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 Contents Great Grants 
Tools 4 Success 
How Did I Get This Email? You are receiving this email because you are on our list and had been receiving communications previously. If you do not wish to receive future newsletters, you may permanently Upcoming November 1, 2006 November 16, 2006 December 4, 2006 December 8, 2006 January 12, 2007 May 10, 2007 May 25, 2007 Fast Facts In fourteen years of funding Atlanta's small and mid-sized arts organizations, the Arts Fund has created 47 new staff positions in metro Atlanta. Photo Credits Header (left to right): Members of the Cobb Symphony Orchestra (2006 grantee) perform in 2005 Georgia Shakespeare (2005 grantee) performs Macbeth The Madison-Morgan Cultural Center (2005 grantee) located in Madison, Georgia Dancers from Moving In The Spirit (2005 grantee) perform the piece "Jungle Boogie" in "From Africa to the A-Train" in 2004 |
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Welcome to the first issue of the Metropolitan Atlanta Arts Fund’s quarterly newsletter. Throughout the year we will be using this forum to report on our efforts to strengthen and stabilize Atlanta’s small and mid-sized arts organizations. Every few months, you will receive an email with information about Atlanta’s arts organizations (we've invested in nearly 70 of them) including success stories from our grant recipients, including, in this issue, Atlanta Celebrates Photography. We'll update you on our funding deadlines, events, and forums (see the calendar in the side column). And we will share what our staff and board has learned from participating locally and nationally in the issues facing the arts today. Enjoy the newsletter and please enjoy our vibrant arts community. I encourage you to Sincerely, The Metropolitan Atlanta Arts Fund is “The Foundation of Atlanta’s Arts Community.” It invests in the strength and stability of small and mid-sized arts organizations; connects entities that advance the funding of arts in our region; and leverages donors, locally and nationally, in support of the arts in Atlanta. Since 1993, over 200 small and mid-sized metro Atlanta arts organizations, as well as the rest of the community, have benefited from the Arts Fund’s programs and expertise. With income from its $8 million endowment and annual fundraising, the Arts Fund supports three programs: The Arts Stabilization Grant funds new initiatives to stabilize the operations of arts organizations; the Arts Stabilization Toolbox Award provides arts organizations with expert consulting based on specific business challenges; and the Arts Loan Fund offers short term loan financing and programs to enhance financial literacy for arts organizations. Learn more about the Arts Fund on our Fast Facts page. 
The Arts Fund received the "Regional Funder Award" from Theatre Communications Group at their annual conference held in Atlanta in June 2006. The award (pictured at right) recognizes a local funding organization that has evidenced leadership and has provided sustained outstanding support of theatre in the region in which the annual Theatre Communications Group conference is held. The Arts Fund was chosen for this honor by the theatre membership of the group. Lisa Cremin was awarded a fellowship to attend Stanford University’s Executive Program for Philanthropy Leaders. Selected by The Loridans Foundation, Cremin attended this program in California with 40 leaders from a diverse group of corporate, community, private, and other foundations. While there, she studied key issues in effective and innovative philanthropy, returning to Atlanta energized. "It was exhilirating and demanding," Cremin said, "and I am already incorporating this new knowledge into my work at the Arts Fund." Arts Fund Catalyst in Bringing National Arts Strategies to Atlanta National Art Strategies (NAS), a national nonprofit organization dedicated to strengthening the arts and culture sector through leadership education, has been on the Arts Fund's radar since its inception. In 2005, the Arts Fund invited NAS to Atlanta and coordinated meetings with the arts community and local arts funders. From this early convening, the Arts Fund advanced the conversation about creating an opportunity to bring NAS to Atlanta. Finally, by leveraging funding for NAS from an anonymous national donor as well as The Community Foundation for Greater Atlanta and the Fulton County Arts Council, the Arts Fund helped bring this program to Atlanta. When National Arts Strategies' "The Business of Arts and Culture" debuts nationally in Atlanta in February, a group of Atlanta nonprofit arts leaders will participate in a series of executive seminars and applied learning projects. The program brings together arts leaders from Atlanta the southeast region for seminars taught by faculty from top business and graduate schools including Harvard Business School, Stanford Graduate School of Business, and MIT. These instructors use highly interactive classroom experiences to