Americans for the Arts

The Fledgling Fund, a private foundation launched in 2005, seeks to “inspire a better world” by supporting the work of documentary filmmakers and building the evolving field of social issue documentary film and media.  It believes in the power of film to engage communities in timely issues and focuses its grantmaking on supporting filmmakers’ outreach and engagement efforts, helping them build awareness, strengthen movements, inform decisions, and even impact policy.  While all the films it supports address

Local arts agencies—arts councils, arts commissions, cultural affairs departments—are an essential tool for community leaders as they rebuild their economies and promote social cohesion. The nation’s 4,500 local arts agencies (LAAs) support, present, and promote the dynamic value of the arts. Through their partnerships and leadership, LAAs are building healthier communities through the arts.

The arts are fundamental to our humanity. They ennoble and inspire us—fostering creativity, goodness, and beauty. The arts bring us joy, help us express our values, and build bridges between cultures. The arts are also a fundamental component of a healthy community—strengthening them socially, educationally, and economically—benefits that persist even in difficult social and economic times.

This fact sheet provides data and examples of how the arts foster inspiration, empathy, and leadership - all which establish a platform to innovate in an ever-evolving economy.

This guide answers common questions that leaders have about web accessibility, while the companion guide Web Accessibility for Nonprofit Web Developers provides resources for your web developer to implement accessibility on your organization’s website.

Artists, alongside scientists and entrepreneurs, are role models for innovation in our societies. Not surprisingly, arts education is commonly said to be a means of developing skills considered as critical for innovation: critical and creative thinking, motivation, self-confidence, and ability to communicate and cooperate effectively, but also skills in non-arts academic subjects such as mathematics, science, reading and writing. Does arts education really have a positive impact on the three subsets of skills that we define as “skills for innovation”: technical skills, skills in

Artist in residence at industrial and government organizations has become secondary to the more well know artist in resident at "luxury-summer-camp" wgere they remove themselves from the noise and duties of day to day land concentrate on their own creative growth. This artilce discusses the resurgence of interest in the idea of inviting artists to observe, learn and work within mainstream government agencies and institutions, among entrepreneurs and scientists as well as among the artists themselves.

The article suggests that a holistic strategy which combines developing technology alongside creative action to produce technology that can play a part in extending the boundaries of human though and action.

This report explores the underlying design practices that allow some firms to succeed above others across multiple industries. Aiming to uncover the connections between business value and design, the report identifies ten design actions across three themes that appear to correlate with improved performance. Amazon Prime, Apple, Netflix, Tesla are among the companies that get design right.

Report identifies and defines computational design as a key driver in the growth of tech businesses. Computational designers are those who deal mostly in code and build constantly evolving products that impact millions of people’s lives.

Art in the Age of the Internet, 1989 to Today traces the relationship between internet culture and artistic practice through the work of contemporary artists such as Ed Atkins, Camille Henrot, and Anicka Yi, and looks back to pre-internet pioneers including Nam June Paik.

"The path to a great achievement—whether it is a technological innovation or a masterwork of art—is almost never direct. On the contrary, creative breakthroughs often come after wrenching failures. That idea animates The Rise: Creativity, the Gift of Failure, and the Search for Mastery, a book by Sarah Lewis, an art curator who is completing her PhD at Yale. Based on 150 interviews with artists and explorers as well as scientists and entrepreneurs, the book is neither a self-help manual nor a bundle of case studies. It’s a meditation on accomplishments that come from

The report Arts Organizations and Digital Techologies shares results of a survey to explore how arts organizations use technology and how it impacts their work.

Cultural organizations like theater companies, orchestras, and art museums are using the internet, social media, and mobile apps to draw in and engage audiences, provide deeper context around art, and disseminate their work beyond the stage and the gallery.

As a means for exploring the balance of culture with technology in the region, Cultural Initiatives created the Great Cities simulator, a laboratory for experimenting with cultural policies and projecting Silicon Valley’s fate 40 years into the future.

The integration of public art and the emphasis on design excellence and art in transit is a global phenomenon codified in the U.S. more than three decades ago. The periodic defining and recommendation of best practices ensures the continued relevance of processes and protocols used in the field. This paper documents best practices used by experienced transit art administrators who are well versed in contemporary art and have developed comprehensive art in transit programs across the country. 

"This volume describes a burgeoning area of psychotherapy that employs the art of fi lmmaking and digital storytelling as a means of healing victims of trauma and abuse." [p.1]