early fall.

03/24/2008

New York exhibits showcase MIT's arts clout
MIT artists, designers and architects are filling some of New York's most prominent and competitive exhibition spaces this year with works that disrupt traditional distinctions among art, technology and performance. Right now, four groups of MIT designers have works on exhibit at the prestigious Museum of Modern Art. A fifth will exhibit there this summer. The Whitney Biennial, renowned for distilling the best of the global cutting-edge best in art, includes works by two MIT affiliates. At MIT, numerous scientists, engineers, students, architects, and artists are working in the complex interface between art and technology. "This is one of the prime growth areas of research, both in physical and conceptual terms, for the coming decade," says Professor Mark Jarzombek, associate dean of the School of Architecture and Planning.

03/24/2008

Giving Arts a Bigger Stage in NJ
New Brunswick’s revenue-producing theater district will get a $275 million overhaul. The city is gearing up to overhaul its famed theater district with the construction of a $275 million, 600,000-square-foot mixed-use project that will be anchored by a new $50 million performing arts center. The structure is slated to open in 2012. The project is being called the “new” New Brunswick Cultural Center (NBCC), in reference to the umbrella organization that oversees the city’s theater companies and owns the properties out of which those companies operate.

03/14/2008

Tuscon business-arts cooperation called boon to city
Tuscon regional participants agreed on Wednesday that if Tucson wants to become a cultural center, there must be a coalition of businesses, governments, arts groups and the public willing to pitch in. The meeting, dubbed a community conversation on arts and culture, was a follow-up to May's larger, multiday conference on Tucson's future direction. But the participants acknowledged that funding for the arts is hard to find. Private donors and corporations are few, and those who give are overburdened with requests. Last month the Arts Council asked the Tucson City Council to double its contribution to $1.4 million next year and add $1.5 million more the following year. The city has supported the Arts Council with $691,000 in each of the past six years.

03/13/2008

South Dakotans asked for input on state of arts
South Dakotans are asked to participate in a survey asking for input on the quality and availability of arts and arts education in the state. The South Dakota Arts Council and South Dakotans for the Arts are conducting the survey, which can be found at www.sdarts.org.

03/13/2008

Studies Suggest There's An Art to Getting Older
The idea that "making art, or even listening to music or viewing paintings, supports physical, mental and emotional well-being and eases some symptoms of illness, including dementia" is gaining traction. Early this year attendance at two 'webinars' on creativity and aging, hosted by the National Council on Aging, topped 100, exceeding the organizers' expectations. New York announced a $1 million initiative to connect 57 of the city's arts and cultural organizations to 150 senior centers. And December's move to the District of the National Center for Creative Aging, founded in New York in 2001, promises closer ties with such institutions as George Washington University and the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA).

03/13/2008

Museums Refine the Art of Listening
While museum market research has been around for two decades, gathering data about visitors has never been as important, or as sophisticated, as it is now. As museums expand, they need more paying customers to cover ever-increasing costs. And they’re competing for those customers with local shopping malls, movie theaters, even grocery stores. Besides the reliable techniques, museums are exploring new ways to learn what visitors want. At the Detroit Institute of Arts, officials recently discovered that the average visitor spends only four or five minutes in any gallery, rather than the 20 minutes the officials had expected. Only 7 percent bothered to read the wall plaques.