Happy New Year!

Scrambling to catch up on my reading. So, until I do, here are a few interesting tidbits for you to ponder. Talk among yourselves...

A Community's "Personality" is Key to Economic Future

There is an important element missing in too many studies--the PERSONALITY OF THE COMMUNITY--period. The lesson of the Clinton campaign can be carried over to community revitalization---numbers versus personality. Interestingly, communities could use some additional numbers in their quest to find their "personality."

Presidential Candidates who've publicly voiced their support for the arts

View candidate policy statements on this site created by Americans for the Arts.

Our mission is to secure bold, new policy proposals in support of the arts and arts education in America from candidates during the 2008 presidential campaign.

ArtsVote is a national initiative to help the arts impact the presidential election. In New Hampshire, the Arts Action Fund has partnered with New Hampshire Citizens for the Arts to identify, educate, train, and mobilize likely arts voters to help influence candidates to take strong positions for the arts.

On a similar note: Funding for NEA is enlightened

Twenty million dollars is a subatomic particle in the grand, convoluted scheme we call the federal budget. But to the National Endowment for the Arts, which has spent the past two decades clawing its way back from fiscal disaster, $20 million looms enormously large.

Late last month, President George W. Bush signed a package of appropriations bills that includes a $20 million increase for the endowment's coffers for the coming year. The NEA now has a $144 million budget, with the recent increase representing its largest-ever boost.

Art in All of Us

China enhances national image on cultural front

"Cultural exchange is an important way to showcase national image, and thus an
indispensable component of China's diplomatic work," said Ke Yasha, an official with the Ministry of Culture at the symposium on "Communicating Across Cultures: the Arts Shape World-Views". Chinese President Hu Jintao, in his report to the 17th National Congress of the Communist Party of China (CPC), called for bringing about a new upsurge in socialist cultural development, stimulating the cultural creativity of the whole nation, and enhancing culture as part of the soft power of China.

Blogging for the hearts of donors

“Seventy-five percent of the charitable organizations studied are using some form of social media including blogs, podcasts, message boards, social networking, video blogging and wikis. More than a third of the organizations are blogging.”