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Posts Tagged ‘grantmakers in the arts’
Is There More To Life Than Donuts And Bingo?
Tim Carpenter
Tim Carpenter does.
Tim, the radio host of Experience Talks and the 2011 Winner of the James Irvine Leadership Award, also believes there must be more for people than bingo and donuts in their later years. He tells the story, of course he does – he comes from an Irish Catholic family where storytelling was a competitive sport. The older people told better stories so he sat at that end of the dinner table.
“Retirement is like college. It is a launching period. Free time. Time to ask yourself, ‘OK, what do I do now?‘”
Tim grinned at his co conversationalist, Mark Freedman, the author of Encore: Finding Work That Matters In The Second Half Of Life at a session organized by Rohit Burman entitled The Big Shift: The Velocity Of Change In America’s Aging Society.
Rohit Burman
“An acre of time.” I love that phrase.
What would you put in this acre of time?
They spoke about developing buildings around programs that get people out doing stuff. Including college level programs and workforce development for artists, building an artist colony. Asking the question – what if you could live here among artists?
Marc Freedman
“Age is a time to bloom, a time of great fertility. A time to celebrate their best work when they are ‘over the hill’. People think genius happens early in life but actually many artists were late bloomers such as Cezanne. Priorities are affected by the sense of mortality which people experience as a compression of time, a heightened sense of time left to live. Relationships deepen, spirituality attracts. ” said Marc. ”It is the trifecta of mortality, longevity and urgency.”
“The process of becoming something is more interesting.” Tim said. ”Suzanne, a woman in her mid 60′s, single mom with 2 kids, was ‘old before her time‘. She attended my writing class and wrote a 12 page screenplay about the challenges and needs of aging called Bandida. I remember thinking to myself ‘please don’t stink’. But it was good. And we made it into a film that was eventually shown by Ira Glass on This American Life.
This answers the question ‘Where does funding have impact?’ Suzanne is a new person, a mentor and teacher to others. This is why we need optimism, something Marc often speaks of.”
Marc shook his head. ”I worry that we feed the notion of magical reinvention, that there is a genius inside waiting to pop out. What is a more realistic vision for us? Perhaps a reintegration of preexisting goals and ideas, more an extension of what you already are.”
“There is a need for arts in the schools to build these skills early, to get art experiences and to connect older artists with kids,” said Tim.
“What about that gap year we have at 18 and 19? What if we had a disruptive creative period of time in our 50′s. It could be a period of renewal focused on the arts. Could we build in a leap year, a gap year. In the UK, 200,00 people are grey gappers.” Marc smiled. ”You could have an encore career, a second career after 50.”
“How do you get one of those?” asked Tim.
Marc said, “We need the arts to give a realistic vision to this new phase of life. There is a lack of focus on this time. There is a second group between midlife and elderly old age with no arts avenue. Their challenge is to reimagine the shape of living.”
They closed with this:
“60 is the new 60. Live your legacy.”
About the Author: Hoong Yee Lee Krakauer writes about how to be a nimble nonprofit, make life creative and make a difference at www.hoongyee.com.
She is also the Executive Director of the Queens Council on the Arts. Hoong Yee can be found surfing in the Rockaways whenever there are waves.
Do you want to know the fears, visions of perfect worlds and world changing advice of your peers and keynote speakers?
I have a special bonus post for you of interviews I conducted with people during the conference. Just leave me a comment with your email or better still, subscribe at www.hoongyee.com and get my interview post and new style notes for people who change the world delivered to your inbox.
Marc Bamuthi Joseph
How do you listen to a whirlwind?
If the whirlwind has a name, such as Marc Bamuthi Joseph, and he is before you – natty, smart, hey let me check you out stylish with a sharp lid tossed casually to the side as he picks up speed and lets the words fly -
- you sit back. Now.
As a conference blogger, I sat at Marc’s Keynote Performance at the Plenary Breakfast Session on Monday at the Grantmakers for the Arts 2011 Conference, confident in capturing the essence of the experience while having my morning coffee with a ballroom full of my colleagues.
It became very clear that Marc operates at speeds unfamiliar to most people and I was left both delighted and bewildered by his message.
So in the spirit of capturing the wind, here is what I caught from that performance:
If you can’t outrun it, get out in front of it and figure out where we’re going
Let’s transform the iconography of an environment
Practice the art of believing that these things, dance, buildings, art, have redemptive quality
Here’s a recipe for a creative ecosystem of critical adjacencies -
Take equal parts revenue potential, artistic presence and invested audience consistency.
Mix well.
Let rise.
Voila! A localized interdisiplinary network.
