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News and Opportunities for the Cultural Nonprofits and Creative Services of Fairfield County, CT |
| | | | The Cultural Alliance of Fairfield County is a nonprofit membership service organization that supports its members through unified marketing, capacity building, professional development, and advocacy services. This newsletter is sent to all who request it, but we ask that, if you are not a member, you explore membership benefits and consider joining. Find out more and sign up here. |
| All links in green link to pages on our website |
| | | | | CULTURAL ALLIANCE ANNOUNCES COVID-19 IMPACT SURVEY 2 RESULTS
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| | The Cultural Alliance of Fairfield County (CAFC) has released the results of a second survey of its members, conducted over the last week of July, to measure the impact of the COVID pandemic on their livelihood over the 15-week period March 16-June 30. Survey participants include 44 member artists and 58 arts and culture organizations (102, about one-fifth of the CAFC membership). Results show that the 82 respondents (artists and organizations) estimated their financial loss over just this 15-week period at $10.3 million. Three institutions estimated losses of over $1 million for this 15-week period. Just 38 were able to estimate the dollar amount needed to ensure their survival until the end of the calendar year. Read full study... |
| | REIMAGINING ARTS & CULTURE: A PUBLIC CONVERSATION SERIES SET FOR SEPT. 15 |
| The Cultural Alliance of Fairfield County (CAFC) announces a three-part, public conversations and progressive workshop series "Collective Action Against Racism & Inequity." Alongside these practical workshops, progressing from reflection and goal-setting, to planning groups, to meaningful individual action, will be three public "Conversations" conducted by Valeria and Andrea Lopez, of OnBeat Consulting (Stamford). The schedule will be as follows:
- Sept. 15, 6pm: Race, Power and Privilege in the Arts
- Sept. 29, 6pm: Empathy in Times of Crisis
- Oct. 13, 6pm: Moving From Empathy to Action
Organized around the public conversations, the workshops are working sessions designed for CAFC member artists, organizations, their staff and board members, who commit to undertake specific action against racism and inequity. Sign up here...
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| | SONO ART CARES WORKS AVAILABLE IN SILENT AUCTION - SAVE THE DATE: OCT. 3 |
| | The SoNo Art Cares project - a partnership between The SoNo Collection and The Cultural Alliance of Fairfield County - continues for several more weeks. Stop by the mall in Norwalk Friday - Sunday 1-4pm to watch local artists painting live and chat with them about their process and inspiration. All artwork is being donated to CAFC and offered for bidding in a silent auction - (now underway!). A live online auction will take place on Sat. Oct. 3 to benefit CAFC. Save the Date! Upcoming live painters include Justin Cox (Aug. 21-23); Vernice Holmes (Aug. 28-30); Naomi Clark (Sept. 11-13); Kristin Schnitzler (Sept. 18-20) and Duvian Montoya (Sept 25.27). Learn more...
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| | AUGUST SPOTLIGHT - BEECHWOOD ARTS: THE AMPLIFY FESTIVAL OF BLACK ART & ARTISTS
NOW AVAILABLE ON SOUNDCLOUD |
| | The August edition of our monthly Spotlight on Arts & Culture on WPKN 89.5 FM, featured Beechwood Arts: The AMPLIFY Festival of Black Art & Artists - a conversation with Jeanine Esposito and Frederic Chiu, co-founders of Beechwood Arts & Innovation, discussing their AMPLIFY Festival. This 10-day Festival, broadcast on Facebook Live celebrated the art of black visual artists and performers as they created collaboratively, sharing their voices through the lens of the arts. Hear what led Beechwood to create the festival, what it achieved, and what the plans are to build on the June festival in the future. Hear the podcast here.
