 |  Almost one year ago, I posted The Top Ten Reasons to Support the Arts in response to a business leader who wanted to make a compelling case for government and corporate contributions to the arts. Being a busy guy, he didn’t want a lot to read: “Keep it to one page, please.” With the arts [...] Continue reading 10 Reasons to Support the Arts in 2012 (from Arts Watch)  Three years before writing Future Shock in 1970, futurist Alvin Toffler first wrote The Art of Measuring the Arts, and noted, “A cultural data system is needed to provide information for rational policy-making in the cultural field and to assist those outside the field in understanding their impact on it.” This week, Americans for the [...] Continue reading Without the Data, You’re Just Another Person with an Opinion If you’re reading this now, chances are that you’re in a place of contemplative or active transition—and I commend you! Many of you know that after seven years of working as a choreographer with parallel work in nonprofit arts administration and education in New York City, I recently moved to Philadelphia to start the next [...] Continue reading Great Reads for Entering (or Evaluating Your Commitment to) the Creative Workforce Two major arts education studies were released this past week, the FRSS 10-year comparison and the Arts and Achievement in At-Risk Youth, a 12-year longitudinal study. When these studies are married, their effectiveness as a tool for advocacy becomes undeniably clear. While the FRSS will get much of the press because U.S. Secretary of Education [...] Continue reading Achievement Gap Exposed in New Arts Education Report (An EALS Post) Thinking about the economy can be rather depressing. For many people, it can seem like a volatile god: a mysterious force that affects everything and we mere mortals have no control over its whims. Let’s start with a basic idea of what I mean when I write about “the economy.” Economic analysis is often an [...]  On a recent visit to a community arts center, I was struck by the effortless inclusion of advocacy in the director’s curtain speech. Plugs for the city rolled off her tongue like: “Don’t forget to check out our wonderful restaurants,” and my favorite, “If you’re looking for a new place, you should buy here—it’s a [...]  Recently, the Emerging Leaders of Mobile were given the task to receive a performance critique. The goal was to find a skill that needs improvement and to gain motivation to strengthen it. I consider myself lucky, because I couldn’t have better bosses. While for some, asking for a performance critique can be intimidating, I have [...] Continue reading Making Adjustments: The Art of Decision Making  The Willow Creek Community Church in South Barrington, IL has an annual weekly attendance of 24,000 people. It’s what is referred to as a “mega church.” I remember details about this church opaquely from a history of modern Christianity class. It’s the organizational model they created I remember most. Obviously 24,000 people don’t smoothly pull [...] Continue reading Group Therapy in the Arts: The Mega Church Model  So now that I have this rekindled positive outlook about leadership for the arts, what do I do with it? Well, to be honest, I think failure comes next. How’s that for positive thinking, huh? But honestly, failures are the best thing; they develop people by pushing them splat on their face, picking them up, [...] |        DISCLOSURE: SOAR/Art Matters! has affiliate relationships with the providers of great products and services below. If you make a purchase from one of the sites below, it helps defray the cost of promoting Southern Oregon Artists, so please use our links!  Utrecht's online discounts have been updated, though the graphics remain the same. The link above saves 40% off your highest priced item (coupon code AP1), the one below gets you 15% off any order of $100 or more AND Free Shipping! (coupon code AP3) 
 Ashland artist Pegi Smith sells her art on Yessy.com - View her Yessy gallery here Now thru April 30:  ImageKind, a Cafepress company, now has an artist shop site you can join for free to sell your art online. Join the Imagekind community and start selling your art today CafePress lets you design a huge variety of products with your own art and sell them for a profit! A great way to gain more exposure for your work and make a few extra bucks. Janet London of London Hummingbird Arts and Hannah West, the founder of SOAR and Art Matters!, use CafePress to sell products with their own designs. 
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