Sustainability and AI were at the forefront this year at the American Alliance of Museums (AAM) Future of Museums Summit. What role will museums play in creating climate-friendly communities? And how can AI be used to maximize efficiency, increase accessibility, and deepen engagement? Read key conference takeaways from Xueer Ho and Dr. Brett Ashley Crawford.
An overemphasis on data-driven work within the nonprofit sector has been shown to result in cycles of disempowerment, driven by third-party data demands of funding bodies.. This compounds due to the many market orientations nonprofits need to adopt, particularly prevalent among the arts. A key to navigating these markets and funder requirements lies in identifying a specific data culture best fit for your organization and investing in resources and training in order to achieve that framework sustainably.
With AI’s ability to automatically produce content and process complicated datasets with high accuracy, museums worldwide are exploring ways in which this innovative technology can help them better achieve their missions and advance accessibility efforts. Through case studies, learn about three applications of this technology: content digitalization, language accessibility, and visual description.
October was filled with new debates on AI policies, a halt to one of the most significant AI safety bills in the United States, and a host of new AI developments in video, music, and even podcasts.
Arts and cultural nonprofits often operate in multiple markets for earned and contributed revenue. With increasing attention on data-driven decision making, effective market orientation often depends on effective data use. This fundamental collection, transmission, use, and interpretation of data within an organization collectively contributes to what can be considered an organization’s data culture.
State arts agencies need to report not only to NASAA and the NEA, but also to other entities, such as state legislatures and the general public. These reports communicate impact to all stakeholders within the agency and across its jurisdiction. A GMS’s querying and reporting capabilities impact how this information is accessed and, ultimately, understood.
With grants management systems, the whole application process can be done online. To accommodate the needs of a diverse pool of reviewers, the system should allow them to view each application online and to access and download each application in a printer-friendly format. Grants managers should take full advantage of GMS panel review features by incorporating funding formulas (weight and average calculations) to the evaluation forms that reviewers fill out and then having reviewers input their final scores into the system.
As data becomes increasingly necessary for art agency reporting requirements, great pressure exists among staff members to collect as much as possible, and as soon as possible. But collecting data without a clear purpose places a burden on the applicants that have to gather it and grant managers who need to interpret it.
In 2012, the nation’s 62 state and regional arts agencies distributed approximately $215 million in grant monies. Compare those figures to the nearly 82,000 grant-making foundations in the United States, which collectively distribute over $49 billion annually.
Assisting these arts agencies, foundations, and other money distributing bodies are grants management systems—automated systems that track a grant through its entire lifecycle, as well as store data for relationship management between the grantor and an applicant. Recognizing the complexity of grants management systems (GMS) and the relative lack of resources in the arts sector, best practices must be followed to achieve the maximum value of each dollar spent on a GMS.
As arts organizations grapple with how to keep board members active and engaged, computer software and online technologies provide affordable means to address common governance challenges. From conflicting communication styles to assessment of board performance, these tools enable organizations of all sizes to improve the efficacy and efficiency of their board members, ultimately leading to increased engagement. AMTLab's newest publication, Computer Software and Online Technologies to Deepen and Grow Board Engagement, explores options for cloud-based document management, private social networking, integrated calendars, and online assessment, discussing how each can be used to resolve common issues facing boards of nonprofit arts organizations.
Wearable computing devices--including smartwatches, fitness and health tracking devices, and smartglasses--are projected to quadruple between now and 2018. What does their increased use mean for the performing arts? In their follow-up paper to "Through The Looking Glass: How Google Glass Will Change the Performing Arts," guest correspondents Thomas Rhodes and Samuel Allen explain wearable technology, provide an overview of current experiments with these devices among performing arts professionals, and discuss potential implications and challenges for the field.
Just what is the cloud and what benefits might it hold for arts organizations? What makes a transition to cloud services worthwhile? And what cautions should be heeded when considering such a transition? This report from AMTLab contributor Stewart Urist introduces the basic categories of cloud services and discusses the potential benefits and risks they hold for arts organizations of various sizes. It's available now in AMTLab Publications.
2013 was a busy year for the Office of Public Art (OPA) here in Pittsburgh. Along with its regular duties of programming public art walking tours, organizing calls for entries, and facilitating webinars and artist lectures, OPA also re-edited its book Pittsburgh Art in Public Places, revamped the Pittsburgh Artist Registry, and created the Pittsburgh Art Places website.
The following article analyzes how this organization, a public-private partnership between the Greater Pittsburgh Arts Council and the City of Pittsburgh Department of City Planning, made management decisions that led to the update of the online artist registry and creation of Pittsburgh Art Places.
Colección FEMSA specializes in travelling exhibitions for Mexican and international institutions. A nine-person team manages all aspects of planning, from building crates and preventive conservation to facilitating partnerships with museums and other cultural organizations, culminating in up to twelve different shows each year. While a relatively small collection, the management challenge for this organization is having artwork constantly on the move. This case study concentrates on how Colección FEMSA meets this challenge through the help of a collection management application, Spaces for Art.