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| | | THE SONO COLLECTION
A Business PartnerSnr Marketing Manager: JP Geoghegan
The SoNo Collection is a modern boutique shopping center, unlike any other in Fairfield County with an emphasis on art, culture, and community. Anchored by Nordstrom and Bloomingdales, it features 87,000 sq. ft of public realm space such as the People's United Magnificent Room and The SoNo Garden, used for activations and co-working. The retail destination also features interactive art installations, vibrant murals, and modern sculptures, curated by handpicked artists including renowned artist Jen Lewin, visual innovator Brian Henry, and Chicago-based sculptor Matthew Hoffman, among various other muralists. The SoNo Collection’s tenants have been opening their doors since Nordstrom’s official opening on Friday, October 11th, 2019, and will continue to do so throughout 2020 and 2021. Today, the retail destination is safely welcoming guests with a variety of open tenants, expansive public spaces, and artful experiences for shoppers to enjoy. The SoNo Collection was designed in response to the way consumers shop in the 21st century, going beyond traditional apparel. See SoNo Collection's website, Facebook and Instagram Pages |
| | | | | CT Humanities recently awarded $52,735 in COVID-19 related Quick Grants to fifteen (15) humanities organizations in Connecticut. According to Dr. Jason Mancini, Executive Director, CTH, “these COVID-19 related Quick Grants provide funding to organizations for important projects in our state that connect residents to local history and humanities programming as well as support engagement and understanding through virtual opportunities.” CAFC Member recipients include: City Lights & Company (Bridgeport, $3,000.00) Transitioning, Online Bridgeport Arts, Culture and Pride; Keeler Tavern Preservation Society, Inc. (Ridgefield, $4,950.00) Videographer for Digital Platform during COVID-19; Ridgefield Historical Society (Ridgefield, $4,320.00) Responding to COVID-19 with Virtual Programming. For more information on CTH’s grant lines visit CTHumanities.org/grants |
| | | The Greenwich Historical Society announces several new initiatives funded by CT Humanities grants totaling $42,247 in support. The grants were awarded to fund new digital initiatives, including a platform for extending the reach of its landmark exhibition on woman’s suffrage, a future exhibition on sports and athletic pastimes, and resources that will support staff salaries and costs related to the campus reopening on June 20. In addition, GHS was awarded $173,590 from the Institute of Museum and Library Services to support a new project archivist to process and create detailed online finding aids for 49 archival collections, and a digitization specialist to digitize and describe 22,200 images and publish them online in the Connecticut Digital Archives. Learn more... |
| | | The Housatonic Community College's Museum of Art has been awarded a $9,399 Collections Stewardship and Public Access grant by the Institute of Museum and Library Services. The museum plans to utilize the funds to increase storage space for current and future acquisitions and ensure proper care and preservation of its collections. They will also relocate artworks while the new units are installed. After inspecting and evaluating each piece, staff will develop a condition report and enter it into a database that will reflect donation provenance, appraisal valuations, installation and exhibition histories, loans, and current locations. |
| | | INTEMPO, based in Stamford, has created this weekly updated graphic of the impact it has been having on the community. Kudos to the team for producing such a wonderfully effective means of communicating the rippling impact of a committed arts organization on its community. Keep 'em coming! Click on the graphic for a larger image. And visit INTEMPO's website at https://intempo.org |
| | The Norwalk Symphony Orchestra is proud to announce that it has been named Fairfield County’s BEST Performing Arts Group in Moffly Media’s annual “Best of the Gold Coast” awards. From an initial nomination contest in early 2020, the Norwalk Symphony was named one of four finalists for the category. The symphony is a significant cultural organization showcasing professional musicians from our communities and has enhanced the quality of life in Southwestern Connecticut for the past 81 years.
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| | The Seaport Association operates the Sheffield Island Lighthouse in Long Island Sound off the coast of Norwalk, which has guided mariners for more than 150 years. Along with many other nonprofits, the Seaport Association had to cancel many fundraising events because of COVID-19. To remedy the situation, the Seaport Association has created a GOFUNDME campaign to help raise desperately needed funds, which will go toward educational programs, and the maintenance, and preservation of Sheffield Island and the Sheffield Island Lighthouse. According to Mike Reilly, President of the Seaport Association, “Somehow, with everyone’s help, Sheffield Island Lighthouse will weather this storm too.”
