November, 2005

NEWS FROM THE ALLIANCE

Join us on November 7 as we present the Lifetime Achievement Award to Ted Berger, retiring icon and mentor to so many arts leaders in New York State and around the country. Ted's illustrious career spans decades and his achievements are legendary. Everyone in this business has been touched by Ted's vision and his impact on all facets of individual artist support. He is truly one in a million.

Welcome to the new Executive Director of NYFA, Michael Royce, who assumes his position January 2006. Michael comes from the Moynihan Station Development Corporation.

Raona Roy, the legend behind the Arts Center of the Capital Region, is retiring at the end of January 2006. Her vision and accomplishments in Troy are cited as a model of downtown revitalization. She made the impossible dream come true. A member of the Alliance Board, Raona has been a colleague and mentor to arts leaders in New York State and by example, has raised the bar on effective and strategic arts advocacy.

Pat Joyce, another long standing legend in our field, has announced that she will retire from the Lower Adirondack Regional Arts Council (LARAC) in 2006. Pat has created a jewel of a facility in the heart of Glens Falls. Her community, the field and the Alliance have benefited enormously from the warmth and brilliance of Pat's leadership at home and throughout the state.

The Arts & Business Council of New York named Will Weiss to the newly created position of executive director. Mr. Weiss was most recently the director of the Center for Creative Resources.

Welcome to David Beale, Executive Director, Cultural Council of Cortland County.

Pat Berman and Betty Himmel will be honored at the Alliance Gala on November 7 with the Alliance Star Awards. Join us as we applaud and recognize the many years of devoted and insightful service to the Alliance and to the field by these two extraordinary women.

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Alliance 2005 Gala at the Copa on November 7

Celebrate the Arts in New York State. Join the Alliance and Honorary Gala Chairman Richard J. Schwartz on November 7, 2005 as we acknowledge and honor the doers and dreamers who will receive awards this year:

HON. LOUISE SLAUGHTER
arts advocate award
THEODORE BERGER
lifetime achievement award
POETS & WRITERS
downstate organization award
ARTS CENTER OF SCHENECTADY-PROCTOR'S THEATRE
upstate organization award
QUANG BAO
M. Jacquie Lodico distinguished service award
MARVIN LEFFLER
Board Leadership Award
PATRICIA BERMAN and BETTY HIMMEL
the Alliance STAR Awards

You may also reserve your place at the Gala by clicking on this link. Save the date on your calendar now to join us November 7, 2005 at the legendary Copacabana 34th Street and 11th Avenue, NYC for cocktails and hors d'oeuvres and the awards ceremony, 6-8pm. Please read about the honorees at the Alliance Web site.

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

Updated addresses and contact information

* St. Lawrence County Arts Council is in the process of relocating to a downtown Potsdam rented facility. They plan to be open for the annual countywide Artists' Studio Tour, November 4th through the 6th and are working to develop a regional gallery/gift shop as part of their operation. The new address and phone number: 51 Market Street, Potsdam, 13676; 315-265-6860.

* Visual artist and frame shop owner David Beale was hired as the part time director for Cultural Council of Cortland County last spring. CCCC rents space from the county tourism office, which recently moved to a county complex in downtown Cortland. The new address is 37 Church Street, Cortland, 13045 and their phone number remains the same at 607-753-1188; however, the new email address is: staff@cortlandevents.com.

Resources of interest to rural organizations:

* The Maine Arts Commission has published the "Discovery Research Workbook: How to Conduct a Cultural Inventory". The workbook provides a step-by-step approach to identifying artistic and cultural resources in rural regions, and came out of their Discovery Research project, defined as a "community-wide inventory and consensus-building process in which cultural resources and needs are identified". For more information or a copy, contact the Maine Arts Commission at 25 State House Station, Augusta ME, 04333; phone is 207-287-2714.

* Many of the articles published in the "Grassroots Fundraising Journal" are of particular value to rural regions. In the July/August 2005 issue, an article by Kim Klein titled "The Value of a Nest Egg: Starting an Endowment" spoke to a oft-spoken wish of many of the Rural Partners; that of establishing a dependable financial resource for a portion of general operating costs or to fund a special program.

