Events

Mary Cornwell, Chief Development Officer at Child & Family Services, will be in conversation with Arts Management Program Assistant Director Kevin Leary to discuss approaches to fundraising and development.  In today's changing funding environment, building out your community network becomes paramount.  But how do you do that?  Join Ms. Cornwell as she talks about the difference between fundraising and friendraising.

Jesselyn Zailac, former annual fund manager at the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra and AMP Alum, will be in conversation with Arts Management Program Assistant Director Kevin Leary to discuss the challenges of creating a successful annual fund.  Just about every not-for-profit conducts an annual fund, but what makes some stand out among the rest?  Ms. Zailac will walk students through the importance of leveraging data bases, connections, artists, and programming to make the most of an organization's appeal.

Jen Swan (Executive Director, Arts Services Initiative of WNY and AMP Alum) and Angela Goldberg (Managing Director, Buffalo Philharmonic Chorus and AMP Alum) will join Arts Management Program Assistant Director Kevin Leary in a conversation around writing successful grant applications.  Writing or reviewing grants are a part of running every not-for-profit organization.  How do you ensure your grant request rises to the top of the heap?  Ms. Swan and Ms. Goldberg will take you through the steps - beginning with proper research, ensuring your ask is aligned to the grantor's core values, honing in on achievable outcomes, and knowing when to stop writing.

The notion that arts spaces are neutral – a claim by arts institutions that they represent universal cultural values and are therefore above the sociopolitical fray – has become a contested issue in the US arts sector.  From critics testing the “universality” of widely held Western European cultural norms, raising issues of colonial appropriation, and questioning the motivations of an elite that ensure these traditions continue, the so-called “myth of neutrality” has been put to the test.  As calls for greater inclusion and equity increase – particularly in terms of programming, audience, and hiring – how do arts managers guide staff, board members, and organizational strategy?

The UB Arts Management Program is organizing a 7-day excursion to New York City and Washington, DC to meet arts managers, artists, activists and visit arts organizations. We will discuss their views, programs, and positions pertaining to art institutions’ implicit cultural and social biases and the ways they negotiate the ongoing pressures to be equitable, inclusive, and accessible.  As educators training future arts mangers that will inevitably face these issues, we are interested in hearing divergent views concerning the “myth of neutrality” and to learn about programs, strategies, and rationales that arts managers have employed to address these concerns.