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| | | Stepping Stones Museum for Children has been awarded $179,951 from the Institute of Museum and Library Services to complete pre-concept design phases of an immersive, three-dimensional storybook exhibition with digital elements that explores America and its people, places, and innovations that make it unique. The project, titled We (Heart) America!, is a multi-component exhibition that will serve as a statewide, regional, and national platform for youth to learn from history and catalyze a greater appreciation for and knowledge about civic engagement tools they can use to make positive changes in their community. |
| | Sacred Heart University is continuing construction and making real progress on its Community Theater in downtown Fairfield, according to Bill Harris, Theater Director. In addition to the new Marquee eventually lighting up the town square, the theater also has access to three storefront windows on Post Road, providing additional visibility and marketing opportunities. The space will serve as backstage Green room and dressing area. Bill is offering private hard-hat tours for anyone, including potential supporters, programming partners and clients who would like to see the progress for themselves and dream about hosting an event at the new SHU Community Theater when we open toward the end of the year. Contact Bill Harris.
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| | This spring, the Elizabeth Raymond Ambler Trust awarded a $9,500 grant to the Wilton Historical Society. The funding is being used to develop and present the museum's first online exhibition - "Citizens At Last: Hannah Ambler, Grace Schenck and the Vote," which will be on view online at the end of August. The exhibition celebrates the 100th anniversary of the passage of the 19th Amendment, giving women the right to vote. The online exhibition creates an easily accessible resource for the public, the Wilton schools, and beyond.
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| | | | WALLACE STUDY: THE ALCHEMY OF HIGH-PERFORMING ARTS ORGANIZATIONS
How do the best performing arts organizations achieve financial health? How can a struggling organization turn its fortunes around? Interviews with leaders of 20 high-performing arts organizations suggest that the key to success lies in high-quality art that resonates with an organization’s community. The report, published by the Wallace Foundation, synthesizes these leaders’ views and traces a possible path from quality and relevance to growth and sustainability. Among the factors that help organizations along this path, the report suggests, are clarity of mission, transparency, long-term planning and the ability to adapt to changing conditions. See Full Report... |
| | SMALLER-TOWN CULTURAL ENTITIES HAVE AN OPPORTUNITY AS PANDEMIC LINGERS
The pandemic has changed where people want to spend leisure time – and this may represent an opportunity for cultural entities situated outside of major cities. Museums, zoos, aquariums, and performing arts organizations in big cities tend to draw more visitation than those situated further from major population centers. But densely packed places do not have the same leisure destination draw right now as they did in a pre-coronavirus world. It may be time for cultural organizations outside big cities to shine. According to Colleen Dilenschneider of Know Your Own Bone, the data shows meaningful shifts in how people prefer to travel during the pandemic. While the shifts away from airplanes and public transportation in favor of traveling by personal vehicle may be unsurprising, this information is meaningful for cultural organizations aiming to get people through their doors. These shifts also represents an opportunity for entities to better motivate local audiences in general. Read full report... |
| | WHAT IS A MUSEUM? A DISPUTE ERUPTS OVER A NEW DEFINITION
Museums are having an identity crisis. Answering the question of “What is a museum?” might seem easy to anyone who’s visited one, but it has provoked a furor at the International Council of Museums, a Paris-based nonprofit that aims to represent the interests of museums worldwide. In recent months, several people working on the committee to revise the body’s definition of what a museum is have resigned, and there have been accusations of “back-alley political games.” The Council’s president has also quit her post. For some, these disagreements reflect a wider split in the museum world about whether such institutions should be places that exhibit and research artifacts, or ones that actively engage with political and social issues. Read full NYT Story... |
| | | | NATIONAL ENDOWMENT FOR THE HUMANITIES PUBLIC HUMANITIES PROJECTS SEPTEMBER 8
The Public Humanities Projects program supports projects that bring the ideas and insights of the humanities to life for general audiences through in-person programming. Projects must engage humanities scholarship to analyze significant themes in disciplines such as history, literature, ethics, and art history. Public Humanities Projects supports projects in three program categories (Exhibitions, Historic Places, and Humanities Discussions), and at two funding levels (Planning and Implementation). Regardless of proposed activity, NEH encourages applicants to explore humanities ideas through multiple formats. Proposed projects may include complementary components: for example, a museum exhibition might be accompanied by a website or mobile app. Small and mid-sized organizations are especially encouraged to apply. We likewise welcome humanities projects tailored to particular groups, such as families, youth (including K-12 students in informal educational settings), underserved communities, and veterans. Applicants are advised to consider developing partnerships with other institutions, particularly organizations such as cultural alliances, broadcast media stations, cultural heritage centers, state humanities councils, veterans’ centers, and libraries. |
| | CT OFFICE OF THE ARTS GRANTS SEPT. 15 & 22
The CT Office of the Arts has two grant deadlines appoaching. ARTE-accessibility Deadline: Sept. 15. The grants range between $500 - $3,000 and are for arts organizations that provide greater access to the arts through grants that support ADA related activities & language translations.
