IEA Newsletter for Wednesday, January 23, 2008

Welcome to the Institute for Education and the Arts’ weekly newsletter for January 23, 2008. The newsletter is published each Wednesday to the IEA listserv and is archived here on the IEA blog.

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REINVENTION THROUGH THE ARTS
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ARTISTIC RENAISSANCE
Ariella Cohen, New Orleans CityBusiness, 1/14/08
”Joshua Lee Nidenberg sold life insurance before Hurricane Katrina. In 2007, he traded his steady income for the creative freedom of … his new occupation as a fine art photographer.” Lee Nidenberg now pays the bills with proceeds from the prints he sells and shops and art markets or to corporate clients. ‘Photography has always been my passion so I decided to take a shot at trying to make it my career. Against all odds, it worked.’ The success story seemed unlikely in the months after Katrina, when galleries and artists were struggling to stay afloat without enough tourists and residents to buy work. Two and a half years later, the city’s creative community is making an unexpectedly strong rebound from Katrina.”
Read more>>


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HISTORICAL IMAGES ON FLICKR
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LIBRARY OF CONGRESS IMAGES NOW ON FLICKR
This month, the Library of Congress opened an account on the popular photo sharing site Flickr. The project began with over 3000 photos culled from LC’s collection of about 14 million items. By posting these uncopyrighted photos to Flickr, LC allows viewers to view and comment on the images.
View the LC Flickr collection>>


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RIGHT-BRAINED THINKING
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THINKING RIGHT IN A LEFT-BRAIN ENVIRONMENT
Su Bacon, Kansas City (MO) Star, 1/12/08
“In a business firm full of CPAs, an MFA stands out like an oboe in a room full of calculators. Yet Lori Diffendaffer says the degree and her musical background prepared her well to handle marketing at Grant Thornton LLP in Kansas City. Diffendaffer is a marketing senior associate at the accounting, tax and business advisory firm. She works with accountants, auditors and business advisers to write promotional pieces, prepare proposals, create direct mail campaigns and plan special events. ‘Whenever I write a piece, I consider if the tone is right, the voice is right — skills I applied in music — but in a more abstract way, she said. Diffendaffer … holds a bachelor’s degree in music performance and a master of fine arts in performing arts management. Her job requires creativity, empathy and an ability to see the big picture — what are called ‘right-brain’ skills because they originate in the right hemisphere of the brain. The skills that make her stand out in a left-brain environment are becoming increasingly important in all jobs, maintains author Daniel H. Pink in Whole New Mind: Why Right-Brainers Will Rule the Future. Left-brain skills — linear thinking, logic and analysis — still have a role to play, Pink writes, but success belongs to those with a skill set that also includes imagination, a sense of humor, intuition and understanding the needs of others.”
Read more: http://www.kansascity.com/business/moneywise/story/441931.html


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PHILANTHROPY
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WEILL, BROAD ARE TOP U.S. ARTS DONORS IN 2007, CHRONICLE SAYS
Patrick Cole, Bloomberg News, 1/14/08
”Citigroup Inc. Chairman Emeritus Sanford Weill and billionaire Eli Broad were among the top philanthropists overall in the U.S. in 2007 and the leading patrons of the arts, according to the Chronicle of Philanthropy. Weill, 74, gave a total of $328.5 million last year to charitable organizations and ranked sixth among U.S. philanthropists in overall donations. Weill's gifts included $11.5 million to Carnegie Hall to endow music education programs and $10 million to the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater to boost its endowment, the Chronicle said. Broad and his wife, Edythe, ranked tenth overall with $176 million, which included $26 million to Michigan State University to build a museum for modern and contemporary art.”
Read more>>


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CONFERENCE
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AMERICANS FOR THE ARTS 2008 CONFERENCE
June 20-22, Philadelphia, PA
Preview rates end 2/1/08
”The program's planned, the weather looks great, so now is the time to register for the 2008 Americans for Arts Annual Convention! Join more than 1,300 of your colleagues and hear from six great innovators in and around the arts; take advantage of fourteen different ARTventures throughout the city of Philadelphia; have an afternoon of personal growth with Career 360; participate in one of the new Advance Workshops; and learn and take back new ideas from more than 75 program sessions.”
Learn more>>


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GRANTS AND AWARDS
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PROMISING PRACTICES AWARDS FOR CHARACTER EDUCATION
Character Education Partnership
Deadline: 3/15/08
”CEP gives Promising Practices Awards to schools and districts for unique and specific strategies in character education that others may replicate.”
Learn more>>

SPRINT AHEAD FOR EDUCATION CHARACTER EDUCATION AWARDS
Sprint Foundation
Application Window: 3/3/08 – 4/15/08
”Through the Sprint Ahead for Education grant program, the Sprint Foundation will award grants to school districts and individual schools to fund the purchase of resource materials, supplies, equipment and software that facilitates and encourages character education among K-12 students. With a national reach, the program is open to all US public schools (K-12) and US public school districts. The Sprint Ahead for Education Grant program will accept applications for Character Education programs that promote youth leadership, youth volunteerism, school pride and a positive school culture.” Grants will be awarded up to $5000 for individual building projects and up to $25,000 for district initiatives.
Learn more>>


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DID YOU KNOW?
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We archive past newsletters here on our searchable blog .