With the preponderance of depressing headlines about the US economy, those of us in the arts should be proud to know that it’s an industry that continues to experience growth. That’s according to the UN’s report on the global creative economy, released on April 20th.
The report itself is an ambitious and dense 357-page read that raises some important points about how the arts and creative industries should be defined/ analyzed, and what governments worldwide can do to encourage further growth, especially in developing markets.
For me, the most significant aspect of the report is its very existence - it means the arts are getting the attention of the world’s economic community. US policymakers, analysts, and urban developers have already begun to realize the powerful role that the arts play in supporting economic health, and studies analyzing that impact have cropped up in just about every major US city.
Though it’s not specifically an economic impact study, the UN report offers the arts a global framework in which to prove our economic worth as a viable industry - something that’s essential if we’re ever to make the arts a true priority for governments throughout the world as well as in our home country.
An exciting development.
Tags: creative economy, recommended reading
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Fractured Atlas received some wonderful news recently when the New York State Health Foundation awarded us a $25,000 grant to support a targeted effort to enroll artists in affordable health care.
The initiative will launch later this year, and focus on areas throughout New York State, namely: Buffalo, Erie County, Saratoga, Peekskill, Brooklyn, and Queens. We’ll be working closely with local arts service organizations, including the Arts Council of Buffalo & Erie, Saratoga County Arts Council, Peekskill Arts Council, Brooklyn Arts Council, and Queens Council on the Arts to raise awareness of available plans and deliver one-on-one assistance to artists in those communities.
We’re thrilled that the New York State Health Foundation has lent their support to this project, which will make affordable health care available to thousands of uninsured artists.
Tags: dinero, NY State
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My morning coffee-philanthropy-blog-graze yielded this post on the Donor Power Blog about the furor dusted up when the Holden Karnofsky, the head of GiveWell (an online charity evaluator) committed the cardinal sin of posting an “anonymous” question on Metafilter’s boards about how to evaluate charitable orgs, then answering it with a plug of GiveWell’s services. He was ripped a new one for it, even though I’m sure it’s something that goes on more than anyone is aware.
If you maintain a blog or a discussion board, I suppose you can’t police every bogus post (nor would you want to waste your time on it) so the lesson for those who read them is do your own research, even on the organizations that profess to provide research. I don’t discount the hideousness or sad irony of a watchdog organization that preaches transparency while violating its own tenets. And I’m glad to see that the folks at Metafilter are savvy enough to check IP addresses against one another and examine other characteristics like user profiles and posting history, to detect bogus plugs.
My overall feelings about this are mixed: over the years I’ve developed a healthy cynicism about the veracity of anything on the web, and even a more fluid definition of what “truth” itself can mean. It’s still disappointing, though, to realize that the web – a tool with so much potential to empower donors and drive charitable giving – is still a venue for snowjobs and empty self-promotion.
I am curious to hear what others - within the philanthropy community and beyond - think of all this.
Tags: charities, transparency
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