| | ORGANIZATIONS' NEWSLETTER News and Opportunities for the Cultural Nonprofits and Creative Businesses of Fairfield County, CT
September 22, 2017 |
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| | The Cultural Alliance of Fairfield County is a nonprofit 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 this community of more than 550 individuals and organizations. Sign up here |
| | | | PLEASE HELP WITH WEBSITE CHALLENGE GRANT
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| The Cultural Alliance has been awarded a $5,000 challenge donation from our board members, and we need to match the $5,000. Can you help us? Any amount is welcome and will contribute towards our beautiful new integrated Cultural Alliance - FCBuzz.org website. We're almost half-way to our overall goal of $33,000 for the entire project and it's one that will serve you better! Faster, richer, more responsive and up-to-date, the designs for the new website, being built by BCS Interactive are getting us very excited about our future - so please help us get their faster - so we can help you even better! You can donate here! Click for larger image. |
| | | Please join us Thurs. Oct. 26, 6-8 pm, for our Designers Celebrate the Arts benefit - an evening to honor creativity and collaboration, and to support the Cultural Alliance. Enjoy cocktails, appetizers, and music, mix and mingle, and be inspired! Co-chaired by Lynn Morgan, of Lynn Morgan Design, and Patrick Mele, of Patrick Mele Design, the event is hosted by The Antique and Artisan Gallery, Stamford. Ceramicist Frances Palmer will introduce DJ Carey, Executive Editor of CT Cottages & Gardens magazine, in recognition of her work in support of the design community. $40. Tickets here. |
| | JOIN US FOR CITIZEN JANE FILM FEST - OCT 12 & 15
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| | The Cultural Alliance has joined with Bridgeport Downtown Special Services District, and Connecticut Main Street Center to present a Citizen Jane Film Festival, a 2-day film festival on the arts, urban regeneration and community preservation on Thurs Oct. 12 and Sun. Oct. 15 at Bridgeport's Bijou Theatre. Includes new documentary on Jane Jacobs, keynote by David Flint, author of Wrestling With Moses, the classic film on Norwalk: Survival of a Small CIty and a program of shorts. Details & tickets: https://bridgeportcitizenjane.eventbrite.com |
| | CITY LIGHTS ARTISTS TALK VIDEOS AVAILABLE
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| Videos are now posted from our successful ARTISTS TALK at City Lights Gallery, Sept 7, that celebrated both the Unveiling of Liz Squillace's Painted Stairway, next to the Gallery, and the opening of PATTERN, exploring the principle of pattern-making from fiber art to painting, to weaving. See our Artists Talk page here, or connect directly to the videos of Adger Cowans, Gwen Hendrix, Norma Schlager, Tim Reimer and Liz Squillace. See curators, Suzanne Kachmar and Jane Davila's Curator's Talk here. Subscribe to our YouTube channel here. |
| | | Have space to rent/Want space to rent? 74 art spaces to rent - and counting... |
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CENTER STAGE THEATRE
Artistic Director: Gary Scarpa Executive Director: Francesca Scarpa
Center Stage Theatre was founded in 2005 by artistic directors Gary and Francesca Scarpa. The couple met in 1973 in a college production at Southern Connecticut State College. They began their directing career soon after with a production of The Music Man with the Shelton High School Drama Club in 1976. Since then, Gary and Francesca have directed and produced over 100 productions in their 35+ year career. They founded the highly acclaimed Youth CONNection in 1983, a theatre group for high school and college students, and they have directed productions for very many local groups including the Shubert Theatre Summer Academy, the Quinnipiac University Theatre Department, and the Connecticut Experimental Theatre. Among many awards the couple has received, Gary has been recognized by Long Wharf Theatre as Outstanding Theatre Educator. After 30 years of directing, the Scarpas opened Center Stage in February 2005. The theatre produces five full scale productions a year, four of which are with age appropriate casts and one of which is its annual Youth CONNection summer musical, with a cast of high school and college students. A leader in theatre education, Center Stage presents a Teen Musical Theatre Workshop, theatre classes for elementary and middle school children throughout the year as well as a summer theatre camp program. In addition to its own productions, Center Stage hosts cabaret, featuring Broadway, jazz, folk, and rock performers. In addition, the theatre hosts events for civic organizations like the Valley United Way and the Valley Community Foundation, to name a few. Center Stage Theatre’s talented performers, set builders, lighting technicians, and costumers are all volunteers -- a community of creative people who love theatre and who also love the community for whom they present theatre. See Center Stage Theatre's website, Facebook page, and Twitter feed. |