As Klein states: "Organizations that should be permanent fixtures in the nonprofit landscape need to start endowments." The author lists a number of reasons to build an endowment of diversified income. Among these are: an endowment forces an organization to think in terms of long-range planning and provides a vehicle for people to make large gifts. She also speaks openly about the downside of an endowment; how one can distance the organization from its mission and constituency, or discourage some donors. Klein then goes on to describe the considerations in deciding whether to establish an endowment and makes suggestions as to the steps in developing one that meets the organization's needs. This article is very helpful in debunking some of the magic and mystery of endowments, and providing relevant how-to information on setting up an effective endowment. It can be downloaded as a PDF file for $3 from their website: www.grassrootsfundraising.org. Search by title under the archives, current issues.

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REPORT ON THE COMMUNITY ACTION TEAM (CAT) PROJECT

The Community Action Team (CAT) project is a new initiative developed by the Alliance and funded by the National Endowment for the Arts to assist communities in New York State to design, plan and/or organize a new or existing community cultural project. The project provides professional consultant fees and expenses to help a cultural organization spearhead or expand work that will enhance community involvement in the arts, build partnerships with government, commercial and private sectors, and develop fundraising protocol necessary to implement the resultant plan.

In early summer, a request for proposals was distributed statewide; eight organizations applied, and four were selected for support. The details and consultant selection of each of the four projects are tailored to respond to local needs and opportunities as defined by arts leaders and their communities. All of the selected projects indicated strong outreach and life beyond the initial support provided by the CAT project.

* Central New York Community Arts Council requested support to initiate a community cultural planning process in consideration of the diverse current efforts to revitalize the Rome/Utica region. The focus of their request is to lead an intensified coalition building process involving the arts and all concerned interests; the arts community, economic and urban redevelopment, local government leaders, private developers and community volunteers to formulate a cooperative planning process. Craig Dreeszen is the selected consultant; he will help them plan and initiate the process to bring the various groups and interests together and identify critical issues to address in developing a long term comprehensive cultural plan for the region.

* Genesee Valley Council on the Arts is spearheading a collaborative effort to exhibit and promote a unique regional resource - a collection of WPA easel paintings, thought to be the second largest in the United States. The paintings belong to Livingston County; they have been documented, assessed and displayed once during the Millennium celebration. Since then, they have been stored at the county campus, a former TB hospital complex in Mount Morris. The long term plan is to establish a public gallery for the pictures, access resources for their restoration, develop climate controlled storage and a research space for social and art historians to study these works of art. Mount Morris is a gateway to Letchworth State Park. Much of the park was a WPA and CCC project and welcomes over 250,000 visitors annually. Bringing some of those visitors into a public gallery in Mount Morris or on the adjacent county campus is seen as a way to share this collection of Americana with the community and revitalize the town as a tourist attraction. The consulting team of Christopher S. Clarke, exhibition developer and historian, and Wilma Trueswell Townsend, curator of historical collections, will begin the work of developing an advantageous location and staffing for the gallery, curating exhibits of the work, marketing the gallery and collection both within and outside of Livingston County, and funding the restoration, cleaning and adequate storage of the collection.

* St. Lawrence County is a broad, rural region with a dispersed and diverse population of about 111,000. Transportation is a big issue, with long distances between towns and the small cities of the county, minimal mass transit and several months of northern winter travel. The region's economy is challenged by decreasing industry and agriculture, a relatively low per capita income, limited corporate support base and shrinking town, county and school budgets. St. Lawrence County Arts Council has been rebuilding in the last four years and working to identify their countywide cultural needs and resources; they recognize a growing demand for arts information, services and programs and a role for the arts in community redevelopment. They also see an opportunity for developing responsive community art centers in the abundance of good quality buildings that are vacant or partially empty throughout the county. Recently, the arts council signed a lease for space in downtown Potsdam. They plan to consolidate their art services here and develop an arts gallery, gift shop and workshop programming. They requested consultant help in helping them develop the space into a vital and sustainable operation which can be used as a model for future satellite art access centers throughout the county. Elaine Giguere will work onsite to assess the feasibility of their goals and help them plan for their new space; Craig Dreeszen will assist with ongoing planning review and followup.

