Legacy Institutions Table Big Capital Projects and the Donations Pour In. A Coincidence?

Legacy Institutions Table Big Capital Projects and the Donations Pour In. A Coincidence?

The New York Philharmonic and Metropolitan Museum of Art net huge donations a few months after shelving controversial capital projects. What's the takeaway here for arts institutions? 

 

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Skills for Success: Why a Funder is Focused on Developing Business-Savvy Artists

Skills for Success: Why a Funder is Focused on Developing Business-Savvy Artists

Condemned to poverty? Maybe not. Elizabeth Hulings explains how the Clark Hulings Fund came to focus on helping artists acquire the business skills needed to build financially sustainable careers. 

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Strange Bedfellows? Ford and Walton Join Forces on Arts Diversity

Strange Bedfellows? Ford and Walton Join Forces on Arts Diversity

At first, it seems a bit jarring to see Ford partnering with the Walton Foundation around the issue of curatorial diversity. But a closer look reveals Alice Walton's fingerprints all over a big new initiative. 

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When Can Museums Sell Their Works of Art? Lessons From the Berkshires

When Can Museums Sell Their Works of Art? Lessons From the Berkshires

The planned sale of a significant portion of the artwork collection of the Berkshire Museum raises questions for both other museums and many nonprofits. 

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Now He Loves LA! David Geffen's Topsy Turvy Bicoastal Giving

Now He Loves LA! David Geffen's Topsy Turvy Bicoastal Giving

With $8 billion and no heirs, Geffen's giving spree, toggling between New York and LA, is unlikely to let up any time soon. We read the tea leaves of his $150 million gift to LACMA. 

 

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We've Seen This Movie Before: A Big Gift Jumpstarts a Museum's Flagging Capital Campaign

We've Seen This Movie Before: A Big Gift Jumpstarts a Museum's Flagging Capital Campaign

A billionaire couple historically focused on health and education causes comes around to the educational and economic value of supporting a film museum's beleaguered capital project. 

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Funded Mandate: A Closer Look at a Campus Gift for Arts Engagement

Funded Mandate: A Closer Look at a Campus Gift for Arts Engagement

While funders often encourage arts organizations to "engage" the community, an alumni couple take the next logical (but surprisingly rare) step by endowing a community engagement position within a museum.

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Black Swan Event: Why Did a Tech Billionaire Defy the Odds and Give Big to a Museum?

Black Swan Event: Why Did a Tech Billionaire Defy the Odds and Give Big to a Museum?

A Silicon Valley billionaire and his wife buck conventional wisdom and give big to a major U.S. museum. Are Spock-like tech philanthropists finally growing more friendly to the arts?

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"Paradigm-Shifting." How Alice Walton Is Taking Her Vision of Art Access Nationwide

"Paradigm-Shifting." How Alice Walton Is Taking Her Vision of Art Access Nationwide

By making works accessible to audiences in far-flung corners of the country, Alice Walton's new foundation, Art Bridges, may permanently alter how Americans interact with art.

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Fire Sale: A Museum Plans to Auction Off Prized Works. How Will Donors Respond?

Fire Sale: A Museum Plans to Auction Off Prized Works. How Will Donors Respond?

When is it OK for a museum to sell its holdings to shore up its finances or fund renovations? And what kinds of issues may arise with donors when it goes down this path?

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Exploring the Graham Foundation’s Connection and Commitment to Chicago

Exploring the Graham Foundation’s Connection and Commitment to Chicago

The Graham Foundation is known around the world for redefining architecture and supporting architecture projects as works of art. But plenty of grants land locally, too. 
 

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Disruption 101: An Influential Funder Sizes Up the State of Museum Tech

Disruption 101: An Influential Funder Sizes Up the State of Museum Tech

More than ever, museums—and funders—are turning to technology in an effort to boost audience engagement. So when a Knight rep expounds on developments in "museum tech," it's worth a listen.

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Donating Art Can Be a Major Hassle. For Some Museums, This is Good News

Donating Art Can Be a Major Hassle. For Some Museums, This is Good News

When collectors struggle to navigate a complex web of financial, legal and aesthetic obstacles simply to donate artwork, midsize regional museums stand to benefit.

 

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Big Fish, Big Pond: A Look at Some Recent Annenberg Arts Grantmaking

Big Fish, Big Pond: A Look at Some Recent Annenberg Arts Grantmaking

Recent gives find the foundation expanding its footprint in and beyond Southern California with an eye towards collaborations that drive social change. 

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It's One of the Biggest Bets in Arts Philanthropy Ever. What's the Verdict?

It's One of the Biggest Bets in Arts Philanthropy Ever. What's the Verdict?

When it opened, some saw Alice Walton's multi-billion-dollar Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art as a textbook case of nouveau philanthropy gone wrong. Five years later, the verdict is quite different.

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Missing Patrons: Will More Major Donors Give for Art and Social Justice?

Missing Patrons: Will More Major Donors Give for Art and Social Justice?

When it comes to funding programs that use the arts to drive social change, institutional grantmakers are stepping up. What's stopping individual patrons from doing the same?

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New Funding Behind a Long Push for Gender Equity in the Visual Arts

New Funding Behind a Long Push for Gender Equity in the Visual Arts

With donors increasingly focused on combating inequality, keep an eye on the visual arts space, where female artists remain woefully underrepresented. Some funders are on the case. 

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"Everyone Is Welcome." A Funder Backs Arts Writing for the People

"Everyone Is Welcome." A Funder Backs Arts Writing for the People

With public funding for the arts under fire, some foundations are keen to make a case for the arts as a shared value across the entire population and not a privilege of coastal elites. 

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What's Happening with Arts Philanthropy Right Now? An Innovative Funder Takes Stock

What's Happening with Arts Philanthropy Right Now? An Innovative Funder Takes Stock

Imminent NEA cuts. A lack of support for individual artists. Shifts in grantmaking trends. We survey the arts philanthropy landscape with Bridgitt Evans, founder of VIA Art Fund.

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Polish Connection: How UC Berkeley Landed a Big Arts Collection From a Reliable Funder

Polish Connection: How UC Berkeley Landed a Big Arts Collection From a Reliable Funder

UC Berekley's Magnes Collection recently received $10.1 million from Taube Philanthropies, the largest single monetary gift to acquire art in Berkeley's history. Here's the back story. 

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