CULTURE

Arts

This past decade has been tumultuous for the arts and arts philanthropy. All philanthropy experienced four years of high-spirited growth (1997-2000), followed by three years of economic downturn, sharpened by the catastrophe of Sept. 11th, and steady recovery in the last three years so that we are almost back to the peak of 2000. For the arts, all this was exaggerated—the heights were higher and the troughs were lower than for other fields. Many small performing arts organizations closed down at least temporarily after Sept. 11, when audiences stayed home during the usual peak fall and year-end holiday seasons. Budgets, especially of small charities, were destroyed, which has taken years to redress.

Some arts organizations, however, with strength to begin with and resourceful leadership, managed to flourish. Catalogue charities on the whole did very well—an added advantage was new Internet technology, which strengthened marketing, ticketing, general communications, recording and broadcasting.

At the height of the boom economy of the ’90s there was much talk in the media of Venture Philanthropy, in which a few donors were investing unprecedented large sums in exciting, innovative and strategically significant projects. The Catalogue tested the phenomenon for several years, listing a few fabulous philanthropic opportunities in the various fields.

One of these was ConstellationCenter (CC — Cat’00 — [link]), led by a “venture philanthropist” who has invested major funds and time in creating a world-class small-to-mid-sized performing arts center in East Cambridge. For a while, there will be nothing quite like it anywhere: four halls under one roof—each supporting performing arts, movies, and satellite-linked conferences; world-leading acoustics, based on new science and technology developed for this project, modeling and then surpassing the 100 best halls in Europe and America; three organs, including the only authentically reproduced Bach organ outside Eastern Europe, and the biggest/best Giant WurliTzer theatre organ ever made, donated to this project; new-technology movie projection eligible to screen films from leading film archives; CC’s archive of “best prints of best films,” curated by the Motion Picture Academy; and the only North American theatre designed for baroque opera and pre-19th-century historic staging, using modern technology. Adjoining MIT and major high-tech corporations, CC unites science and technology with the arts, enabled by philanthropy (a Promethean extravaganza! Cat’04). CC’s business model will subsidize performances of arts organizations, who can build their audiences in new ways, enhancing our regional arts economy and culture.

The Catalogue helped CC find its first outside investor, a match that could not have happened any other way, producing our largest gift to date: a pledge of $10 million. The Catalogue also played a role in securing a second major donation to this project, of $1.5 million, to help build the Bach organ. Why stop there, Catalogue readers? Naming opportunities await you!

One of the great pleasures of philanthropy is watching excellent charities mature, gaining influence and reputation. The Boston Early Music Festival (BEMF — Cat’97 — [link]) was listed as valiantly toiling to promote a field (early music) of low popularity but high cultural value. Today early music has moved into the mainstream of classical music, and BEMF is recognized as a leading influence, sponsoring a steady stream of the world’s leading early musicians into Boston, which has become the capital of early music in America. What was a biennial festival, adding an annual concert series, is today a continuous “Boston Early Music Festival and Exhibition,” extending to Tanglewood every other year, twice now to Europe, this year to New York in a long-term relationship with the J.P. Morgan Library, and to the world with BEMF CDs — the first was a Grammy nominee!

The Boston Modern Orchestra Project (BMOP — Cat’97 — [link]) also has had an astounding trajectory. Founded in 1995 “to change the face of contemporary classical music in Boston,” they have done so. Now in their 10th complete concert season, BMOP’s audiences have tripled, their budget multiplied sevenfold, staff grown from seven part-time volunteers to four full-time professionals and one part-time volunteer. The Catalogue then gave them high visibility as a new young force in our music scene. Results: eight ASCAP Awards for Adventurous Programming of Orchestral Music; Boston Globe and The New York Times Best CDs of 2003; and a Chicago Tribune Best CDs of 2004. Go, BMOP!

The Greater Boston Youth Symphony (Cat’99 — [link]), founded in 1956, exemplifies an older institution that saw tremendous growth in the last decade. Their budget more than tripled, to $1.8 million — the largest of any youth orchestra in the U.S.! They now sponsor three full symphonic orchestras, a string training orchestra, four chamber orchestras, 50 chamber ensembles, and a nationally recognized outreach program for disadvantaged youth. They have been invited to perform in 2008 at the Gewandhaus in Leipzig, a world-class classical music venue. “Because of our Catalogue listing, we began several long-term relationships with individual donors and family foundations that have directly impacted our growth.”

