August, 2003

NEWS FROM THE FIELD

Welcome to:
Benjamin Krevolin, President of Dutchess County Arts Council in Poughkeepsie

Harvey Seifter, Executive Director of Flushing Council on Culture and the Arts in Flushing Queens

Ralph Hall, Executive Director of Broome County Council on the Arts in Binghamton

Carol Charles, Executive Director at Stone Quarry Hill Art Park in Cazenovia.

Leslie Taylor, Administrator of Rome Arts and Community Center

top

A LIVING LEARNING LABORATORY CULTURE BUILDS COMMUNITY:
UTICA 2003

THERE IS STILL TIME TO REGISTER FOR THE CONFERENCE. Please register online at www.thealliancenys.org. You may register online until midnight October 8, subsequently, please contact the office: 631-298-1234 for further assistance. Bring staff and board members to Utica for stimulating discussions, interactive site visits, networking and learning opportunities. It is a great opportunity to renew, refresh and meet new acquaintances and dialog with colleagues. Registration fees are $165 for Members of the Alliance and host organizations, with second person attending from an organization $150; $220 for non-members.

CELEBRATE THE ARTS IN NEW YORK: THE ALLIANCE GALA

MARK YOUR CALENDAR: Please join us to celebrate the doers and dreamers that make New York "The State of the Arts" November 24, 2003 at the fabulous Tavern on the Green in Central Park, New York City. Individual tickets to the event are $100 per person. Watch for your invitations in the mail. A brief summary of our honorees follows:

SOCRATES SCULPTURE PARK was an abandoned riverside landfill and illegal dumpsite until 1986 when a coalition of artists and community members, under the leadership of sculptor Mark di Suvero, transformed it into an open studio and exhibition space for artists and a neighborhood park for local residents. Today it is an internationally renowned outdoor museum and artist residency program that also serves was a vital New York City park offering a wide variety of public services. Socrates is the only site in the New York Metropolitan area specifically dedicated to providing artists with opportunities to create and exhibit large scale sculpture and multi-media installations in a unique environment. The Park's existence is based on the belief that reclamation, revitalization and creative expression are essential to the survival, humanity and improvement of our urban environment. Open year round that part attracts over 50,000 visitors annually. All programs at the park are open to the public, free of charge. The Park's importance to the community cannot be underestimated. What was once a dangerous and uninhabited space is now a beloved neighborhood institution, revitalizing the area and providing affirming, educational and inspiring experiences to all who visit.

GEVA THEATRE CENTRE is the most attended regional theatre in New York outside of Manhattan. It serves of 155,000 patrons annually. For the past eight seasons, Geva has been under the artistic direction of Mark Cuddy, who has led the theatre through an unprecedented renaissance of artistic, institutional and financial growth, raising the theatre's national profile. During his tenure, Geva has operated in the black for eight straight seasons with record numbers for season subscribers, donors and overall attendance. Geva employs 125 people annually and has an estimated overall economic impact on Rochester of more than $15 million per year. Geva produces seven Mainstage productions annually. Over the past eight seasons they have enjoyed an explosion of new play development activities, offering comprehensive programs for avocational, young and professional writers. Since 1998 Geva has commissioned ten playwrights for twelve projects, participated in the development of dozens of plays through reading and workshop series; and produced five world premier productions with three more premiers slated for the 2003-04 season. Geva leverages their producing capability and contributes to regional and national alliances by initiating collaborations with theatres and arts organizations in New York and across the country. This commitment of partnership and collaboration is evident in all of Geva's programs. Geva actively collaborates and partners with state and community organizations, offering dynamic arts education and outreach programming to nurture the next generation of art and artists.

RUBY LERNER is the Chief Executive Officer/President of Creative Capital Foundation.
Prior to becoming President of Creative Capital, she served as Executive Director of the Association of Independent Video and Filmmakers (AIVF) and as publisher of The Independent Film and Video Monthly. Previously, Ruby Lerner served as Executive Director of IMAGE Film/Video Center in Atlanta; Executive Director of Alternate ROOTS, a coalition of performing artists in the Southeast; Audience Development Director at Manhattan Theatre Club, one of New York City's foremost nonprofit theatres; and Artist-in-Residence in the Visiting Artist Program of North Carolina, her home state. During her more than twenty years in the arts, she has also written and lectured extensively on arts issues, served on many boards, steering committees, and grantmaking panels, and consulted with hundreds of organizations on audience development and related areas of arts management.

POLLOCK-KRASNER FOUNDATION, INC. was established in 1985 for the sole purpose of providing financial assistance to individual working artists of established ability through the generosity of the late Lee Krasner, one of the leading abstract expressionist painters and the widow of Jackson Pollock. The Pollock-Krasner Foundation's dual criteria for grants are recognizable artistic merit and financial need. The Foundation's mission is to aid those individuals who have worked as professional artists over a significant period of time. Pollock-Krasner grants have enabled artists to create new work, purchase needed materials and pay for studio rent, as well as personal and medical expenses. Past recipient of Pollock-Krasner grants acknowledge their impact in allowing concentrated time for studio work, and in preparing for exhibitions and other professional opportunities, which have advance their careers.