address the specific issues of mid and large-sized cultural organizations. For more information, click here. The Arts Fund provides a singular investment opportunity for donors who are looking for ways to contribute to Atlanta’s arts. With an endowment now at $8 million, and an added boost from an anonymous donor of $200,000 annually through 2008, we will be able to award $500,000 in grants in 2007 and 2008. But this still only covers a fraction of the need in the Atlanta arts community for stabilization support. Your gift to the Arts Fund will help us continue to grow the foundation of Atlanta’s arts community. Your financial support is combined with others to help a range of organizations. The Arts Fund leverages these gifts as it fosters the success of small and mid-sized arts organizations in Atlanta. To contibute to the Arts Fund online, click here. Coxe Curry & Associates Gives to the Arts Fund Coxe Curry & Associates, which supports United Way and other organizations through its workplace giving campaign, also wanted a way for its employees to support a broad range of arts organizations. For the second year, the Arts Fund has benefited from the direct gifts and payroll contributions of Coxe Curry employees. The Arts Fund is grateful for the support of this Atlanta business. |
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Atlanta Celebrates Photography is dedicated to the cultivation of the photographic arts and the enrichment of the Atlanta art community. ACP devotes much of its energy and resources to organizing an annual photography festival which takes place during the entire month of October. The festival includes a wide variety of exhibitions and multiple events around Atlanta and throughout the surrounding communities. Grant: $60,000 to create a marketing director position and fund it for two years (2005) Photo: Students enjoying My Atlanta Photo: Jan Fields 404-634-8664 |
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Atlanta Celebrates Photography 
Founded in 1997, Atlanta Celebrates Photography (ACP) hired its first full-time director in 2004. Soon thereafter the new director and the board realized that one person was not enough to sustain and grow an organization that produces a month-long festival of photography and works throughout the year promote photography in Atlanta. In 2005, the Arts Fund funded the creation of a full-time marketing director staff position for ACP. The presence of a second staff member has transformed the organization, freeing the executive director to focus on fundraising and building a world-class festival. Having an expert in marketing has increased the visibility of the festival and the ability of the organization to fulfill its mission to promote the art of photography in Atlanta. With the new staff in place, ACP has been able to nearly triple its operating budget in the last three years, put aside a $35,000 operating reserve, and hold its most successful annual campaign ever this year. Anne Dennington, executive director, said that they can now “get past the daily urgent needs and spend time thinking about the future.” In addition to the direct benefits of the position funded by the grant, ACP has found the validation of an Arts Fund grant to be instrumental in opening the doors to other funders. “They know that the Arts Fund has a stringent review process and that we have met their guidelines,” said Dennington, “It’s a phenomenal program and other funders respect it highly.” |
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Out of Hand Theater makes live theater accessible and exciting by involving the audience in a new way in each show, as well as through its extreme physical style. Toolbox: Creation of a strategic plan (2005) Grant: $21,000 to create a general manager staff position (2006) Photo: Adam Fristoe, Ariel de Man, Maia Knispel, and Justin Welborn in Out of Hand's 2005 production of "Help!" Photo: Linnea Frye Box office: 404-312-9871 |
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Out of Hand Theater 
In 2005, Out of Hand Theater was receiving critical raves and had been recognized nationally for their energetic work that especially resonated with a younger audience. But despite their success, this five-year-old company’s staff and board were, in their words, “green.” They had many dreams for where the company was going but no plan or focus. The award of an Arts Stabilization Toolbox to create a strategic plan helped Out of Hand define their staff and board roles, focus their dreams, and resolve conflicting goals. "This plan changed everything," said then board chair, Ben McAllister. In the end, the process energized the whole company and board, becoming, amongst their numerous artistic successes, “one of Out of Hand's greatest accomplishments of the year.” Maia Knispel, co-producing artistic director, called it a "Cinderella experience." Following their Toolbox, Out of Hand successfully applied for an Arts Fund grant in 2006. |
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