Artist Fellowship Deadline: Sept. 22. For artists and creatives, these grants fund award-based program that supports the creation of new work. Awards are granted in the amount of $1,000, $3,000 or $5,000. For more information, Contact: Tamara Dimitri, Program Specialist. |
| | YALE UNIVERSITY COLLECTIONS-BASED FELLOWSHIP OCT. 15
The Yale Institute of Sacred Music invites applications for Short-term Collections-based fellowships at Yale University to research the aural, material, visual, ritual, and textual cultures of religions. These fellowships are designed for, and restricted to, research taking place in Yale’s non-circulating collections, which span virtually every age and region of the world and are among the deepest and widest ranging of any university. Examples of Yale’s non-circulating collections include materials in the Collection of Musical Instruments, the Yale Center for British Art, the Yale Peabody Museum of Natural History, the Divinity School Library, and the Yale University Art Gallery, among others. Applications are due Oct. 15 for fellowships beginning in Summer 2021. Application information... |
| | VISUAL, LITERARY OR PERFORMNG ARTISTS NEEDED OCT. 16
The National Young Arts Foundation is encouraging artists, musicians, writers, performers, and filmakers 15- to 18-years of age or grades 10-12 to apply for its 2021 competition. Winners will receive Cash awards; Mentorship by accomplished artists; A lifetime of creative and professional support; A peer network of distinguished artists; Nomination for U.S. Presidential Scholar in the Arts; and National recognition. Applications require documentation and audition or portfolio materials by Oct. 16. More information... |
| | SIX IMLS MUSEUM GRANT OPPORTUNITIES NOW OPEN NOV. 16
Museums across the United States have six opportunities in the coming months to apply for grants from the nation’s primary source of federal museum funding. The Institute of Museum and Library Services is now accepting applications for six grant programs:
Applications for all six programs are due on Nov. 16. Applicants should review the notices of funding opportunity carefully to understand the program goals, which align with the 2018-2022 IMLS Strategic Plan. |
| | | | UMASS AMHERST CULTURAL EQUITY & SOCIAL JUSTICE IN THE ARTS AUG. 24
Are ready to take the next step in your own understanding of the issues of cultural equity and social justice? Are you interested in learning effective approaches to dismantling inequity in the creative community? Register for UMassAmherst Arts Extension Service’s Cultural Equity in the Arts online course starting August 24. Instructor Vicki Meeks brings decades of experience creating art about inequity and social justice, as well as 40 years of experience working as an arts administrator in the Dallas, TX area. The Cultural Equity in the Arts online course guides students to explore their personal biases and develop a deeper understanding of how to make the changes needed to better serve artists, institutions, staff and board, and communities. Sign up...
