What connects Gary Steuer to Beyonce, Dolly Parton, Aggie Gund, Kehinde Wiley and Darren Walker?

A couple of weeks ago I opened my Sunday New York Times to find inside the newest issue of ArtDesk, a wonderful quarterly arts magazine published by the Kirkpatrick Foundation and distributed through subscription as well as to New York Times subscribers. The lead story (featuring a cover photo of Dolly Parton) is "The ArtDesk 100: 2024 Discovery List" - described as "Our favorite creators, thinkers, and voices—who give the best of themselves... Our honorees evangelize for a better world in a way that transcends their own success." And as I peruse this impressive list of leaders - artists and philanthropists, including luminaries like those in the title of this post - imagine my surprise to find myself included in this list! It was truly humbling and startling, since seeing me included in the list was the first I knew about the story. And of course, recognition like this is really recognition for all the folks that make it possible for you to do what you do, board members past and present, a wonderful team of colleagues, and an extraordinary community of artists and arts organizations in Colorado that I have the privilege of supporting through the Bonfils-Stanton Foundation. It may seem trite at this point but it can never be stated too often. Those of us in institutional philanthropy have the privilege - and the heavy responsibility - of stewarding resources not of our creation. If you do not feel that weight, then you are not doing your job well. So click on the link above and be inspired, not by me, but by this incredible collection of individuals who have used their power, privilege, and in many cases artistic talents to make this world better. A great way to start the new year!

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The Greatest Sacrifice Arts Workers Make for the Arts

With all the financial challenges arts workers are facing these days - struggling to balance the budgets of their organizations, or dealing with salary and benefit cuts on compensation that was modest to begin with - it is easy to view the sacrifices people make to work in this field as being entirely financial. Not to minimize the financial sacrifices - they ARE significant - but I would argue they are probably no more significant than a wide array of professions where people choose to devote themselves to the pursuit of "making the world a better place". This includes early childhood workers, teachers, social workers, the whole world of NGOs working in challenged communities, both domestically and abroad. And the sacrifices all these workers make are also not just financial. We all work long hours, and often under trying and unglamorous circumstances (though to outsiders arts work can seem glamorous). No, I think the more significant - and unique - sacrifice arts worke...

Inside/Outside - Art by Prison Inmates and Ex-Offenders

Leon Jesse James, "Space Modulator", acrylic on board. SCI Graterford The Art in City Hall program of the City of Philadelphia has just opened a new exhibition, INSIDE/OUTSIDE - Art by Prison Inmates and Ex-Offenders . This is a wonderful, powerful, and thought-provoking new show and I encourage everyone to see it. It is open until October 29th, on the secod and fourth floors of City Hall. More information is available here . The show involves participating artists from SCI Graterford, The Philadelphia Prison System, Art for Justice , Snyderman-Works Galleries , Connection Training Services , and the Mural Arts Program 's Youth Violence Reduction Partnership Guild Program, as well as local ex-offenders. Thomas Schilk, "Beetle", melted plastic spoons, paint. When I came to my position in 2008 as Chief Cultural Officer, one of the appeals of the position was the fact that the administration of Mayor Michael Nutter viewed the arts as being integral to virt...

Learning to Practice "Niksen"

[Note - this reflection was originally published in the Bonfils-Stanton Foundation blog and newsletter last year. With the summer of 2024 coming up, seemed like a good time to re-share.] Last summer I had the gift of being able to take a month-long sabbatical. (Thank you , Bonfils-Stanton Foundation Board of Directors!) This program was put in place by the Foundation in 2019 and made available to all employees (not just the CEO) but due to COVID all the employees eligible for sabbaticals had to delay taking them for three years. Our program allows for four weeks at seven years of employment. It does not require any explicit work-related learning activities, but it is totally flexible and up to the employee to choose how to use it. To be honest, I had not taken more than two weeks off from work in my entire adult working life (which is more decades tha n I care to admit). And as in the case of most folks, the decision of what to do became a family conversation...

Mile-High Musings on Arts, Culture, Creativity and Philanthropy

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