• Article

    Archetype Vizcaya: The art of a villa

    Published March 8, 2011 by

    Ernesto Oroza, Installation view of "Archetype Vizcaya," Courtesy, Vizcaya Museum and Gardens If you've never been to the Vizcaya Museum & Gardens, you're missing a slice of Miami and its history. It's truly a strange and wonderful Oz, with 10 acres of gardens, a hardwood hammock...
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    Cranbrook show dazzles at DAM

    Published March 8, 2011 by

    The annual Detroit Artists Market (DAM) Scholarship and Exhibition Program opened Friday at DAM’s midtown gallery. It features work by nine Cranbrook Academy of Art graduate students, all finalists for DAM's John F. Korachis Scholarship Award, as well as a handful of alumni. The exhibition commemorates more than 75 years...
  • Article

    How community foundations can create local online hubs with NewsCloud

    Published March 5, 2011 by

    Part of the series on NewsCloud's Philosophy of Online Community Building and Social Media. By Jeff Reifman NewsCloud's open source platform is an ideal tool for community foundations wishing to help their communities and grantees become hosts of vibrant online communities. This post will present some resources and suggestions for approaching this kind of project. Why Community Foundations Should Invest in Local Online Hubs The Knight Commission recently released a must read report entitled Creating Local Online Hubs: Three Models for Action: "Ensuring that every local community has at least one high-quality hub is one of 15 key recommendations made by the Knight Commission on the Information Needs of Communities in a Democracy." This report is a great resource for understanding the role local online hubs in creating informed and engaged commnunities. The report highlights three approaches often taken: 1) Hubs focused on community government information, 2) Community Connections: Local forums and Community E-mail Listserves and 3) Community News and Commentary. NewsCloud's platform excels at the latter and can also provide forums and help present directories to community and government resources. Consider looking at the Knight Foundation's Community Information Challenge as a possible funding source - see #7 below. Current challenge deadline is March 7th. The Community Information Challenge FAQ states: "Knight is looking for projects that help fill community information needs, foster community engagement and help residents participate in the creation and sharing of news and information." This exactly describes what you and your grantees can accomplish with the NewsCloud platform.
  • Article

    Miami’s emerging artists: Who’s next?

    Published March 4, 2011 by

    Who represents the next generation of break-out visual artists in Miami? Where will the next Naomi Fisher, Jim Drain, Hernan Bas, Daniel Arsham, Mark Handforth, Dara Friedman, Bert Rodriguez and/or Michael Vasquez come from? They've all had international careers, multiple gallery shows and museum opportunities. Who might be the next...
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    Yes, there was Bach, but there were others, too

    Published March 4, 2011 by

    The Miami Bach Society’s Tropical Baroque Festival, now in its 12th incarnation, continues through this weekend with concerts featuring Fuoco e Cenere (Fire and Ash), the French-based early music ensemble with the Italian name, founded by a guy from New York. Their two appearances Friday and Saturday (followed by another...
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    The first family of the opera

    Published March 2, 2011 by

    By Liana Cole, Florida Grand Opera From the Brady Bunch to the Von Trapps, the myth of musical DNA has always been a curious topic. A group of brothers known as Hanson became a teen pop sensation in the 90s while the Jackson 5 had already proved the power of...
  • Article

    Florida Grand Opera teaches teachers

    Published March 2, 2011 by

    By Florida Grand Opera On Friday, Feb 18 the Florida Grand Opera hosted its first FGO Teacher's Day. Created by new education manager Cerise Sutton, the event's goal was to further FGO's mission to educate the community about the art of opera. We received nearly double the amount of expected...
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    Breakout Report 9: Evaluating the impact of information and media projects

    Published March 2, 2011 by

    Scribe LuAnn Lovlin, The Winnipeg Foundation, recorded the proceedings of a breakout session at the 2011 Media Learning Seminar in Miami facilitated by FSG. Evaluating the impact of information and media projects requires breaking down your evaluation process into four main areas: Describe your project and identify your target audience Identify the evaluation’s purpose and key questions         Design your evaluation using effective methods Report/Communicate the evaluation findings References and examples were provided from the new publication; IMPACT: A Practical Guide to Evaluating Community Information Projects and the 2011 Reports from the Field. 
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    Breakout Report 8: Principles of persuasion, broadening your pool of donors

    Published March 2, 2011 by

    Scribe Megan Brownell, Arizona Community Foundation, recorded the proceedings of a breakout session at the 2011 Media Learning Seminar in Miami facilitated by Ron Shuffield, CEO, EWM Realtors.  The group discussed the challenge of persuading someone to give, emphasizing that we must meet their needs, tell compelling stories, focus on leaving a legacy and the permanence of their gift, and convincing the donor of how the community foundation provides value. Community foundations are evolving, focusing on getting people to give where they live and to give while living, not only through bequests. Donors used to come to the community foundation and we responded to their interests. Today, we propose areas of interest, encourage collaboration with other donors and help donors feel impact and value. We’re encouraging more strategic giving rather than a sprinkling of grants to the donors’ favorite organizations. There are also significant generational differences to be accounted for, as younger generations give differently and consume information differently. Programs staff now interact with donors to bring subject-matter expertise.