RAMON RODRIGUEZ has been the Director of the Harbor Conservatory since 1975. He leads a 62-member artist/faculty that annually serves over 1,500 students in music, dance and theater studies. In addition, he directs several Latin Music Workshops and is the Project Director of the RAICES Latin Music Museum, which he founded with Louis Bauzo in l979. Raices is an affiliate of the Smithsonian Institution and an Official Project of Save Americas Treasures. Mr. Rodriguez received his Bachelor of Music from Manhattan School of Music with a major in music theory and piano. A piano prodigy at age four, he later studied privately in piano, bass violin, and percussion, and also studied electronic music at New York University with Morton Subsonic. In 2000, Ramon Rodriguez and Louis Bauzo were inducted into the CityLore People's Hall of Fame for creating a home for Latin Music. The following year, 2001, Ramon Rodriguez was awarded the Fifth Annual Samuel and May Rudin Community Service Award and The Eugene McCabe Memorial Community Service Award sponsored by the Robert F. Wagner School of Public Service. The Harbor Conservatory offers pre-professional training in music, dance and theater to youth primarily from East and Central Harlem. Professional skills are acquired through specific skill training, solo and ensemble performance, preparation for higher education, and coaching in professional career skills. In addition to receiving the most intensive and professional arts training, Harbor faculty provides students with one-on-one counseling, professional management and direction, advice about and preparations for auditions and competitions. Regularly, television and film producers, talent scouts, advertising agencies, and Broadway/Off-Broadway producers call upon the Conservatory to recruit talented youth. Whereas the Conservatory prepares young people for careers in the arts, it also helps those who do not pursue this direction gain the skills and confidence needed to succeed in education, employment and positive family and community life.

SHERRE WESLEY recently stepped down as president of the Dutchess County Arts Council (a position she had held since November 1989) to work full time on her doctoral dissertation at Teacher's College, Columbia University, which focuses on how participating in the arts helps people learn to value diversity. Under Sherre's leadership the Dutchess County Arts Council grew to be a major force in the mid-Hudson Valley. She led the Council as it enhanced both its geographic diversity and ethnic inclusiveness and created and sustained many public and private partnerships in the area. Sherre has always been a model for volunteerism. She states, "If I believe in the nonprofit world, in volunteerism and giving, I should be willing to volunteer and give myself." And that she has. She has been active in organizations from her church to Planned Parenthood to Black Executive of the Mid-Hudson Valley. She recently complete a two year term as Chairperson of the Board of Directors of United Way of New York State, and has served multiple terms as President of the Board of Directors of the Alliance of New York State Arts Organizations and was the founding president of ArtsAction for New York, an arts advocacy organization.

Join us at Tavern on the Green, New York City on November 24, 2003 when we celebrate and honor "our own."

top

FROM THE UPSTATE OFFICE: Martha E. Strodel, Director Rural Arts Program

I'm looking forward to seeing many of you at the upcoming Alliance conference, and to introducing some new directors into our Rurals network. Utica and the conference are going to be exciting and fun! For our Rurals Gathering, I hope to involve all of you in small group discussions to explore how you develop, support and balance your services and programs; the plan is then to bring these ideas back to the full group for sharing.

Below are some points of information from the last of the 2003 Rural workshops. This one was called "Fundraising in Your Community"; presentor Gail Schilling is the Development Director for the YWCA of Genesee County and was recommended by host GO Art. Over 40 people attended, and from the evaluation comments, many participants found Gail's workshop very helpful and her enthusiasm inspiring.

On cultivating individual donors:
·It's all about building relationships with prospective donors.
·board/staff work together to identify potential prospects, determine
amount to be asked, and research prospect's interests, etc.
·Prospects are identified on two main issues: do they have the
capability of giving a major gift? and, do they have an interest in your
mission? (or could they become interested?)
·Donors who give significant support want to feel they are investing in
an organization. Speak to how their money will be used.

On the "ask":
·Plan on at least 5 meetings (to build relationship) before asking for a
major gift.
·The "ask" meeting should involve one board member who personally knows
prospect and the organization's executive director.
·After you make the "ask"...stop talking, and listen. Don't fear
rejection; it's not personal, and the prospect may indicate a lower amount,
or another time would be better.

On building membership:
·Membership can make people feel they are part of a "club". Gail
recommends membership levels with incremental benefits, and offer "members
only" events.
·As giving levels increase, philanthropy is more important than "what's in
it for me". Long standing and high end members support the mission and can
be major promotors of the organization.
·Have a member-get-a-member campaign and offer incentives to current
members to bring in new ones.
·hold an annual membership drive at the same time each year
·use phone calls or focus groups to poll lapsed members

SEE YOU AT THE CONFERENCE

top

JOB BOARD

Executive Assistant: Organized and energetic multi-tasker to provide administrative support to the Executive and Artistic Director of award-winning Queens-based NYC arts institution. This is a highly responsible position requiring superior written and oral communications skills; technological literacy; and excellent people skills. The ability to focus on details and deadlines is a must. BA required. Foreign languages and artistic background/interests, a plus. This position offers unique opportunities for growth; the salary and benefits are competitive. Fax resume to (718) 445-1920, attn: Susan Agin, or email to FlushingTownHall @aol.com. No phone calls or walk-in solicitation.

The Alliance of New York State Arts Organizations has a 28-year history as New York's primary service association for community based arts and cultural organizations. The Alliance provides leadership and vision, and delivers services, resources and tools that strengthen community cultural organizations. The Alliance monitors, informs and mobilizes the field on statewide and national issues affecting the arts and assists local arts agencies in building community support and developing effective grassroots public policy.

245 Love Lane, P.O. Box 96
Mattituck, NY 11952-0096
Phone (631) 298-1234 / Fax (631) 298-1101