Yesterday morning @ au

On Thursday, Dana Gioia gave the keynote. He said the NEA had 5 paths to; fund, initiate, recognize, inform and convene. He also said in the past the NEA let the funding discussion be dictated by its critics. There is a brief article about the symposium in the post read it here.
Attending with Paula Cleggett made the experience even more valuable for me. She is so well informed and articulate, I came away with a much greater understanding of not only the NEA itself but the role of the arts in culture generally.

I was fascinated that on the panel on Philanthropy they could have been talking about the arts in healthcare rather than funding. The need to do more research, the importance of collecting both data and anitdotal evidence, to speak the language of the people you are working with - be it an individual or a marketer (researcher).

Another treat was Jack Rasmussen, Director of Art Gallery at the Katzen Arts Center, sat with our table at lunch yesterday. He was sitting a few people away from me so we didn't have much opportunity to talk, but it was nice to have the chance to congratulate him on the great job he's doing at the Arts Center. His blog here