There are so many fascinating things about the One Laptop per Child project, which is working to bring durable, wireless, portable computers to millions of children in the third world. These new machines can only be ordered in quantities of one million or more, usually by governments (like Rwanda or Libya). And the nonprofit project […]
Reclaiming ‘culture’
Australia’s The Age offers an opinion on ”culture,” hoping to reconnect a word that has become disconnected from the discussion of daily life. The piece claims ”culture” — distinct from ”the arts” or ”being cultured” — as universal, an unavoidable stream of experiences, memories, expressions, and conversations, integral to every action in society: We all […]
The For-Profit Charity
Why should nonprofits and their donors get all the goodies from the IRS? That’s the question posed by Eric Posner and Anup Malani of the University of Chicago Law School in a working paper published in September. Posner and Malani suggest that the exclusive tax benefits available to nonprofit corporations are both unfair and inefficient. […]
Time for a break…
I’m off the weblogging habit for the next few weeks to refuel and decompress. I wish any who read this post have a joyous and safe holiday season. In fact, I wish the same for those who don’t read this post, I just don’t wish it quite as much. See you in the new year!
Creative connections as practical necessity
Thomas Friedman writes in the New York Times that the American public education system is preparing students for a world that’s fading fast, or long gone. Paraphrasing Marc Tucker from the National Center on Education and the Economy, Friedman suggests that an increasingly global and integrated world economy will make traditional ways of learning and […]
Fostering the healthy artist
The issue of health insurance is a complex one for any independent artist, small collective, or cultural nonprofit. It’s certainly not a challenge unique to the arts (any small business or independent contractor is faced with similar strains). But the issue can be particularly problematic for creative professionals, who often do dangerous or physically demanding […]
Watching your word-of-mouth
Marketing Pilgrim has a useful overview of how companies can and should listen in on conversation about them on-line. As more and more conversations by real consumers are being posted, there are more and more ways for you to learn from your audiences, or the people that might be your audience if you listened. The […]
Generation C(ontent), Generation C(ash)
Trendwatching.com has an interesting briefing on what they’re calling Generation C(ash), a new phase in the life of Generation C(ontent). The first wave saw an increasing number of consumers taking on creative roles in their interaction with brands and services — posting photos and videos, remixing media, blogging product reviews, even rewriting software. The next […]
Hercules, Atlas, Sisyphus, Garland, Rooney
A friend and colleague was honored last week with a Governor’s Award in Support of the Arts (in Wisconsin). Lynne Watrous Eich is certainly deserving of the award, after three decades of thoughtful, innovative, and responsive service to Dane County, Wisconsin, as Director of the Dane County Cultural Affairs Commission. Because this was the first […]
When does a work of art begin?
Liz Lerman Dance Exchange has always explored the boundary between artist and audience, between professional and amateur (it’s right there in their public description of themselves). So, it’s fascinating to watch them experiment with an even more public way of doing their creative work. The Funny Uncles weblog is an on-going public discussion leading up […]
