Americans for the Arts

Sarah Sidman

You probably already know that Starbucks sells coffee*.

And even if you don't know us, you can probably guess that ArtsFund has something to do with funding the arts.

But what you might not know is how coffee, crowd-funding, community radio and a cool arts presenter are connecting to empower music lovers and make a difference for Seattle youth.

It’s a pretty good story, and it’s not over yet!

Mitchell Kaplan, owner of Books & Books

Miami native Mitchell Kaplan sits surrounded by books.  In a time when the number of independent booksellers dropped from over 6,000 to just under 2,000, Kaplan has successfully built an arts and business hybrid that is Books & Books. His establishment is a success story, thanks in part to his relationships with the authors that create the books he sells and to the community.  Thirty-two years ago, Kaplan had a vision to create a place to congregate outside of work and the home.  He wanted an environment where people could meet, relax, share knowledge while celebrating the local literary and cultural community.

In 1983 he helped establish the internationally recognized Miami International Book Fair. He and several other community leaders got the call from Miami Dade College President, Eduardo Padron, to create a community-wide book event that would bring a larger audience to the Wolfson campus. From the start it celebrated writers and readers and has grown into one of the top festivals in the country, a week-long celebration of all things literary. The event includes author readings, showcase events, and children’s activities. As co-founder of the fair, Kaplan has served on the board for over 30 years and helped develop the Florida Center for the Literary Arts. Today, Books & Books hosts over 700 literary events each year in Miami. Kaplan’s team is also actively involved in bringing nearly 400 artists to the Miami International Book Fair. In addition, his stores host unique events with dozens of arts groups and artists each year.

We sat down with Mitchell Kaplan to talk about his unique experiences working as both a small business owner and supporter of our local cultural community.

BCA National Survey of Business Support for the Arts 2013

In addition to measuring the dollars spent by businesses in support of the arts, as well as the types of companies doing the supporting, the 2013 BCA Survey of Business Support for the Arts delved into the motivations and goals of businesses when considering partnerships with the arts.

As much as we may want to focus on why businesses do support the arts when trying to build strategic partnerships with them, the reasons why they typically don’t support the arts will never go away if we don’t address them head-on. Fortunately, a lot of the reasons businesses choose not to support the arts can be amended by starting open communication with companies that historically have not shown interest in supporting our sector. Many times, this is because they don’t know how the arts can benefit the company and its employees, and not because the arts are not perceived as useful to society. (It’s also important to remember that 66% of organizations in the survey stated that they have never been asked to support the arts).

Caleb Way

As the Arts & Business Council of New York Program Coordinator for Americans for the Arts, I’m always on the lookout for great examples of partnerships between the arts and business. If you have found yourself on Fifth Avenue recently, you may not have had to look very far. You probably noticed a large “SPRZ NY” advertisement accenting the window of UNIQLO’s flagship store on the corner of 53rd Street. You may have also turned that corner and continued on to the Museum of Modern Art. This close proximity is just the start of a dynamic partnership between the two. SPRZ NY, UNIQLO’s latest collaboration with MoMA, its midtown neighbor, merges the worlds of visual art and fashion. The now global project, unveiled this past spring, celebrates innovative artists like Andy Warhol and Jackson Pollock. The result is a line of clothing and accessories featuring art work from MoMA-approved artists originally and exclusively produced and sold in New York.

Business Volunteers for the Arts® (BVA) is a national skills-based management consulting program operated by a network of organizations across the country under the leadership and coordination of Americans for the Arts. It pairs nonprofit arts groups with specially trained business executives who volunteer their time and skills to assist with distinct management projects. Though the number of active BVAs has fallen slightly in the past year, those still operating them are running robust programs that seek to fill an active need in the communities in which they operate, both for the arts organizations receiving pro bono support and the businesses that encourage their employees to give their time and skills to the arts.