* In 1998, Westchester Arts Council purchased an abandoned bank building in the heart of downtown White Plains, the county's major city and county seat. It has since renovated the building, converting the space into a multi-purpose arts center known as the Arts Exchange, which houses artist studios, meeting and workshop rooms, and office space for arts related businesses and the arts council. The ground floor of the Grand Banking Room holds a gallery that features work by local artists, a performance space for dance, theater and music and a lecture hall as well as the new Cultural Tourism Center, where visitors can learn about the cultural resources and events of the county. The Arts Exchange has the potential to be the hub of arts activity for the redeveloping community; the area has seen a renaissance of retail spaces and restaurants, high rise apartment buildings, a new performing arts center and a new park. But the increase in street and pedestrian traffic has not translated into increased resident or visitor participation or support for the Arts Exchange; the building still has a formidable appearance from the street. At the same time, the demographics of Westchester County and White Plains are changing. The county now has the highest percentage of minority residents in the state outside of New York City, and this population continues to grow. The arts council recognizes their need to reach out to their new and wider community, and reintroduce themselves as a crucial cultural resource with a wonderful facility for community use. They will work with consultant Donna Walker-Kuhne to develop community awareness of what the arts council offers, programming that addresses the needs of the changing community and marketing to bring in new consumers and supporters for the Arts Exchange.

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AMERICANS FOR THE ARTS EMERGENCY RELIEF FUND

Americans for the Arts has provided 25 arts organizations in Alabama, Louisiana, and Mississippi with funds through the recently established Americans for the Arts Emergency Relief Fund, a permanent fund developed to provide timely financial assistance to areas impacted by a major disaster for the purpose of helping them rebuild the arts in their communities. Created with an initial contribution of $100,000 from Americans for the Arts' own reserves, the relief fund distributes support directly to local arts agencies to assist with their own recovery or to provide needed services and funding to local nonprofit arts groups and individual artists in affected areas and to other relief efforts dedicated to helping the arts. You can make a tax-deductible contribution to the Americans for the Arts Emergency Relief Fund through this link.

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KATRINA TAX LEGISLATION AFFECTS ALL CHARITABLE GIFTS THROUGH 2005

Congress has passed a tax relief package for disaster survivors along with a tax incentive package for charitable giving to all nonprofits. In order to help ensure that charitable giving to non-Katrina causes does not suffer, Congress passed an emergency tax bill that significantly raises the charitable deduction limits on individual gifts for the rest of this calendar year. Under previous law, individuals could deduct cash gifts up to 50 percent of their income. Now through December 31, 2005, individuals may deduct up to 100 percent of their income for both Katrina and non-Katrina causes. Obviously, this affects only people who are wealthy enough to give away so much of their annual income. Nevertheless, the bill should result in increased giving, both to hurricane-related and to other causes.

ARTIST DEDUCTION BILL ADVANCES IN SENATE

A bill that would provide incentives for charitable giving has been introduced. It is also known as the CARE Act and is nearly identical to legislation was introduced in the last Congress, and that passed in the Senate but was not ultimately enacted. Of special interest to the arts is the "artist deduction" language, which would allow artists to claim a tax deduction for the fair market value of works that they donate to arts organizations for mission-related uses other than resale. In the House, a similar bill does NOT include the artist deduction language, as was the case in the last Congress. It appears that there is the possibility that the artist language could be included in a final compromise version of the charitable incentives bill. Both the House and Senate bills include the IRA Rollover provision, which would allow individuals to donate funds to charities directly from their IRA accounts without paying any penalty for early withdrawal.

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JOB BOARD

Lower Adirondack Regional Arts Council (LARAC) Executive Director Glens Falls, NY. Responsibilities include management of arts services center, numerous arts-related programs, and fundraising. Send cover letter and resume to Search Committee, 2 Potter St., Glens Falls, NY 12801. FT position and EOE.

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The Alliance of New York State Arts Organizations has a 30-year history as New York’s service association for arts and cultural organizations. The Alliance provides leadership and vision, and delivers services, resources and tools that strengthen cultural organizations. The Alliance informs the field on statewide and national issues affecting the arts and assists local arts agencies in building community support.

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