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WILDLIFE IN CRISIS
Director: Dara Reid
Wildlife in Crisis is a non-profit, tax-exempt organization, founded in 1989 to care for injured and orphaned wildlife. Their Care and Conservation Center in Weston, Connecticut receives over 5,000 injured and orphaned wild animals each year. At WIC, the emphasis is on emergency medical care and temporary housing for injured and orphaned animals—not on keeping releasable animals in cages for public display. WIC says it runs "a nurture center"—not a nature center. WIC is licensed by the Connecticut Department of Environmental Protection and the United States Fish & Wildlife Service to care for injured and orphaned wild animals. The goal of its Wildlife Rehabilitation Program is to care for debilitated wildlife so these animals can be returned to live independently in their natural environment. Its habitat protection, wildlife rehabilitation and environmental education programs share the parallel goals of protecting wildlife while improving the quality of life in our community. Besides answering thousands of questions each year over the phone, the volunteer staff at WIC frequently presents educational slide shows depicting the range of wild animals cared for at WIC and the hazards that wild animals must face on a daily basis. In 1995, The Wildlife in Crisis Land Trust was incorporated to protect and preserve open space nationwide. As natural habitats are bulldozed, wild animals are left homeless. WIC believes there is a direct correlation between rising numbers of injured and orphaned wildlife and unbridled development. The purpose of the Land Trust is to protect wild animals by preserving their natural habitats and providing them with permanent sanctuary. Over the years, WIC volunteers have cared for everything from turtles to owls to fox pups and realize that nothing is more threatened than the habitat upon which these reptiles, birds and mammals depend. Habitat acquired through tax-deductible donations for land purchase, conservation easements, and tax-deductible donations of land, will be protected in perpetuity. See WIC's website and Facebook page. |
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| | | | ROUND-UP OF MEMBERS' NEWS |
| | So how come the Bijou Theatre is showing Searching for Sugar Man, two days before its subject Sixto Rodriguez performs live at The Klein? Well, not just two, but four, organizations were involved in the plot. The film is shown as part of WPKN’s five-year-old series of Music on Film developed with the Bijou. Its very first selection was, as Steve di Costanzo recalls, the “bubbling under” documentary “Searching for Sugar Man,” which then went on to win the 2013 Oscar for Best Documentary. Fast forward five years and when Steve heard that Rodriguez was booked into the Klein through Fairfield Theatre Company’s series there (Laurence Caso says it’s the 106th show booked by FTC at The Klein over the 10 years of it collaboration), he felt the timing was right to re-screen the movie just days before. Time for cross-promotion: WPKN promoted the performance on its PSA about the movie, and FTC promoted the movie in its marketing.
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| | The Aldrich Contemporary Art Museum, The Bruce Museum, The Danbury Museum and the Fairfield University Art Museum are the four museums in our area that will be opening doors free of charge on Sat. Sept. 23, as part of Smithsonian Magazine’s thirteenth annual Museum Day Live!, an initiative in which participating museums "emulate the spirit of the Smithsonian Institution’s free admission every day." You do have to download a Museum Day Live! ticket.
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| | Seventeen members of the Connecticut Press Club received awards from the National Federation of Press Women (NFPW) for work published in 2017: Among the nine first-place winners, two were also Cultural Alliance artist members - Gwen North Reiss and Megan Smith-Harris. The CPC is an affiliate of the NFPW, and includes both male and female members. The group honored winners of its 2017 Communications Contest with a cocktail party and awards ceremony at The Boathouse at Saugatuck, on May 16, 2017 (Only first-place winning entries at the state level are eligible to enter the national contest). For the full list of NFPW winners go here. To learn about or enter the 2018 Connecticut contest, email CTPressclub@gmail.com.
