No mission statement should be the template for another organization (that’s very nearly a truism for us in the nonprofit world), but being able to see commitment to engagement in the mission is a pre-requisite for effectiveness. Is it obvious in yours? — Doug Borwick
Blog
Smithsonian Pandemonium: Skorton Leaves, Museums Shuttered
It’s been a bad-news month for the Smithsonian: On Dec. 20, Secretary David Skorton — arguably the most successful, least embattled Smithsonian leader in recent memory — announced he’d be leaving his Smithsonian post in June. Just two days after this bombshell, the federal government shutdown began. — Lee Rosenbaum
Why The 87-Year-Old Founder Of Philadanco Dance Wants To Start A New School
Joan Myers Brown: “We started talking about how children are no longer interested in training. They see So You Think You Can Dance and Dancing with the Stars and want to do ‘trick, trick, trick,’ rather than putting in the hours honing proper technique.“We wanted to change the system of teaching dance in their schools.” – Philadelphia Inquirer
Is There Any Point To Conspiracy Fiction When Conspiracy Theories Have Become Political Weapons?
“[Today,] conspiracy theories are customized to achieve desired political outcomes and then injected into the news stream via social media. … No, with swiftboating, birtherism, voter fraud, anti-vaxxing, Pizzagate, crisis actors, false flags, and alternative facts, the conspiracy theory has clearly been weaponized in the most cynical and partisan way. So where does this leave conspiracy fiction? Well, sort of in the lurch.” — Vulture
Increasing Number Of Fakes Of African-American Art
“It’s a whole generation: you could go from A to Z through the list, from Charles Alston to Charles White. I am seeing fakes attributed to all of them,” Rosenfeld says. Propelling the fakes market is the fact that many of these artists were overlooked or undervalued in their lifetimes, so scholarship and expertise in their work is limited.” – The Art Newspaper
A Parliament Of Owls; A Bloat Of Hippos. Where Do These Nouns Of Assemblage Come From?
“While terms like herd, swarm, and pack seem more or less reasonable, others are downright ridiculous — and that’s probably because they were never meant to be taken seriously.” — Quartz
Dallas Morning News Lays Off 43, Including Most Of Its Arts Writers
The paper has struggled as a business for decades and has a terrible history of cutting its cultural coverage, repeatedly signalling its lack of investment in the life of the city. –DMagazine
There Were Brilliant Documentaries In 2018, And Docs Did Great Box Office. Too Bad They Weren’t The Same Films
“Go to festivals like Sundance or True/False and it feels like we’re living through a golden era of nonfiction film; turn up at your local art-house theater and you’d think the medium was nothing but celebrity-driven hagiography and cheap provocation.” — Slate
NBC Says It Will Reduce Ads In Prime Time By 20 Percent
Why? Increasingly, viewers are resistant to ads cluttering programming. TV is competing for its life with streaming services and other entertainment options. And NBC is experimenting with something called “prime pods” – slots that the broadcaster believes are more effective. – Axios
‘Trust-Based Philanthropy’: The Long, Fruitful Relationship Between The Alvin Ailey Company And Prudential
“What makes this partnership special is not just its longevity, but the nature of support that has allowed Ailey to grow into a stable, globally recognized organization. Unlike many grantmaking organizations, in this case at least, Prudential has not only made significant, sometimes unrestricted financial commitments, they have leveraged their own relationships and knowledge for Ailey’s benefit.” — Nonprofit Quarterly