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

Philadelphia will celebrate national Jazz Appreciation Month (JAM) in April, for the first time in many years. This national celebration, sponsored by the Smithsonian National Museum of American History , and also promoted by the United States Conference of Mayors , is now in its 10th anniversary year. Recognizing this quintessentially American art form is especially appropriate for Philadelphia, which has an extraordinary legacy of leadership in jazz. Beginning with Ethel Waters, and extending to John Coltrane, Billie Holiday, Joe Venuti, Eddie Lang, Stan Getz, the Heath Brothers, Dizzie Gillespie, Sun Ra, McCoy Tyner, Grover Washington Jr, Stanley Clarke, Philadelphia has an illustrious roster of jazz greats who were either born here or lived and worked here for a significant portion of their life. Despite the demise of many of the City's historic jazz clubs, the City still has a vital, thriving jazz scene, with many venues and a strong and deep array of renowned working musici...

L to R, the Honorees and Presenters: Bob Lynch (President, Americans for the Arts), Anna Deavere Smith, Tom Cochran (CEO-USCM), Mayor Elizabeth Kautz (Burnsville, MN), Mayor James Brainard (Carmel, IN), Herbie Hancock, Rocco Landesman (Chairman, NEA), Mayor Michael Nutter (Philadelphia, PA), Mayor Mitch Landrieu (New Orleans, LA) At the 79th annual winter meeting of the United States Conference of Mayors (USCM), awards for artists and public officials were presented by USCM in partnership with Americans for the Arts . These awards have been presented each year since 1997. Theatre artist Anna Deavere Smith was presented with the National Artist Advocate Award, and jazz great Herbie Hancock received the Legendary Artist Award. Public Leadership in the Arts awards were presented to New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson, Carmel IN Mayor James Brainard (small city category) and Mayor Michael Nutter of Philadelphia (large city category). The press release on the awards can be found here...

Arts Advocacy Day, organized as always by Americans for the Arts with many co-sponsoring organizations,  featured a  compelling talk by Mayor Joe Reilly of Charleston on the role of design and beauty in "city-making" using his own city as a case study for how dogged attention to quality design, architecture, green space, waterfront development and cultural assets can transform a city. It was (I gather) pretty much a talk he has been working on and updating for years as part of the Mayor's Institute on City Design, a partnership between the NEA and the US Conference of Mayors . The fact that he has given the talk in different versions many times before did not make it any less compelling. Fascinating to see from a Philadelphia perspective, as so many of the challenges Charleston faced were so similar, albeit on a smaller scale. Many neighborhoods filled with beautiful historic homes now abandoned and decaying to the point of public danger. A downtown with large stretches...