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| | | Fairfield Museum is celebrating two new board members: John Donovan, a financial services executive who has lived in Southport since 2003 and has served on the Fairfield RTM representing Southport; and Joyce Hergenhan of Fairfield, was VP for Communications at GE, President of the GE Foundation and member of very many local boards. New board president John Herzog is a Southport resident who ran Herzog Heine Geduld for 30 years until Merrill Lynch it in 2000. He is also a board member of the Pequot Library. |
| | | | The Fairfield University Art Museum welcomes Michelle DiMarzo as its new Curator of Education. Michelle's mandate is to strengthen relationships between the museum and academic departments and to increase the museum’s educational offerings to the public. A 2007 graduate of Fairfield (Art History and English), received a Ph.D. in Art History from Temple University in 2017 and held the Phyllis G. Gordan/Samuel H. Kress Foundation Two-Year Pre-doctoral Rome Prize at the American Academy in Rome.
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| | It's a proud moment for KEYS: their first graduate is now teaching for KEYS! Joshua Bustamante, a UB sophomore, taking a double major in Music Education and Music Performance, who has volunteered as a mentor at Roosevelt School for the past two years, last year started teaching violin to groups of students, and now will take on a more formal role for KEYS, coaching beginning violin students at Roosevelt. At right, Joshua is pictured with KEYS Founder and Executive Director, Rob Silvan. More...
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| | Maritime Aquarium at Norwalk welcomes Lisa Harding of White Plains, NY, as new Manager of Individual and Corporate Advancement. Lisa will develop and grow new relationships with corporations and businesses in Fairfield and Westchester counties to help further the Aquarium’s work in environmental education on behalf of Long Island Sound and the global environment. Welcome Lisa!
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| | The Ridgefield Playhouse is proud of their Artistic Director of its Broadway and Cabaret Series Daniel C. Levine, who just received an award for Born to Dance, a show he conceived and created at the Playhouse and then brought to Princess Cruises. Daniel just won Travel Weekly magazine's 2017 Gold Medal Magellan Award for Entertainment on a Premium Ship brand. Daniel first presented Born to Dance in 2015 to sold out crowds. He followed that with Dancin’ Broadway, which also sold out, and now, opening Oct. 22, is his latest dance show creation, American Dance Spectacular.
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| | Westport Astronomical Society (WAS) has retired the 12.5" Newtonian dome telescope for a 16" Meade LX200, a fantastic observatory-quality telescope, sitting on a custom made steel pier, and completely computer driven with new internals from Sidereal Technology. It can find almost anything in our sky using the latest planetarium programs. A 102mm apo triplet refractor piggybacks the Meade for spectacular wide field views of our sky. The WAS was also very grateful to the Westport Womens Club for the 2017 Ruegg Grant that enabled the purchase of a Lunt 100mm solar telescope for pristine views of the sun and its active solar atmosphere. WAS plans to take this and other telescopes to the sidewalks of Westport to give the public a chance to see their sun like never before! The observatory is home to the largest telescope the public has access to in Connecticut, which is often set up on the campus of the observatory, once it's dark. Open every Wednesday night, 8-10 pm if the skies are clear.
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| | | Congratulations to WPKN for being named by Connecticut Magazine as the BEST RADIO STATION (Music) in the state of Connecticut! In its citation, the magazine commented: "While it was founded as the radio station at the University of Bridgeport in the 1960s, WPKN has been independent since 1989. And we mean independent. This listener-supported community radio station plays the kind of music you're not likely to find anywhere else on the dial." |
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| CAPITAL FOR CREATIVITY
We know that creative industries have tremendous potential for economic and social impact. We also know that impact investing (applying Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) criteria to investment decisions) is huge: $8.72 trillion in US assets applied those criteria in 2016. ❡An article by Laura Callanan (former deputy senior chair at the NEA) for the Stamford Social Innovation Review, “Capital for Creativity” seeks to understand and change the fact that "impact investors have ignored the arts and culture sector, at the expense of the communities they seek to help." ❡In 2015 three major impact investment advisory firms could not identify impact investment opportunities in arts, culture and creativity for clients who requested them.” ❡Creative places anchor communities and help foster cohesion and engagement at a time when our nation is divided and its values are tested. Creative businesses can also generate quality jobs. With the US facing public spending cuts to the arts, public media, and community development, we need ways for investors to deploy values-based capital to make up the difference. ❡Arts and culture in the US represents at least $730 billion (4.2%) of US gross domestic product. We also know that creativity has impact. The Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco has documented how creative activity in low-income communities strengthens economic development, encourages civic engagement, builds resiliency, and contribute to quality of life. ❡Yet today there are no dedicated investment products, funds, or strategies to help impact investors align their values and their capital with the creative economy. ❡Until creative places and businesses are recognized as a distinct segment, impact-investment capital cannot be targeted to the creative economy. ❡The author’s Upstart Co-Lab was launched to help close the investment gap--connecting "artists, impact investors, and social entrepreneurs to create opportunities for artist innovators to deliver social impact at scale." ❡Her article gives examples and cites opportunities. As she concludes: "If we figure out how to bring the capital, creative people will find the solutions. When creative people pursue businesses that have a social purpose, they can have a catalytic impact on job creation, the economy, and social wellbeing. And that benefits everybody." Go to whole article.
