In the Arts: Nonprofit Art Groups Turn to Crowdsourcing for Support

Many artists and arts advocates are embracing crowdsourcing as an important new way to support cultural endeavors, writes The New York Times.

While Web sites such as Kickstarter, which funnels private donations to artists and others, and the solely arts-focused USA Projects and Artspire generate a tiny slice of the $32-billion in annual U.S. culture support, their rapid proliferation and growth are attracting attention as arts groups struggle with government cuts.

“This mass microphilanthropy is a really interesting phenomenon,” said Ruby Lerner of Creative Capital, a nonprofit organization that offers financial and career-development support for artists. “We advise all our artists to do it.”

In other arts news:

• The shuttering of California’s community-redevelopment agencies removes a major engine for arts support in the state, according to the Los Angeles Times.

Established to tackle urban blight and promote economic development, the agencies have pumped more than $470-million into Los Angeles-area venues and public art projects. They were abolished last month under legislation pushed by Gov. Jerry Brown to free up $3-billion in support for state and local governments and public schools.

“Nobody knows how things are going to play out,” said Danielle Brazell, head of the nonprofit advocacy group Arts for L.A. “It’s going to be up to municipal leaders to have the insight and foresight to say you need to use some of [their own] resources to maintain a strong cultural ecology.”

• The California Arts Council is using one of the state’s primary resources—star power—to increase culture support, which ranks among the nation’s lowest per capita, the Los Angeles Times reports.

Robert Redford, Placido Domingo, Annette Bening, and the cast of “Glee” are among the celebrities taking part in an electronic-billboard campaign to persuade motorists to buy special arts license plates, the sale of which helps pay for state culture grants.

The council is hoping to increase sales of the plates from 60,000 to 70,000 a year to 1 million. Meeting the goal would raise California’s arts spending from 13 cents per capita—next to last in the country—to more than $1.