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| | BECAUSE THAT'S WHERE THE MONEY IS: FULLY SECURED BORROWING FOR THE ARTS
AUG. 26
Join Americans for the Arts for an informative webinar, Aug. 26, 3pm. Fully secured borrowing is our approach to borrowing for nonprofits that has been used for over four decades. It really works. It places control in your hands, not the lender. It is available to all nonprofits. And this includes every art-related nonprofit. In this webinar, you will learn about an approach that is particularly well suited for these COVID-19 times. You will see how you can use this resource as a solid base for all your fundraising and earned revenue strategies and more. Register here... |
| | ZOOM GUIDE NOW AVAILABLE
A 28-page guide on how to use all aspects of Zoom is now available. Want to host a great Zoom meeting? This is your resource. It’s been compiled by Heather Pontonio at The Tremaine Foundation, and it is for WIDE use and distribution. Learn about waiting rooms, security, recording, managing a meeting, best practices and more! Download guide... |
| | | | MASS CULTURAL COUNCIL EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
The Mass Cultural Council is an independent agency of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts with a mission to promote excellence, inclusion, education, and diversity in the arts, humanities, and sciences; foster a rich cultural life for all Massachusetts residents. As the most senior state cultural official, the Executive Director will serve as an external advocate for the arts, humanities, and sciences, leading the ideation and development of policies and programs that advance the priorities of the Mass Cultural Council. Reporting to and collaborating with the governing Council, the Executive Director will ensure a vibrant and thriving cultural sector throughout Massachusetts as a visible leader who works closely with the Governor, Legislature, and other elected officials. Full job description... |
| | GREENWICH LIBRARY EVENT PLANNER (PT)
The Greenwich Library has an opening for a part-time event planner, reporting to the Public Relations Officer. The position requires planning and implementing large-scale signature events and/or series for the Greenwich Library; including approximately four-to-six premier events a year, as well as working with other on-going programming. Bachelor’s degree from an accredited college or university in public relations, marketing, communications, English, library science, special events management, or a related field; plus, two (2) years of professional event management experience. Experience gained in a library or literary environment preferred. Full job description... |
| | INTEMPO COMMUNITY & FAMILY ENGAGEMENT COORDINATOR
Passionate about community and youth education? Want to make music education and cultures relevant, accessible, and inclusive? Apply to become a candidate for the INTEMPO Community and Family Engagement Coordinator. Candidate will help position INTEMPO for continued and increased growth and scalability. They will assist in expanding the organization’s partnerships, raising its visibility, and positioning it as a leader among music education and youth development groups serving underrepresented children of Fairfield County. Full job description... |
| | AMS EXPANDING PATHWAYS TO CONSULTING FELLOWSHIP
Southport-based AMS is seeking qualified candidates of color for fellowship opportunities. This first-in-the- field program was initiated to help support and escalate involvement of individuals from groups that have been underrepresented in the arts and culture consulting field. Fellowships are intended to provide practical training and play a role in nurturing leadership by expanding and fostering inclusiveness within the discipline of arts and culture consulting. For more information, contact Lynette Turner, Senior Associate. Full job description... |
| | DIRECTOR COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT OPEN ARTS ALLIANCE
Open Arts Alliance is a 501c3 non-profit organization and professional theatre company that is dedicated to bringing arts enrichment to healthcare facilities, hospitals, schools and venues that have traditionally been underserved by the performing arts. The Director of Community Engagement will assist the Artistic Director with strategic planning and season programming to promote overall growth of the organization. Qualifications include University degree and three years experience in theatre education; proven experience in marketing and sales. Full Job Description... |
| | ARTIST IN RESIDENCE EDUCATION DIRECTOR BROOKFIELD CRAFT CENTER
Brookfield Craft Center has received a grant that will allow it to hire a new position, Artist in Residence / Education Director. The position has been created to provide artists with a professional working space in an artistic community. At the same time, this position offers the selected individual the opportunity to develop, or exercise, their administrative skills in management of Brookfield Craft Center’s educational program. Full job description... |
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| FOR JOBS, FOR SALE, FOR RENT, VOLUNTEERS, AND CALLS FOR ARTISTS - CONSULT AND POST IN OUR CLASSIFIEDS |
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| | The Cultural Alliance of Fairfield County is a 501(c)(3) cultural nonprofit membership organization. We are grateful to our members and our donors whose support enables us to do our work. Donations are always very welcome and may be made here. In particular, we are grateful for support from: |
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