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| DOES YOUR TOWN NEED A STORYTELLER?
Detroit mayor Mike Duggan has hired an official "chief storyteller" to remodel the narrative of a city that has suffered from mainstream media portrayals focused on "ruin porn," bankruptcy, or comeback boosterism. As reported in The Guardian, Duggan has appointed Aaron Foley, a popular African-American journalist, to the new position, conceived to give Detroiters a way to connect and discuss issues that don't get covered by the city's traditional media, and give Detroiters and their neighborhoods a stronger voice. Foley, former editor of Black Detroit magazine and author of How to Live in Detroit Without Being a Jackass, says, "Detroit is a very diverse city of more than 200 neighborhoods and a lot of the coverage is focused on just a handful." Speaking to The Guardian, Foley said the media's general focus on non-black people moving to Detroit was, in a sense, a distraction. Kathryn Bigelow has said that she hoped her new film, Detroit, that dramatises the 1967 incident at the Algiers Motel, in which three black men were killed by a group of white police officers, would start a conversation about race, but many critics have said it mischaracterises the city. As one critic put it: “Approach [the film] as a case study of the intrinsic limits of the white gaze, combined with the manipulation of facts for political and Hollywood marketing purposes.” In contrast, the Guardian piece says, the stories, interviews and first-person accounts Foley and his small staff of reporters are producing will be focused on the present and the reality of living in the city, and will be featured on social media, the city’s cable channels and a new locally focused website, The Neighborhoods, which launched last week. With thanks to Animating Democracy. |
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SIX STEPS FOR FINANCIAL SUSTAINABILITY PLANNING
Rebecca Thomas, an independent consultant, formerly Vice President of Innovation at the Nonprofit Finance Fund, has a recent blogpost, Six Steps for Sustainability Planning, pointing out that within overall strategic planning, we often overlook financial planning connecting strategic goals to their financial implications. When financial implications of strategic planning are not intricately connected to the plan: "Programs don’t secure resources needed to grow, or changes in direction open up a structural deficit." Here is the outline of Rebecca's six steps. Please read her post for details. Every financial plan needs these six critical components: 1. Strategic context: Connect money to mission. How will revenue and capital be used to strengthen mission and programs?
2. Financial situation analysis: Strategic goals should be grounded in an understanding of historical financial trends and current realities. What are your organization’s business and balance sheet strengths and weaknesses?
3. Sustainability goals: Given your fiscal situation and strategic priorities, what does your organization aspire to achieve next year, in three years, and longer-term? A thriving organization might be ready for a capital campaign.
4. Financial projections, with scenarios: Once you’ve set longer-term financial goals, you can map out a plan to achieve them. Projections provide annual milestones so you can adapt when things don’t go according to plan… and they won’t! How do drivers of your programs and business connect to revenue and costs?
5. Key Performance Indicators: Create a dashboard with a reasonable number of metrics. KPIs illustrate your organization’s progress toward its goals. These metrics, tracked annually or more regularly, will help you understand when to double down on a strategy that’s working, or course-correct when an approach runs aground.
