The 2010 Fresno County Blossom Trail
The Annual Regional Blossom Trail is upon us, a gift from peach, orange, almond and walnut farmers throughout the valley. 
I remember my first spring living in the Central Valley, the experience was beyond my imagination - driving mile and mile through a living floral shop, vistas of pink and white loveliness, as I had never encountered. This year, my former boss from Sun Microsystems, Mary and her boyfriend Larry from Elks Cove, CA, arrive in two weeks to share in the annual event that is the largest tourism draw for the county, and probably the region.¬†¬â€
Art museum, Fresno State study partnership - By Cyndee Fontana / The Fresno Bee
The struggling Fresno Art Museum and Fresno State are exploring the prospect of shifting the museum collection and its operations to the university, officials said Tuesday.
Representatives on both sides said that is just one option under discussion as Fresno State begins researching what role it might play in the museum's future. Monday, the museum's board of trustees voted unanimously to open up that exploration.
"The board would be foolish not to look at any offer or proposal that Fresno State might have" that benefits the community and protects the art, said Tom Speck, president of the museum's board.
While the museum has suffered financial blows, Speck also said the board is confident that "we are going to pull through this."
A university committee will take up to six weeks to study legal, financial and fundraising aspects to any options under study. According to Speck, other possibilities include collaborations on fundraising and expanded educational programs.
Art museum, Fresno State study partnership
But one big idea on the table would permit Fresno State to acquire the art collection and assume operations at the museum's current location on First Street in east-central Fresno.
Pew Research - Social Media and Young Adults
Since 2006, blogging has dropped among teens and young adults while simultaneously rising among older adults. As the tools and technology embedded in
Blogging has declined in popularity among both teens and young adults since 2006. Blog commenting has also dropped among teens.
Haiti Is a Marketing Lesson, by Dan Pallotta, Harvard Business Review 2/3/10
$560 million and counting in 17 days — that's how much donors have given to 40 U.S. charities surveyed by the Chronicle of Philanthropy.
Why the outpouring of cash? It's not just because people are dying. Innocent people are dying by the hundreds of thousands every day under the most horrific circumstances, but we don't see $560 million pouring into any of their causes in two and a half weeks. It's not because people are buried alive. People are buried alive every day by the scourge of AIDS and malaria, and literally in diamond and precious metals mines, but we don't see half a billion dollars materializing overnight for these causes.
FCASH Participates at Visioning Retreat held in Sacramento - read article from the Orange County Register
At Sacramento retreat, wondering how to make the arts matter Paul Hodgins, The Orange County Register
Earlier this month I attended a two-day ”Visioning Retreat” in Sacramento convened by California Arts Advocates, a group that represents the interests of the arts and lobbies state lawmakers on matters that affect culture in California.
What is a “Visioning Retreat,” you ask? I posed the same question when I was invited to be one of 100 “artists, thinkers and advocates” who would convene in Sacramento.
The main goal of this disparate and talkative group, it turns out,was nothing less than figuring out how to revitalize public interest and government support for the arts at a difficult time when Sacramento and the state are overwhelmed by serious issues.
Historic Preservation and Obama's FY 2011 Budget Request
The National Trust for Historic Preservation (NTHP) has been overwhelmed with a tremendous outcry from the preservation community concerned about the proposed cuts to preservation programs as outlined in the President’s Budget earlier this week.¬â€
Although they have focused on news of proposed cuts thus far, other historic preservation programs fared well in the President’s budget. For a more comprehensive analysis of FY 2011 budget recommendations for preservation programs visit http://www.preservationnation.org/take-action/advocacy-center/on-the-hill/budget.html.¬â€
Emily Wadhams| Vice President, Public Policy Department
National Trust for Historic Preservation | 1785 Massachusetts Avenue, NW, Washington DC 20036
Phone: 202.588.6078 | Fax: 202.588.6462 | Email: Emily_Wadhams@nthp.org | www.PreservationNation.org
Arts Action Alert from the Americans for the Arts
The Administration released yesterday the FY 2011 budget request to Congress which includes the nation's cultural agencies and programs, including the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA), National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH), Institute for Museums and Library Services (IMLS), and the Department of Education's Arts in Education program. Write your members of Congress and tell them to support funding for these cultural agencies.
As Americans for the Arts (AFTA) President & CEO Robert Lynch noted in a press statement, "The Administration's FY 2011 budget request of $161.3 million for the National Endowment for the Arts--while just a fraction of the $6.3 billion of direct expenditures for all arts nonprofits in the United States--is unfortunately a $6 million decrease from what Congress appropriated for FY 2010. Also, the consolidation of the Arts in Education (AIE) program within the Department of Education's new 'Effective Teaching and Learning for Well-Rounded Education' category puts us at unease and could lead to a diminished focus on arts education."
Legislation AB700: The Creative Industries & Community Economic Revitalization Act of 2010
AB700 establishes the Creative Industries and Community Economic Revitalization Fund in the State Treasury, and requires that 20% of all revenues derived from the payment of sales and use taxes that are remitted to the State Board of Equalization by the taxpayers engaged in specified lines of business, as provided, be deposited in the fund. The California Arts Council (CAC) would be authorized to expend the moneys in the fund, upon appropriation by the Legislature, to issue grants pursuant to the act, as specified.
To learn more go to the California Arts Advocates
Light the Fuse - 12/17/09 National Arts Marketing Blog
Don't lose the opportunitiy in this opportunity
Arts organizations: The economic bust is over. Most of what was going to break, broke. And you survived.
Now's the time to light your fuse and make the most of an improving economy. It's time to get ready for the boom.
I know: If you're like most arts organizations, you're probably not over with that bust just yet. But if you believe that everyone would have been better off being better prepared, here's your chance to get ready for the upside that will surely follow. The private sector knows this; last week, three of our largest clients rolled out significant expansion plans for 2010. Arts companies can - and should - grow in the boom too.
These five easy steps will help you reignite your company.
1. Embrace the change