Articles

Creative Communities: Art Works in Economic Development is a new publication based on a series of papers commissioned by the National Endowment for the Arts to stimulate more rigorous research on the arts and economic development. 

 

The publication stems from a first-ever collaboration between the NEA and the Brookings Institution. The two organizations co-hosted the May 2012 symposium titled "The Arts, New Growth Theory, and Economic Development,” where leading economists explored theories and empirical findings about the role of arts and culture in the U.S. economy. Archived video of the symposium is available at the Brookings website.

Despite, or maybe because of global economic challenges, with greater implications in Europe and North America, the 2012 International Fundraising Congress held in the Netherlands this October was the most successful ever. First timers and old hands left the NH Leeuwenhorst Hotel with much to think about. With so many non-profits trying to do more and better with less money, many sessions were oversubscribed and the general feeling was overwhelmingly positive about the quality of the presentations.

Social media was not only a popular subject at the Congress, but many delegates were also tweeting from sessions, commenting and sharing their thoughts and the lessons they were learning. The knowledge sharing tradition in the non-profit sector has been taken one step further.

Kevin De Coninck, the Policy and Development Officer for the Dutch Language Union commented: ‘I'm here for the first time at the IFC and it was really interesting to see the concrete fundraising tips. All in all it was reassuring that we're doing the right thing and it was nice to hear all the stories of the other participants.’

The Museums Association’s 2012 survey into cuts to museum services has laid bare the devastating impact that budget reductions are continuing to have across the UK. Out of 114 museum services and individual institutions that responded, 51% reported a cut to their budgets and almost a quarter have been forced to reduce public access by closing whole sites or parts of sites permanently or temporarily. 11% have closed whole sites permanently.  42% of respondents said there have been cuts to staff, with almost a fifth saying staffing levels were down 25% or more. Of the respondents that have experienced cuts in 2011 and 2012, over a third have seen a cumulative reduction of more than 35%.

Thirty four organisations across England set to get a £162 million funding boost.

 

In the first round of funding from the Catalyst: Endowment programme, 34 organisations are set to receive a share of £56 million to support their endowments. “Boosting private giving for culture is key to putting arts and heritage organisations on the path to long-term financial stability,” said Culture Secretary Jeremy Hunt.

“It is very gratifying to see that so many have already been successful in attracting match-funding and I am grateful to all those companies and individuals who so generously support our arts and heritage bodies.”

How to strategically use the EU support programmes, including Structural Funds, to foster the potential of culture for local, regional and national development and the spill-over effects on the wider economy? The objective of the Policy Handbook is to better sensitize local, regional and national authorities as well as the cultural community of the potential of cultural and creative industries in boosting regional and local development. The Handbook intends to help them in formulating local, regional and national strategies for cultural and creative industries. It also aims to serve as a tool for the planning and implementation of a strategic use of the EU support programmes, including the Structural Funds, to foster the potential of culture for local, regional, national development and the spill-over effects on the wider economy.

Amsterdam, March 12th. The epic opera, Aida, has been up for sale on eBay since yesterday, including all of its magnificent set pieces, stage props and hundreds of unique costumes, for a cast of 500 performers. Peter Kroone, who has produced countless large scale 360° opera productions and is the owner of Companions Opera Amsterdam, is retiring from the industry. Peter Kroone has produced a considerable number of large-scale operas around the world. A few examples include: Rotterdam (where it all started), Paris, Munich, Shanghai & Zurich. Many of these operas sold out, selling more than 1 million tickets. Peter Kroone was unable to find a successor for his productions within his own network. He is therefore offering all his unique productions for indoor arenas and stadiums for sale. "It pains me greatly to leave the industry, but productions like Aida cannot be produced in a year. Productions at this level require a 3 to 5 year commitment, which I am no longer able to give. The time has come for me to do other things in life. My successor must be an opera lover like I am, or an entertainment entrepreneur who sees this product as an opportunity to expand into new territories and markets. I have not yet found a successor, but the world out there is big and who knows.... Maybe there is someone out there like me, who wants to bring opera to a broader audience. This is why I have chosen to announce my retirement and the sale of my productions on eBay. It would be a shame if the productions disappeared."

The Roberto Cimetta Fund is launching the second 2012 open call for travel grants from 1st to 31st March 2012. Artists and cultural professionals living and working in the Euro-Arab and Mediterranean regions can apply. Priority is given to mobility from the South and East of these regions.

 

The General Fund is open to all requests for travel grants that respect the eligibility criteria of RCF, whatever the destination of travel, the artistic discipline or the direction of mobility. The General Fund functions on an annual basis which means that candidates can apply for the March session and to the other sessions in June and September depending on the funding available. The Conseil Général Bouches du Rhône and Marseille-Provence 2013 provide funding for the other specific funding lines. 

The artist and audience depend on one another to fulfill their roles, artist as creator and audience as recipient. Sometimes they act as co-creators. While the first part of these observations remain true, the roles of artist and audience have been evolving as technology affects the relationship between artist and audience. Historically, as different technological tools are incorporated into the mainstream, the audience has been provided with more options and possibilities. These new possibilities can offer the audience the opportunity to become more involved in the process of art creation. Generally, this has brought the artist and audience closer together, no longer positioning the audience as just the recipient.

 

This article is an initial step into interrogating the current and future relationship between the artist and audience. Understanding how different technological advances have affected the relationship between artist and audience is also key to getting an idea of how the relationship has changed and what factors have contributed to the ways in which artists and audiences currently relate. The new methods and approaches that have followed these technological advances have shaped both the manner in which art is being created as well as the way in which art is being funded.

First artistic programme dedicated to live online broadcast

 

Tate and BMW announced in October a major new international partnership, BMW Tate Live which will focus on performance, interdisciplinary art and curating digital space. The four-year programme will be launched with a series of artist performances created specifically to be broadcast ‘live’ online. BMW Tate Live: Performance Room is the first artistic programme created purely for live web broadcast. 

The BMW Tate Live: Performance Room series will include five commissions in 2012. The French choreographer, Jérôme Bel, will create the first commission which will take place in March 2012. The programme, which will include both emerging artists and more familiar figures from across the world ranging from visual artists to choreographers, will run on Tate’s online channel as BMW Tate Live: Performance Room.

 

Photo: Jérôme Bel © Feran Mc Rope

December 17 - 21, 2011 at Retzhof Castle - Retzhof Educational Institute in Leitring bei Leibnitz, Austria

 

"Successful Fundraising for Arts and Cultural Organizations: Strategies in the Changing World" is the professional conference inviting fundraisers, arts managers, producers, arts agents and talent managers working in various artistic disciplines from all over the world. The conference is the opportunity to gain important insights into today's best fundraising strategies for arts and cultural organizations of all sizes and scale, to open discussions about successful and effective strategies considering the challenges facing people working in this area today, to establish new contacts, to exchange experiences with colleagues from different countries and to lay the foundation for future networking and collaboration.

 

This meeting is a great opportunity to meet potential collaborators and partners - casting directors, performers from different creative genres and techniques, actors, dancers, directors, choreographers, musicians; artists, authors, theatre managers, festival organizers and arts publishers from different countries. At the moment the conference is accepting presentation proposals!

 

(Photo Animation: Büro Certov)