Tag: Press

D.C. arts advocates tell city that every dollar counts

By Maura Judkis

The D.C. Commission on the Arts and Humanities yesterday released its FY2011 list of grantees, with funds going to arts groups large (Shakespeare Theatre, National Building Museum) and small (Nicole Aguirre for Worn Magazine, School Sculptures with Kevin Reese). It’s a long list, but Rob Bettmann, chair of the D.C. Advocates for the Arts, wishes it could be a little longer and a lot more flush with cash. Bettmann and his board work to increase public funding for the arts, but working on a shoestring budget themselves, they’ve found a cost-free way to show the DCCAH the impact of their grants: Social media

“The strategy in these difficult economic times was, spread the money more broadly in order to have the biggest impact possible,” says Bettmann.

This means that there are many grants awarded, but often for less than what the grantee applied for. But even those small grants are in danger, says Bettmann, because arts funding is considered to be an “easy cut.”

“They think it doesn’t have an impact,” he says.

Bettmann has created a Facebook group called “D.C. Commission Grantees” and has posted a request that members post what their grant means to them. “We are trying to find a few examples to show what 2k, 5k, 7k, 12k etc in DCCAH grants returns to the city. If you’re a good example — please share it here.”

Some of this year’s grantees who have previously received city funding have already posted about the difference that just a few thousand dollars can make.

“Artists from the Folger Shakespeare Library’s “Shakespeare Steps Out” program and DC students have explored Shakespeare’s plays through hands-on activities, games, and performance that bring Will’s words and world alive … for our community’s youngest learners. It couldn’t have happened without DCCAH grants,” says Garland Scott, for the Folger Shakespeare Library, which is the recipient of 2011 funding. Katherine Jordan, the recipient of a Young Artist Grant for next year, posted that she premiered her new trio, “Charged Intuition” at the Eureka Dance Festival thanks to the DCCAH.

Bettmann and his board will continue to work with the city, especially in the coming months as the new mayor determines the budget.

“If we don’t make a strong case for the impact of every dollar, they think they can just keep cutting,” says Bettmann.

Original Publication URL: http://www.tbd.com/blogs/tbd-arts/2011/01/d-c-arts-advocates-tell-city-that-every-dollar-counts-6802.html

Rob Bettman Has Some New Ideas

by Ellyn Weiss for Pinkline Project

This is a story about a guy who does a whole lot of things and does them all well and about his newest project to create an evening-length dance in and of the community.

To begin: if you are an artist or a lover of art, Rob Bettmann has been working for you and it’s quite likely that you don’t know it. As Chair of DC Advocates for the Arts, Rob is the guy who pays attention to the arcana of legislation-speak that makes most of us feverish, and  spreads the news when the DC Council (or the U.S. Congress, for that matter) is considering something that is good or, in mist cases, bad for artists. He is the one – sometimes the only one – who shows up at the council hearings to speak for all of us. When the city was considering last year’s Healthy Schools Act he was there trying to make sure that dance was included as a P.E. offering for DCPS students, and when the Development Committee is discussing job training programs he is the one in the meetings arguing that arts administration training should be included.

Rob’s heart begins in the dance world; his pedigree includes the Alvin Ailey School, an MFA in dance from AU and two Young Emerging Artist grants from the DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities. He has danced with companies around the country and in 2009, he founded Bettmann Dances as a vehicle to develop his ideas in our community with local dancers. The company’s first full-length work, All Good Men, produced in 2009, was nominated for an award from the DC Commission.

In 2005, Rob started the arts magazine Bourgeon, now BourgeonOnline, www.bourgeononline.com, a journal that has carved a niche for artists in all kinds of visual and performing media to speak to each other and the public.

Now Rob is trying something new, or several somethings new at the same time. First, he has conceived an idea to develop an evening-length dance based on the theme of security in our post-9/11, post-Wall Street collapse world. The project is called Quis Custodiet – who will watch the watchers? (You may note that Rob has a penchant for meaningful but somewhat opaque titles.) Full disclosure: I serve on the Board of Day Eight, the new non-profit set up to oversee both Bettman Dances and Bourgeon)

Security is a concept that one rarely considered even a decade ago, in those innocent days before the creation of the colossal Homeland Security Department. Now, particularly in this city where even the most insignificant federal installation features visible armed guards, the issue is unavoidable. Quis custodiet will look at questions like: who decides what security requires, what does it actually mean in our personal lives, what does it cost us and other communities?

Second, the dance will be developed through free community workshops and one member of the community will be selected to join the group performing the dance in a number of East Coast cities. Tim Tate (no introduction needed) and Chanan Delivuk, a GW professor and multi-media artist, are doing video and set design for the project.

Third, Rob is trying to raise the funds needed to pull this off through Kickstarter, an Internet site established to bring creative and ambitious ideas to the online marketplace. If selected (and Quis Custodiet has been), the artist sets a goal – in this case, $4700, and a timeline for reaching it. If the goal is reached or exceeded, the online pledges are called and the money goes to the artist; if not, the money is never collected from the donors. The “all or nothing” aspect of Kickstarter is unique and, as you can imagine, quite anxiety-inducing. The deadline is Sunday, September 26. Stay tuned for results.

by Ellyn Weiss

Original Publication URL: http://pinklineproject.com/article/rob-bettman-has-some-new-ideas

DC Advocates for the Arts gear up for Arts Advocacy Day on March 3

Last week, performance artists, visual artists and others gathered at the Capital Hill Arts Workshop to prepare for Arts Advocacy Day this week where they will alert DC council members to the importance of the arts to the nation’s capital. The arts provide 11,205 full-time jobs in the district and create venues where $355 million in income is paid to residents and $62 million in direct local government revenue. Artists, led by DC Advocates for the Arts want the DC council to understand that the arts are not only “feel-good”, but help to revitalize the economy.

Growth and investment in arts and culture leads to growth in other areas. The area of tourism in Washington DC is largely fueled by the attraction of the arts. From venues like the Kennedy Center, to restaurants like Busboys and Poets which are hubs for local artists to convene and perform, the lure of tourism to the area is often the rich cultural scene in DC communities. Cultural travelers vs. all U.S. travelers spend more money on average and cities with a rich arts culture often benefit.

To learn more how you can become involved with Arts Advocacy Day on Wed., March 3 in DC, visit www.dcadvocatesforthearts.org

by Khadija Ali-Coleman

Original post url: http://www.examiner.com/article/dc-advocates-for-the-arts-gear-up-for-arts-advocacy-day-on-march-3