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May 13, 2009

Susan Marshall appointed Director of Dance at Princeton University’s Lewis Center for the Arts
Princeton University’s Lewis Center for the Arts has appointed Susan Marshall as its first Director of Dance, following the University’s recent decision to separate the Program in Theater and Dance into two individual certificate programs. The appointment of Marshall, a choreographer operating at the peak of her career and at the height of her company’s acclaim, signals Princeton’s prioritization of the arts in its educational mission and offers fresh resources to the dance field, which has been adversely affected by the current financial environment. It is Princeton’s expectation and desire that Marshall will continue her directorship of Susan Marshall & Company while she heads the new program. Susan Marshall & Company is excited by the appointment, as it will offer the organization a solid base – the kind of supportive relationship that has been so elusive for dance companies in recent years. Of Princeton’s interest in Marshall’s continuing work in the field, Lewis Center chair Paul Muldoon commented, “A university like Princeton insists that its faculty, whether they be chemists or choreographers, not only be leaders in their fields but active leaders in their fields. We’re very excited by the prospect of Susan Marshall helping to define the role of dance in the academy while leading a major company.” The appointment requires the approval of Princeton's Board of Trustees, which meets June 1, and would take effect on September 1, 2009.

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Producer Is Chosen to Lead Arts Endowment
by Robin Pogrebin
May 12, 2009
The New York Times

Rocco Landesman, the colorful theatrical producer and race-track aficionado who brought hits like “Big River,” “Angels in America” and “The Producers” to Broadway, has been nominated as the next chairman of the National Endowment for the Arts, the White House said on Tuesday.

The appointment, which is expected to be announced on Wednesday, surprised many in the arts world. It ends months of speculation about who would be selected to lead the nation’s largest and most important arts organization.

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National Endowment for the Arts Announces Second Round of Grants for FY 2009
Arts Endowment to invest more than $83 million to support arts and arts education projects nationwide

The National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) announces its second round of funding for fiscal year 2009 in the categories of Access to Artistic Excellence, Learning in the Arts, Arts on Radio and Television, American Masterpieces: Three Centuries of Artistic Genius, and Partnership Agreements (State and Regional). In this round of funding, the Arts Endowment will distribute $83,472,100 to support 1,075 projects by nonprofit national, regional, state, and local organizations nationwide.

Acting NEA Chairman Patrice Walker Powell said, "I am happy to announce the more than 1,000 arts projects that will receive NEA support through this round of funding. These grants are a direct--and catalytic--investment in our nation's nonprofit cultural industry and will benefit Americans in all 50 states and 6 jurisdictional areas."

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State Department and BAM Share a Program
Compiled by Dave Itzkoff
April 29, 2009
The New York Times

Two Brooklyn dance troupes, Evidence, A Dance Company and Urban Bush Women, will be among the three companies taking part in the inaugural season of DanceMotion USA, an international touring series created by the Brooklyn Academy of Music and the State Department’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs.

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Important Airline Flight Information from the Transportation Security Administration
Please be advised that the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) has instituted new rules and procedures that require airlines to present the TSA with certain specific identity information for all passengers. The TSA has branded these new requirements TSA SECURE FLIGHT which goes into effect on May 15, 2009. The purpose of this program is for the US government to pre-screen airline passengers against its No-Fly list 72 hours prior to boarding.

On May 15, airlines will be required to provide the full name of each passenger to the TSA. Your name, as it appears on your reservation, must match the ID you will be presenting to check-in EXACTLY. If your ID contains your middle initial or name, your reservation must also reflect such. This only applies to reservations made on or after May 15. As your Frequent Flyer Number must also match your reservation name to get flight credit, you may need to contact the airline and have your account name changed to match the ID you will be using.

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Ballet West to cut $1.2M
Dance company requests concessions from its three unions
by Ellen Fagg Weist
May 12, 2009
The Salt Lake Tribune

Ballet West will cut four positions, freeze salaries, request furloughs and reduce pension contributions for its 35-member administrative staff, as part of a plan to reduce $1.2 million from the dance company's operating budget for the 2009-2010 season.

"Obviously, the economic condition of the world right now is not something we can ignore," artistic director Adam Sklute said on a break Monday evening from rehearsal for the company's upcoming "Innovations." "We thought long and hard about the best way to do what we were doing, and not affect the quality of what we are presenting on stage."

In addition, the dance company is seeking concessions from its three unions representing dancers, stagehands and musicians, and will make minor modifications to programming. "But nothing that will affect what I call 'the meat' of our programming," Sklute said. For example, Sklute had hoped to stage an additional Ballet West premiere, but will instead produce a more affordable work.

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Few Gains Predicted for 2009 Corporate-Foundation Giving
by Debra E. Blum
May 11, 2009
The Chronicle of Philanthropy

Corporate foundations gave an estimated $4.4-billion to charity last year, a 3-percent decline from 2007 after adjusting for inflation, according to a new report.

And giving this year is expected to be down again, with slightly more than half of the corporate foundations surveyed anticipating a drop in contributions.

“We’re going to see even more of the effects of the economic downturn in 2009,” says Steven Lawrence, senior director of research at the Foundation Center, the New York organization that published the report. “Especially as a result of the mergers and upheavals in the banking and finance industry, we’re likely to see more dramatic cutbacks and foundations ceasing to exist.”