The Catalogue has presented 16 theatre companies, a number of which have especially succeeded. The New Repertory Theatre (New Rep — Cat’98 — [link]) specializes in new works. Since listing, their budget quadrupled, their staff more than tripled, and their audience almost doubled — from 20,000 to 36,500, enabled partly by moving into a new 340-seat theatre at Watertown’s Arsenal Center for the Arts. As the Boston Globe put it, New Rep is “no longer a small theater on steroids, but a legitimate midsize theater.” The growth is based on quality: in its last two seasons New Rep has won four Elliot Norton, and nine Independent Reviewers of New England Awards.

The Catalogue has been interested in the dance scene, not just for artistic excellence and vitality, but because it presents a special philanthropic challenge, with large numbers of small companies figuring out how to survive. Among the most notable solutions, José Mateo’s Ballet Theatre (Cat’99 — [link]) has gained a large following with their spectacular venue in a former Cambridge church and sponsorship of an extensive ballet school program; Configuration (Cat’04 — [link]), which brings highest-quality dance to the Cape, is opening a second front in Buffalo, N.Y. Snappy Dance Theatre (Cat’03 — [link]), also now celebrating their 10th anniversary, has carved out an innovative entrepreneurial niche: to develop a strong national and international touring program. As a result, they regularly have the highest rank with the lowest budget on the Boston Business Journal’s Top 25 Performing Arts Organizations (in audience size). They are the only contemporary dance company in Boston that pays their dancers annual (though modest) wages.

In the visual arts, two Catalogue charities had exceptional growth: the Provincetown Art Association and Museum (Cat’98 and ’05 — [link]) is approaching their centennial (2014) with a growth spurt in budget, staff, and faculty. Completing a $4.5 million capital campaign, they have added a new wing to their historic building with two new galleries, four classrooms, a bookstore, three sculpture gardens and various amenities. Their American Association of Museums accreditation is coming up next year.

Nearby, the Truro Center for the Arts at Castle Hill (Cat’04 — [link] ) reports that their Catalogue listing assisted their “turning-point” from a small, local, seasonal and distinguished arts center to a full-fledged, year-round philanthropic institution, providing 130 workshops serving 870 students this past year, with creative, witty programming. At a time when they needed broader public support, the Catalogue brought them a family foundation donor.

In arts education, Worcester’s Joy of Music Program (JOMP — Cat’97 — [link]), celebrating their 20th anniversary this year, has more than doubled their budget (up 142%), staff and faculty have increased by 56% and 60%, with 38% more students on three times the scholarships. JOMP alumni go on to leading music schools in the nation. They say the Catalogue found them two new major donors, and significant accreditation for foundation grantseeking.

Community Access to the Arts in Great Barrington (Cat ’01 — [link]) provides arts education for folks with physical and developmental disabilities. Founded in 1993, their programs promote pride and broad inclusion in community cultural life. Their listing attracted inquiries and donations; nothing major, but new interest is not easily gained by organizations such as these. Since then their staff has grown from two to five, and they’re in larger office, gallery and workspace. They now offer over 1,000 workshops for hundreds of people with disabilities. The quality is excellent; in 2004 their schools project was awarded a Gold Star by the Massachusetts Cultural Council, and this year they received an Outstanding Community Arts Education award from the Massachusetts Alliance for Arts Education.

Education: Formal

Here is one of two spectacular growth stories recorded by Catalogue charities since listing: the BELL Foundation (Cat’98 — [link]). Founded in 1992 with the mission, “Every child, when provided academic skills and mentoring, can achieve success in school and in life,” BELL was already on a fast track and has since soared: budget from $825,000 to $15 million; staff from 17 to 167 full-time, and from 100 to over 1,000 part-time; children served from 500 to 8,000. From Boston, BELL has spread to New York City, Baltimore, and Washington, D.C. Such growth requires good metrics: all students entering BELL at failing levels in reading and math have moved to higher levels, over 80% to proficient or advanced levels in core skills, compared to 30% of their peers. Their programs have also improved in quality: a six-week summer program in 1998 advanced students two months academically; today that has tripled to six months (non-BELL peers normally lose three months academically in summers). Johns Hopkins University’s Center for Summer Learning named the BELL program the Best Summer Program in the country. Last January BELL won Fast Company’s Social Capitalist Award as one of top 25 organizations changing the world.

Discovering Justice (DJ — Cat’01 — [link]) was founded in 1998, so only three years old when listed; they say we “helped establish their legitimacy.” They teach elementary schoolchildren about justice and our legal system, using Boston’s Moakley and John Adams Courthouses and hundreds of volunteer judges, attorneys and other legal professionals. Their teacher-training program is state-licensed — currently 250 teachers reach 5,000 children, and Courthouse docents annually teach over 10,000 visitors. In only five years since listing they have quadrupled in size — staff increasing to eight, budget to $1.3 million. They have commissioned two historical plays and a Shakespeare-based theatre presentation.