6. Case for support: Numbers alone won’t win you support. What story will you tell to generate excitement about your plan? Why does your work matter? Carefully determine funder characteristics. Which funders reliably provide project money? Create and communicate full-cost project budgets with them. They may be converted to pay more program-support or overhead costs. Which funders might be a source of unrestricted dollars, signaling trust in your leadership and strategy? Which funders are potential balance sheet investors — those truly committed to the sustainability of your long-term strategy? Your organization’s financial realities and needs will frequently change in response to community and sector trends. Be flexible: sustainability is not a destination, but a moving goal post.
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AFP-FAIRFIELD COUNTY FOUNDATIONS PANEL DISCUSSION
SEPTEMBER 28
● Foundations' current funding priorities and types of funding (general support, project, capital, etc.)
● Foundations' application process and what information is required, i.e., a Letter of Inquiry first, a formal application, an online application, etc.
● Which important elements do foundations look for in a charity-innovative projects, new organizations, etc.
● What the foundations prefer to see in grants regarding organizational and project outcomes/outputs. Panelists will include: Eileen Wiseman, Director of Strategic Initiatives at the Tow Foundation, where she oversees the foundation’s programs in higher education, journalism, medical innovation, and the arts and who was formerly Director of Development at Long Wharf Theatre in New Haven and Artistic and Executive Director of the Westport Arts Center; Nancy Euler, Vice President of Programs at Fairfield County’s Community Foundation, who joined the Foundation in 2008 to serve as the director of the Fund for Women and Girls and who has also served as Program Director, overseeing the grant making and community leadership for the Economic Opportunity and Health and Human Services priority areas; and others to be announced. The session will be held Thursday, September 28, 2017, 5:30 - 7:30 p.m. at The Norwalk Inn & Conference Center, 99 East Avenue, Norwalk, CT. Registration/networking opens at 5:00 p.m., and the meeting starts promptly at 5:30. Wine and cheese will be served. Register by emailing at mshickey@optonline.net. Register with a credit card here. Fees: $45 ($30 for AFP members; $40 for the guest of an AFP member). Full details and registration here.
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ALLIANCE STATEWIDE LISTENING TOUR FAIRFIELD COUNTY
The CT Community Nonprofit Alliance (The Alliance) is embarking on a statewide listening tour to hear from nonprofit leaders about what is important to you and discuss the ongoing and emerging policy developments of the State. Alliance staff will talk about the latest state and federal policy developments as well as new and improved Alliance programs. The Alliance wants your views on how it can best help you! Click here to RSVP
Wed., September 27, 9:30 - 11:30 am
Fairfield County Community Foundation
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NEA WEBINAR EVIDENCE & THE ARTS SEPTEMBER 28
The National Endowment for the Arts' latest webinar, Evidence at the Core of the 21st-Century Local Arts Agency, being held Sept. 28 at 1:30pm, considers two different evidence-based approaches that local arts agencies are taking to re-envision and measure their programs. The NEA’s deputy director for research & analysis, Patricia Moore Shaffer, will introduce the topic of how arts organizations, including local arts agencies, are increasingly using evaluation and performance metrics to hold themselves accountable to the communities they serve. Guest speakers Karen Gahl-Mills of Cuyahoga Arts & Culture and Robert Bush of the Arts & Science Council of Charlotte-Mecklenburg will explain how evidence collection and analysis directly informs their work. For further details, click here. |
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OVATION FOUNDATION CREATIVE ECONOMY INNOVATION GRANTS SEPTEMBER 29
The innOVATION Grant Awards program is The Ovation Foundation’s signature funding program, where wide-ranging nonprofit arts organizations are recognized for their excellence and best practices in program delivery.The 2017 Creative Economy innOVATION Grant Awards will recognize model nonprofit arts organizations who cultivate and support artists and enterprises in the creative industries through capacity-building, accelerating partnerships, and/or fiscal support. Up to five organizations will be awarded $25,000 each for a total of $125,000. The key goal of a program should be the empowerment of fledgling enterprises to become fully developed through capacity-building, accelerating partnerships and/or fiscal sponsorship and support. Organizations must have an operating budget of under $3M. Those with capacity-building programs helping organizations that focus on one or more of the following creative industries: Architecture & Interior Design; Digital Media (graphics, animation, video, web); Entertainment (sound recording, film, TV, radio); Fashion; Furniture and Decorative Arts; Industrial and Product Design; and Visual and Performing Arts.Further information here; Download Guidelines here; and here. Apply here by September 29 11:59pm |
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MUSEUMS FOR AMERICA DECEMBER 1
The Institute for Museum and Library Services' Museums for America (MFA) grants program supports projects that strengthen the ability of an individual museum to serve its public. MFA 2018 has three project categories:
Learning Experiences
IMLS welcomes applications for projects that position museums as unique teaching and inquiry-focused institutions within today’s formal and informal learning ecosystem. Community Anchors
IMLS welcomes applications for projects that empower museums to transform their roles in their communities from being community resources to being community catalysts. Collections Stewardship
IMLS welcomes applications for projects that address state-of-the-art collections care and collections-information management, curation, preventive conservation, conservation treatments, database creation and enhancement, digitization, and the use of digital tools to facilitate discovery and deepen engagement with museum collections. More than 100 awards averaging $100,000 (and between $5,000 and $250,000) are expected to be awarded. Grants under $25,000 do not require a match; those over $25,000 require a match of at least 1:1. For further information, click here.
