For over a year now, I’ve been telling people that Fractured Atlas’s membership includes at least one artist or organization from all but one US Congressional district. That’s right - we’ve been stuck at 434 out of 435.
(If you’re interested to see how those 434 shake out, you can see a live breakdown of the [...]
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Tags: advocacy, membership
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Last week I told you why Fractured Atlas is opposing SOPA and PIPA, a pair of bills in Congress that claim to protect the rights of artists but would be both ineffective at that goal and damaging to the technical fabric of the internet. We were the first major arts organization to take this stand, [...]
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Tags: advocacy, Protect IP Act, SOPA, technology
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For a few months now we’ve been tracking a couple of ostensibly artist-friendly bills in Congress that are designed to enhance the ability of copyright-holders to enforce their rights online by shutting down websites dedicated to piracy of intellectual property. Think MP3s, movies, and filesharing (and some more nefarious stuff, too, like Russian websites that [...]
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Tags: advocacy, copyright, it's the infrastructure, Protect IP Act, SOPA
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Yesterday, the US Supreme Court strongly affirmed that the first amendment’s free speech protections are broad and may not lightly be curtailed. The case at hand dealt with a California law that would have punished retailers for selling violent video games to minors. By declaring the law unconstitutional, the court struck an important blow against [...]
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Tags: advocacy, censorship
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As you may have heard, Kansas recently became the first US state to officially zero-out state-level funding for the arts.
Among the many eloquent responses from the arts community, my favorite might be Laura Zabel’s open letter to Kansas Governor Sam Brownback. Laura, the executive director of Springboard for the Arts, puts a human face on [...]
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Tags: advocacy, laura zabel, Open Arts Network, public arts funding
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We’ve just added a new tab of information to our Live Membership Stats page that lists a breakdown of the Fractured Atlas membership by U.S. congressional district. I find this stuff fascinating, but I realize I’m a big nerd. Anyway, take a look if you’re interested!
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Tags: advocacy, transparency
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You’ve probably heard by now that public broadcasting in the United States is under attack on Capitol Hill. Public broadcasting in general - and non-commercial radio in particular - is an essential part of our cultural infrastructure. Fractured Atlas worked with our good friends at The Future of Music Coalition to draft a letter expressing [...]
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Tags: advocacy, radio
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Take a minute and think about the most powerful, influential special interest groups in American politics.
On the one hand, you have groups like the National Rifle Association or the National Right to Life Committee. Their power derives from their ability to mobilize passionate, single-issue voters. A hard core gun nut will vote against his own [...]
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Tags: advocacy, cultural policy, politics
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Dance/USA, the national service organization for professional dance, is starting off 2011 with fresh energy. Incoming Executive Director Amy Fitterer is dedicated to their mission to connect the national dance community. Amy took a moment to tell us about the tools and resources that the organization provides for the professional dance field.
Why do dancers and [...]
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Tags: advocacy, arts service, dance, Open Arts Network, professional development, research
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Our members are a diverse lot: coming from every corner of the U.S., using every artistic medium imaginable, working as individuals, in small groups and large companies. But please don’t assume that it’s only artists who are “just starting out” who find value in a Fractured Atlas membership. Parsons Dance (est. 1985) is a perfect example of how even well-established organizations benefit from our services.
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Tags: advocacy, dance, directors & officers liability insurance, liability insurance, member profile, opera, saving money
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