New England SCORES (Cat’99 — [link]) is a soccer program that addresses two serious childhood issues: obesity and low literacy. Since listing, they have doubled — in staff, schools and students served (now 460 students). In 2003 they collaborated with the Boston Children’s Theatre (Cat’05 — [link]) on a five-week summer program of soccer and theatre arts; this year they joined with five other sports programs to form Boston TeamWorks, to economize on space and other resources. So far three family foundations have spotted SCORES in the Catalogue, and have contributed over $100,000. “The Catalogue can offer SCORES the visibility we need to be successful in the long term.”

Boston Learning Center (BLC — Cat’03 — [link]) takes the toughest street kids and turns them around, academically and personally, using sophisticated teaching tools. BLC is led by a charismatic husband and wife team, one of whom was a street kid, now successful entrepreneur, and the other is an Ed School grad. In three years since listing, BLC has tripled — staff to 24, budget to $650,000, and from 135 students in three schools to over 500 students in nine schools. This year they opened a Springfield office, and a Los Angeles program is coming. The Gates Foundation says that lack of motivation is the main cause for our nationwide dropout crisis. These folks have just published a book: Street Smart to School Smart: How to Motivate Failing Teens and Reform Urban Schools In Just 9 Weeks. Catalogue donors?

The Boston Arts Academy (BAA — Cat’02 — [link]) is a pilot of the Boston Public School System, chartered to be a lab school for artistic and academic innovation, integrating arts throughout the curriculum. Since listing, 95% of BAA graduates have gone on to college (as against 55% for the district) at leading institutions. Graduates include a dancer with the Alvin Ailey Dance Theatre, and two others with Urban Improv (Cat’05 — [link]). In 2004, BAA launched its String Outreach Program in three schools, recruiting students to take free violin or viola lessons several times per week; today 145 students are in the program. BAA was one of 12 Breakthrough High Schools designated by the National Association of Secondary School Principals, and one of 15 Essential Schools funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. They need your support.

The MATCH School (Cat’01 — [link]) was launched in 2000 to be an “innovative, high-performing, high-poverty, high school.” In 2002 they moved into a renovated “green” building; budget has tripled to $3.2 million, while staff has more than quintupled (to 68), enabled by a bold MATCH Corps tutoring program in which 45 college grads commit one year to public service for a modest stipend and housing. All MATCH graduates have been admitted to four-year colleges, where a follow-through program helps them succeed there as well. MATCH is: one of 11 charter schools (1,900 applicants) to receive a Vanguard Award from the Mass Insight Education public policy institute; one of 25 selected by the Knowledge Works Foundation as an excellent, cost-effective small school; one of two to receive major grants from the USDE Office of Innovation to bolster minority participation in AP courses.

“As the MATCH School was establishing itself during its first year, our listing in a well-respected publication such as the Catalogue provided us with invaluable visibility and raised our profile among individual donors and charitable foundations, allowing us to achieve financial growth and academic results.”

The Penikese Island School (Cat’99,’00,’01 — [link]) merits special mention: a small “last resort” school for adolescent boys in serious trouble, on a small island 12 miles off the southern tip of Cape Cod in Buzzards Bay. Under primitive conditions — no electricity, study at night by kerosene lamps — nine boys at a time stay for nine months in a closely but warmly supervised family setting, with four weekly revolving live-in faculty/staff. Everyone pitches in to run the place. It is a “refuge and renewal” opportunity, and it saves lives. If you want to be inspired by a great example of the miracle of philanthropy, help them.

“The Catalogue for Philanthropy is directly attributable for more than 33 generous gifts we have received since we first appeared in the 1999 issue. The Penikese Island School is grateful that our work has been valued by many donors from across the state.”

Education: Informal

The Discovery Museums of Acton (Cat’03 — [link]) celebrate their 25th anniversary in 2007, and as they get older, they get better: 140,000 visitors annually, including 20,000 K-8 schoolchildren and over 700 teachers; featured in two episodes of the new PBS series “Curious George;” and with National Science Foundation funding collaborating with MIT’s Haystack Observatory to develop “Discovery KWEST” (Kids Who Explore Science Together), an after-school enrichment program for Boys and Girls Clubs children and families. Catalogue donors helped them develop hugely successful programming for infants and toddlers—e.g., “Sensations,” “Mirror Magic,” “Bubbly Baby,” and “Follow Your Nose.” Follow yours, Catalogue donors.

