Leveraging Assets: How Small Budget Arts Activities Benefit Neighborhoods

This report demonstrates how small budget arts activities play a role in leveraging both local and non-local assets for neighborhood improvement. Throughout this report we shift the focal point from the "art product" to the activity around it. We saw how such activity connects people to resources and to each other, and enables local problem solving. This report draws attention to the social networks that exist within local communities and encourages further exploration of ways to develop these networks. Our research synthesizes social science research on social capital, arts production, and neighborhood capacity building

The Interim Director in Nonprofit Arts Organizations: A Bibliography of Existing Literature

This bibliography was developed to assist the Illinois Arts Alliance (IAA) with the task of determining the need for a publication about interim directors specific to nonprofit arts organizations. Sources were compiled through scans of academic databases, internet search engines, information culled from consulting firms that provide interim director services for nonprofits, and recommendations from the staff of the IAA. To build the bibliography, search terms included: interim director, executive director, nonprofit management, nonprofit management change, nonprofit transition services, and nonprofit consultants. As is evident below, there is a variety of literature available. These sources range from fully refereed journals, to a range of specialized publications by consultants, nonprofit organizations, advocacy groups, and others. Articles published by refereed journals involve teams of scholars that review and assess an article for its quality and the contribution it makes to a specific field prior to publication. While these may be relevant to a field, they may not be relevant to the every day issues faced by organizational leaders. Conversely, recommendations in specialized publications by consulting groups, while often embracing significant issues and are directed to solve specific problems, but are not always the result of systematic data collection. Furthermore, such publications may serve to endorse an individual’s preferred approach to a particular problem or may even serve to promote the services of an individual or group. By presenting these references together, we seek to highlight the range of thought that is applicable to the topic of interim directors as well as highlight the need for further investigation

Mapping Cultural Participation in Chicago

Chicago is internationally known for the excellence of its major cultural institutions, which attract millions of visitors every year. What is the relationship between these organizations and the diverse population of Chicago? This study takes a significant step toward answering this question. Mapping Cultural Participation in Chicago is the first study of its kind of a major U.S. metropolitan area, and draws upon data – ticket purchases, subscriptions, donor lists – from Chicago’s 12 largest cultural organizations and 49 smaller organizations. This information was linked to census data on socio-economic status, race, and ethnicity to provide neighborhood-by-neighborhood maps of participation patterns. The study, funded by a grant from the Joyce Foundation, establishes the first benchmark to enable organizations to assess the future effectiveness of their diversity-building efforts among African-Americans and Latinos. Researchers, led by Professors Robert LaLonde and Colm O’Muircheartaigh of the Harris School of Public Policy Studies at the University of Chicago, found that Chicagoans are generally strong supporters of the largest institutions, with one household in six participating. The most engaged communities – where one household in two participates – are located in the North Shore suburbs and in the western suburb of River Forest. The lowest involvement in the major cultural institutions falls in the south and west sides and the near south suburbs. While race and ethnicity do play a role in lower participation rates among African-Americans and Latinos, "socio-economic factors are the strongest predictors of participation," says O'Muircheartaigh. Among other key findings: Smaller ethnic and diverse organizations successfully reach different audiences from those targeted by larger organizations. There are large, predominantly white areas, regardless of income, where participation rates are low. In the lowest participation communities, an average of one in twenty households was involved in the largest organizations