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In the Arts: Pa. Budget Proposal Ends Arts Funds, S.F. Opera's New Cuts
May 7, 2009
The Chronicle of Philanthropy

Pennsylvania budget plan approved this week by Republicans on the state Senate Appropriations Committee zeroes out funds for the arts, film offices, public television, and some museums, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports.

While the panel’s top Democrat said it is unlikely the GOP proposal will be approved in its current form, arts officials said it marked a new frontier in budget politics. “I’ve seen lots of head fakes and brinksmanship in the past, but this feels very real,” said Charlie Humphrey, executive director of the Pittsburgh Center for the Arts.

In other arts news, the San Francisco Opera announced another $1-million in spending reductions for the 2009-10 season, including a 5 percent pay cut for top executives, reports the San Francisco Business Times. The company will enter the new season with a $63-million budget, $6-million less than originally proposed.

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The End Of Conspicuous Philanthropy?
by Judith H. Dobrzynski
May 5, 2009
Forbes.com

Americans should hope not ...

Anyone who scowled in 2008 when the New York Public Library announced that it would rename its historic Beaux Arts building on Fifth Avenue the Stephen A. Schwarzman building and chisel his name into it five times to mark his $100 million pledge, might have smiled at the news last week: The Chronicle of Philanthropy reported that anonymous giving is soaring. In this re-calibrated world, it seems, some big givers no longer want such notoriety.

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Dancers Face a Tough Time to Land on Their Feet
by Sarah Kaufman
May 3, 2009
The Washington Post

Sure, it's hard for lots of people in a down economy, but for some dancers, this year has been a career killer.

For many of them, training begins practically in toddlerhood, and after a decade of preparation within the four walls of a studio, they have but a slim window of time to pursue a career before injuries and age catch up with them. Unfortunately, dance being the brutal, youth-oriented business that it is, new hires are most attractive to company directors in their late teens, or possibly early 20s. An unemployed dancer with several years of company experience under her belt may face slim prospects of finding another gig.

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Stage of Emergency
Cultural Groups Ask What to Mount Next. The Answer, Increasingly: Losses
by Paul Farhi and Jacqueline Trescott
May 3, 2009
The Washington Post

As the world's richest art institution, the J. Paul Getty Trust has never been too concerned about pinching pennies. Visitors to the Getty Museum complex in the posh Brentwood section of Los Angeles are bathed in opulence from the moment they arrive. Awaiting them in the parking lot is a state-of-the-art driver-less tram that whisks them to the Getty's manicured grounds atop a view-spanning hill.

But these days no one, not even the Getty, can escape the gravitational pull of a worldwide economic crisis. With its investment portfolio shrinking from $6.4 billion to $4.2 billion since mid-2007, the Getty said last week that it would slash its operating budget by 22 percent and its staff by 14 percent. While the Getty says admission will still be free, the cost to ride that magic tram will effectively go up, when parking fees increase from $10 to $15 in July.

Arts organizations large and small can relate to the Getty's problems. Once flush with corporate and private donations, rising ticket revenue and government subsidies, many nonprofit arts groups now find themselves reeling. Cuts of every kind -- staff and artist layoffs, furloughs, canceled performances and tours, truncated seasons -- are widespread.

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Gala Changes Aim for an RSVP Without Regrets
by Roxanne Roberts
May 3, 2009
The Washington Post

Twenty years ago, a few charities launched what they thought would be a sure-fire hit: The "stay-at-home" fundraiser. Donors were asked to buy tickets, but didn't have to show up for yet another black-tie dinner in a hotel ballroom. No tux, no traffic, no hassle. Just the thing after all the excess of the '80s, right?

Wrong. After a few embarrassing flops, the idea was quickly abandoned when organizers realized that their patrons liked going to parties.

Fast-forward two decades, when nonprofits face shrinking resources, fewer donors and boards keeping nervous eyes on the bottom line. Arts organizations have a tougher time making their case when people feel their spare dollars should go to human services rather than culture.

So: What to do? Cancel the galas and just ask for direct donations instead? Risky move, even in this economy.

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Why Businesses Are Still Giving To the Arts
by Bob Diddlebock
April 30, 2009
Time Magazine

At the "confluence of passion and pragmatism," as one executive puts it, a handful of companies across the U.S. continue to support arts organizations in an economy not given to song and dance. The fine arts have been roughed up by this recession, some fatally, like the Baltimore Opera Company. But enterprises such as Omaha Steaks, Target, AutoZone and Olive Garden--despite struggling themselves--are standing by commitments to keep dance troupes, museums, orchestras and theater groups alive one burger, towel set, windshield wiper and pizza at a time.

It's not an easy choice, particularly for companies in layoff mode. But executives believe the arts are a good investment, a relatively inexpensive brand polisher, as well as a community-development engine and a key in promoting a region as a good place to live and do business. So sponsorships, cash gifts, in-kind service offerings and other donations are still being given. "Companies need to market themselves ... so there's always opportunity out there," says Gail Bower, a sponsorship and marketing consultant in Philadelphia.

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