The Paraclete Foundation (Cat’99 — [link], from Greek parakletos, someone called to help) helps middle-school youths in South Boston with educational programs during out-of-school hours. They want to remain small (“a place where everyone knows your name”), but they are growing nonetheless — their budget and staff have doubled, and they have recently undertaken to create a small leadership school for middle-school girls in Rwanda. “Community support” reversed an Archdiocesan decision to sell their building. They have a Catalogue story:

“One of our Catalogue donors, a dentist, took early retirement in 2003. He came to us with a boat project he wanted to do with our students. He had never built a boat before, and the only suitable room we could find in our old convent building was on the third floor. He and our students, with his wife’s help, built a replica of a 15-foot wooden Rangely Lake Trout boat. We successfully launched it not only out of our third floor window, but also on Carson Beach. It was then put up for auction at a gathering of their friends and the proceeds were given to Paraclete. Soon after that, he was severely injured — struck while riding his bicycle; he was paralyzed and now lives on a ventilator. We were very happy to welcome him back at our annual luncheon to honor him as our Man of the Year.”

The Duxbury Bay Maritime School (Cat’03 — [link]) will celebrate their 10th anniversary in 2007, having served over 9,000 students (last summer 60 inner-city kids) with alumni competing as sailors at leading schools. They have national recognition: this year two staffmembers were keynote speakers at the U.S. Sailing Symposium; their ACCESSAIL program for kids with disabilities is a national model, with one para-Olympic hopeful.

Remember the Lighthouse Preservation Society (Cat’98 — [link])? We said, “Henry Kissinger was, of course, wrong — philanthropy, not power, ‘is the great aphrodisiac’.” Then, a gift of $10,000 would get you an entire night in a lighthouse. Now, a prix fixe, tout compris dining experience, from 5-11 p.m., includes a catered meal of your choice atop the Newburyport Rear Range Lighthouse; cost is $375 per couple, with 50% tax deductible. Boston Magazine’s Phantom Gourmet rated it the “most romantic and exclusive,” one of New England’s top eight dining experiences. Yankee Magazine called it one of “Top 35 Things to Do This Summer.” It’s a favorite destination for marriage proposals and European visitors. Income raised so far has restored two historic Light Towers. All this can be yours as well.

One Lowell (Cat’02 — [link]) was originally listed as a new collaborative project of civic education sponsored by several charities, meeting an urgent need — integrating immigrants and refugees, many with traumatic Asian backgrounds, into the Lowell community. With dynamic leadership, they are now independently incorporated, their budget has quadrupled and their staff has tripled. Early successes are a truancy prevention program and an effort to have the City put translators at polls in neighborhoods with large new-American constituencies. They have many excellent life-saving stories to tell.

An older immigration story is told by the Boston Center for Jewish Heritage at Historic Vilna Shul (Cat’98 — [link]), on Beacon Hill’s North Slope, where they acquired, restored and reopened as a museum and cultural center, the last remaining synagogue from the immigrant era (1919). They have succeeded: their budget has grown tenfold (to $200,000), their first exhibit — “Continuity: Jewish Art and Architecture” — is open to the public part-time, attracting “from tens to hundreds of visitors monthly,” 30% of whom have never been to a synagogue before.

At a time when historical museums are generally having difficulties, the Paul Revere Memorial Association (PRMA — Cat’99 — [link]) is approaching their centennial next year at a gallop — building capacity with grants from local foundations and the national Institute of Museum and Library Services. Their 18th-century dwelling is cramped, so they have had to reach out, exploring new media and collaborative programming with other institutions. Tourists come to Massachusetts for our history, which is kept alive by philanthropy, not government; our economy relies heavily on tourism; it is up to us — the immediate beneficiaries of our inheritance after all — to keep the flames alive.

A major gain to our historical resources has been the Edith Wharton Restoration (Cat’99 — [link]) of The Mount, Wharton’s grand home in Lenox. Since their listing, The Mount “has had a miraculous transformation”: a major Save America’s Treasures federal grant led to the centennial re-opening of the estate in 2002; visitation has tripled to nearly 30,000, and earned income has increased six-fold. New literary programs were launched in 2004. In 2005 the magnificent flower gardens were restored, and Edith Wharton’s personal library of 2,600 volumes was acquired. Further evidence of excellence: the White House has given them one of only four Presidential Awards.

Another sort of historical resource is Worcester’s Higgins Armory Museum (Cat’02 — [link]), perhaps the nation’s leading collection of armor, assembled by an industrialist for his own interest, then philanthropically given to the public in a museum he built for the purpose. They have a long and solid reputation, but they have told us that, “For years we assumed that we were too small to do any electronic business. The Catalogue listing led to many additions to our services offered via the Internet.” Glad to help.