No amount of Facebook contact can compete with public proximity and investment
Art happens everywhere for anyone
Art is not and object or an outcome only
Art is a process and an opportunity for community
It is hard for grantmakers to track outcomes and creative stimulus but perhaps we should be looking at metrics to measure the scale and health of creative partnerships in our ecosystems
Success is tied to the growth of others
Good changes in structure focus on interdependence, not products
Invest in artists who create contextual work within communities
Let’s shift nonprofit practice and structure to value accumulated surpluses
Formula for changing the world -
Audience development + good fiscal health = healthy arts field
Whew! If you want to get closer to the wind and get more of Marc, check out http://www.lifeisliving.org/
Let me leave you with my favorite piece of current wisdom from Marc:
If you can’t outrun it, get out in front of it and figure out where it’s going.
About the Author: Hoong Yee Lee Krakauer writes about how to be a nimble nonprofit, make life creative and make a difference at www.hoongyee.com.
She is also the Executive Director of the Queens Council on the Arts. Hoong Yee can be found surfing in the Rockaways whenever there are waves.
Do you want to know the fears, visions of perfect worlds and world changing advice of your peers and keynote speakers? I have a special bonus post for you of interviews I conducted with people during the conference. Just leave me a comment with your email or better still, subscribe and get new style notes for people who change the world at www.hoongyee.com.
photo by daniele martinie
What is it about you that would inspire someone to give you money?
Are you a charismatic, mysterious, enigmatic character with a violent past with piercings and a tattoo of a dragon curling over your upper body? And even if you are, so what?
What makes someone take your grant application from the stack sitting on their desk and place it in the In box? Your passion to do what you believe will make the world a better place? Maybe.
Have you ever wondered about what goes on in the minds of funders as they decide which projects are worth funding and which ones are not? Of course, why wouldn’t you? Businesses need to understand why their customers buy from them.
You need to think like you’re in business. The business of writing for money.
OK, how do you become the one they award funding to?
Grantwriting is part of a skill set that transforms your dream project into a killer package that gets funding. For many small and emerging groups, this can be a valuable source of income that can not only support the project of your dreams, it can sustain your infrastructure, pay for consultants, and even help acquire physical space.
How to write a killer narrative
As a grantmaker, I appreciate concise, clear and brief writing. It is easier to write more than less. Brevity forces you, the writer to really think about what you do and how to convey that message.
Without question, your narrative must answer who, what, when, where, why and how. I like seeing this done in the first sentence. And if you can tell me the answers to the following questions, I am even more impressed and likely to personally walk your application over to the Inbox.
What is your story?
Tell me in seven words or less and I will be impressed. That tells me you have thought a lot about who you are. You probably have an elevator speech, a tagline and a marketing message or brand that is uniquely yours.
Why do you deserve to exist?
Ask yourself this question. Your answer will tell you if what you do makes a difference in the world. Another way to ask this question is: If you disappeared from the universe, would anyone notice? Here is a great interview by Pamela Slim about changing the world from her keyboard. Wow, the world would be a duller place without Pace and Kyeli, founders of the Connection Revolution and creators of the World Changing Writing Workshop, and their love of bringing about change through words.
What is your tattoo?
This is my way of asking you what is your special gift to the world? What added value do you bring? What sets you apart from the crowd? I am inspired by creative thinking that produces new and innovative ways to do things.
Why are you unique?
Lispeth Salander is an expert computer hacker with a photographic memory. She was the perfect employee for a security company. Think about all of the resources you possess that can enhance your funding appeal.
What is in it for me?
I have a board member who constantly reminds me that all funding relationships are a fluid conversation at a table where there is something for everyone. If you get funded, who else benefits? Your audience? Your community? How about your funder? Does your project give your funder something to be proud of? Let me offer you a tip: Be a good listener and take good notes. Remember, it is not about you. It is about the world.
Get more Wow!
If you want style notes and more for people who change the world, please check out:
Getting to Wow! to feel good, do good and look good
Nonprofit Knitwear for all things knit and nonprofit
Style Notes from me, your artspy
Hoong Yee
– Subscribe and get a little Wow! every day
– Forward the link to someone you think would be interested
– Link to a post on Twitter (follow me @hylkrakauer)
– Put a link to the blog in your Facebook status update
Thanks so much! I really appreciate your help.
Word of mouth is the best way to share, don’t you agree?
photo by Gnerk
I am a grantmaker. I am also a fundraiser so that I can continue to be a grantmaker.
We are in the height of the budget season and I am writing a lot of requests to legislators – capital requests for technology and expense requests for programs. For money to be used to buy equipment and for money to support art activities. Every so often I write budget testimony to seek funding support from the New York State and from the Queens Borough President.
A lot of different ways to ask for a dollar.
Yes, it is important to know how to write a grant as well as all of these other things. But the art of writing for money involves other things you may not have thought about
.
Kat Thompson, Community Liaison for NYC Councilman Leroy Comrie,
is crocheting this eye popping bag and is looking for a pattern
for something called a monokini. Wow!
Listen
It is all about conversation. If you can listen well, you will learn everything you need to know to turn that conversation into a great relationship that will turn into funding. Kat and I discovered we both love bright colorful yarn. I sent her some links to crochet websites and she is going to send me a picture of her monokini. That is something I have to see. If you pay attention to the people sitting at the table, you may be surprised at the sound of knitting needles but you will hear the sound of money.