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STAMFORD MUSEUM & NATURE CENTER CURATOR OF COLLECTIONS & EXHIBITIONS
Stamford Museum & Nature Center seeks a Curator of Collections & Exhibitions.
As the creative and visionary voice of the Stamford Museum's exhibitions program and professional steward of its permanent collection, the Curator will work closely with the Executive Director and key programmatic staff directing all aspects of the Museum's annual exhibitions program and best practices stewardship of its permanent collection. As Stamford Connecticut's art museum, set in an expansive nature center with a working farm, its exhibition thematic focus includes a pallet of fine art, popular and contemporary culture, natural history, agriculture, science, history and astronomy targeted to family audiences and varied interests. The Curator will be the creative, visionary thinker for the Museum's Salon Series of cultural & social programming for targeted adult audiences. The Curator will coordinate guest curators and speakers, serve as the spokesperson on the interpretation of the Museum's exhibitions and collections to the media and general public and will be responsible for the overall care and management of the collections, including documentation, safe keeping, storage, handling, conservation and interpretation. The Curator will research topics, define themes, identify supporting materials, create checklists and draft interpretive texts and labels, and will manage and envision all installations. This position reports to the Executive Director & CEO. Apply to ksmith@stamfordmuseum.org |
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BRUCE MUSEUM BRUCEMOBILE INSTRUCTOR
The Bruce Museum seeks a part-time, per diem Brucemobile Instructor. The Instructor is responsible for teaching the Museum’s outreach programs and assisting staff as needed. This includes: Researching background information to build an understanding of program content and materials; Preparing for each class; including assembly and return of materials in a careful and timely fashion; Loading, unloading and driving Brucemobile vehicles with collection objects and program materials. The Audience Engagement Department of the Museum has a responsibility to present quality programs by qualified museum professionals. Therefore, the Audience Engagement Department trains all Brucemobile Instructors. To accomplish this, the Audience Engagement Department will: provide program objectives and outlines for established classes; model program presentation and instruction; and assist in development of instructor’s classroom management skills. Qualifications: Bachelor’s Degree in art, science, history, education, museum studies, or related field required; previous teaching experience required; unattended mobility required in object handling, ability to drive the museum vehicles and visit facilities unequipped to accommodate the physically challenged; a current driver’s license with clean driving record. Background check will be required after hire. Reimbursement: Brucemobile Instructors are per diem positions and are reimbursed on a per-class basis. They are paid at the rate of ½ the charged fee. Instructors are paid an hourly rate for program observations and training sessions. The Museum owns two vehicles, called Brucemobiles, to be used for travel to and from programs. To apply: Please submit a cover letter and resume to Kathleen Holko, Manager of School and Tour Services, at kholko@brucemuseum.org. No phone calls. |
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| | | | | MEMBERS: Please post your Job Opportunities in FCBuzz Classifieds: http://fcbuzz.org/classified/jobs/ |
| | | | | | | The Cultural Alliance of Fairfield County is a 501(c)(3) organization. We are very grateful for the support of our individual and organization members, our individual donors and the following organizations. |
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