— Artists' Quake Aid Final Report. Seattle, WA: Artist Trust, 2001. Artist Trust, a nonprofit funding and advocacy organization based in Seattle, created a loan fund and set of related programs in response to the 2001 earthquake that severely affected the historically artist community of Pioneer Square in Seattle. The fund's approach and research have been used as a model for cultural sector disaster response, and Artist Trust helped to administer NYFA's Arts Recovery Fund. — Earthquake Bulletin Final Report. San Francisco: Northern California Grantmakers, 1990. Northern California Grantmakers' Arts Loan Fund preexisted the devastating 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake, and it served as the key mechanism through which the philanthropic and cultural community could respond to effects on San Francisco's cultural institutions and organizations. This program has been used as a model nationally. During interviews, community leaders influential in implementing the program during the period of recovery emphasized that this program's fast response and successes depended in large part on the trust built by strong alliances and long-term working relationships among leaders in San Francisco's cultural sector. |
<< Arts and Culture |
— Jackson, Maria-Rosario. "Rebuilding the Cultural Vitality of New Orleans." Washington, DC: The Urban Institute, 2006. This policy brief makes four recommendations for cultural rebuilding in New Orleans: (1) adopt a cultural policy at state and local levels that makes clear the need for the arts and culture to be protected, advanced, and financially supported, giving arts and culture stature and funding clout; (2) cultivate advocates in other policy domains and in the business community; (3) gather consistent baseline data on cultural opportunities, participation, and support; and (4) create a funding intermediary that can gather resources from multiple sources and distribute them in ways that acknowledge the importance of individual artists, informal and community-based cultural activity to the distinctive cultural life of New Orleans. — New York City Arts Coalition. Creative Downtown: The Role of Culture in Rebuilding Lower Manhattan. New York: New York Arts Recovery Fund and New York Foundation for the Arts, circa 2003. (PDF file) In an uncanny parallel, the New York Foundation for the Arts (NYFA) sent its major cultural plan, The Cultural Blueprint for New York City, to the printer on September 11, 2001. The response of New York's cultural community to the events of that day and their aftermath represent a model of balance between well-applied research and mission-driven focus. The original cultural plan was informed with research on the post-disaster status of the cultural sector and an evaluation of the funding mechanism put into place to leverage and distribute resources to affected cultural institutions, organizations and individuals. These went into creating the revised blueprint focused on rebuilding. Creative Downtown's recommendations are to "(1) develop affordable real estate to retain artists and nonprofit arts groups... (2) use tax incentives, exemptions and credits to help solve the real estate crisis... (3) [designate]... a culture zone, commissioning new art and cultural events and giving arts groups the money-saving opportunities of city agencies; (4) market a renewed [area] with wider public information about its cultural activities, capitalizing on national and international concern and interest." — Report of the Cultural Committee of the Mayor's Bring New Orleans Back Commission. New Orleans, LA: AEA Consulting, 2006. (PDF file) Two important resources are provided in this internal report issued by the Cultural Committee. First, the report lays out some very scarce-if only preliminary-data on employment, revenues, and infrastructure in New Orleans' cultural sector post-Katrina. Second, it makes some specific and targeted policy recommendations that would have clear benefits for the nonprofit cultural sector and might serve as directions for advocacy campaigns. For example, the commission report recommends advocating a "2 percent for art" program for all new development in New Orleans. In the current context, this could serve as a vital source of new revenue for the nonprofit cultural sector. Recommendations that focus on incorporating artist housing and community cultural centers into planning are similarly pointed. — Siegel, Beth, Michael Kane, and Beate Becker (Mt. Auburn Associates). Louisiana: Where Culture Means Business. Baton Rouge: State of Louisiana, 2005. (PDF file) This report, which provides baseline data on employment, revenues and infrastructure in Louisiana's cultural sector pre-Katrina, was released four days before the storm hit. Mt. Auburn Associates is currently working on a post-Katrina assessment, to be completed in November 2006. The data and recommendations reported here do not center on the nonprofit sector. Rather, the cultural economy framework used encompasses nonprofits, business, government, and community as sources of cultural value, innovation, and growth. Because they will set the terms for much of the state-level cultural policymaking going forward, this report and its soon-to-be released post-Katrina reassessment are essential reading for those who wish to contribute to near-term cultural policymaking and advocacy. |