Tell them who you are in seven words or less
Legislators meet with lots of people who need funding. They like things that are easy to remember. Tell them who you are in a fistful of words that will startle them into remembering you. A brief well thought tagline, pitch or elevator speech is a powerful way to impress people with who you are.
Let your passion show
Avoid being boring. Please. Legislators will respond to you if you are on a mission that you are passionate about. Most people will. Especially if you make them feel needed, that they can help you fulfill your mission that will make the world a better place. Here’s how Beth Kanter got 40,000 people to donate in one day. Money follows passion.
Talk about what you both can achieve
This is messaging. This is strategic speaking. Can you describe what success looks like for you? If you can, rephrase it so that this success – increased audience attendance, improved communication tools, higher subscription rates – belongs to you and your legislator. Share the glory – and the photo op.
Describe your success in one descriptive phrase
“100% acceptance rate, $800,000 in scholarships”
“three full scholarships to Cooper Union”
“a world of art in one borough”
These are examples of recent successes of the Queens Council on the Arts. We like to create these short catchy phrases to use in our email newsletters, as pull quotes in our annual reports, in press releases.
It makes it easier for people to remember who we are, what we have accomplished, and write a check.
Get more Wow!
If you want style notes and more for people who change the world, please check out:
Getting to Wow! to feel good, do good and look good
Nonprofit Knitwear for all things knit and nonprofit
Style Notes from me, your artspy
Hoong Yee
– Subscribe and get a little Wow! every day
– Forward the link to someone you think would be interested
– Link to a post on Twitter (follow me @hylkrakauer)
– Put a link to the blog in your Facebook status update
Thanks so much! I really appreciate your help.
Word of mouth is the best way to share, don’t you agree?
<a href=”http://www.flickr.com/photos/hoongyee/5685768740/” title=”Kat IMG00308-20110503-1344.jpg by hoongyeeleekrakauer, on Flickr”><img src=”http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5221/5685768740_efb023832c.jpg” width=”500″ height=”375″ alt=”Kat IMG00308-20110503-1344.jpg”></a>
Should I be hopeful about the quirky nature of art? And, should you?
Find art in unexpected places
Karen Rosa, Altman Foundation
Rohit Burman, Metlife Foundation
This morning I was in a meeting with lots of people from Grantmakers in the Arts who care a great deal about keeping life artful. Specifically, how to put art in botanical gardens,
Kathryn Glass, Brooklyn Botanical Garden
in sixty three libraries, in historic houses, outdoors in public spaces like the High Line. How to let you know there is great stuff happening for you to experience in places you may not have dreamed of.
And where did we meet?
At the World Monument Fund in one of the world’s most iconic monuments – the Empire State Building.
Is it me or is this ironic? I think its great.
Lauren Ross, the High Line
Frank Vagnone, Executive Director of the Historic House Trust of New York City and Lauren Ross, the Donald R. Mullen, Jr. Curator and Director of Arts Programs at Friends of the High Line – by the way Lauren, I wonder how you fit all that on a name tag, I thought my name was challenging! – shared a similar wonder of
“audiences and performers moving together” .
I think that is a perfect metaphor for what we are all trying to do here.
Maureen O’Connor, the recently retired Chief Operating Officer of the Queens Library and Tom Finkelpearl, the visionary of the Queens Museum of Art, did not pay each other to say any of the really nice things they did say about working with each other - and, how audiences who speak hundreds of languages consistently fill their rooms.
How can this be maintained?
With funding for both organizations from the Altman Foundation, these programs they work on together have struck a nerve on a very local level. Such relationships between museums and library systems could be better sustained through multiyear funding.
Cheryl Rosario, American Express
Cheryl Rosario, the Director of Philanthropy at American Express, will be serving as the new co chair of our regional GIA group and closed the meeting with these questions:
How can we work more closely with individual artists?
What are ways we can develop leadership in the arts through emerging leaders and board development?
What are thoughtful strategies in measuring the impact of what we do?
How can we see more collaborations between youth and art, people with disabilities and art?
And finally,
Where would we like to go for a site visit?
It is good to know there are creative and concerned minds around the table working on ways to make your life more artful and unexpected.
Get more Wow!
If you want style notes and more for people who change the world, please check out:
Getting to Wow! to feel good, do good and look good
Nonprofit Knitwear for all things knit and nonprofit
Style Notes from me, your artspy
Hoong Yee
– Subscribe and get a little Wow! every day
– Forward the link to someone you think would be interested
– Link to a post on Twitter (follow me @hylkrakauer)
– Put a link to the blog in your Facebook status update
Thanks so much! I really appreciate your help.
Word of mouth is the best way to share, don’t you agree?
I write for love and money. It is my everyday passion. What's yours? 
