Every week, we find the most interesting and important stories at the intersection of the Arts, technology, and business and share them with you. (If you’d like to get these in your e-mail inbox you can subscribe to here).

Pre-gaming your arrival to the executive director’s chair It was like receiving an electronic time capsule from my younger self when the text message pinged its arrival. Last week a friend texted me the photo below of a handout I created to accompany a talk I gave about ten years ago. I don’t recall the session name, but the handout was titled, “…like drinking from a fire hose,” and contained a list of the things I suggested a new non-profit executive director review before sitting down in that fancy, new chair on their first day.

Source: Flickr Members of Congress spend recess at home in the district, offering artists a great opportunity to connect Our Arts & Technology Policy Fellow, Courtney Duffy (@cduffy90), whose role is made possible through the generosity of the Robert W. Deutsch Foundation, offers the merits of connecting with elected officials in the coming weeks, along with advocacy tips for artists who choose to do so.

photo credit: Gender/Power Composition IV, a MAP Fund recipient and Fractured Atlas member Calling all presenting artists and arts organizations! If you’re fiscally sponsored by Fractured Atlas and interested in applying for the MAP Fund, please continue reading for some important information about applying.

The Fractured Atlas and Createquity teams are back with a second installment of the Createquity podcast! Our first series, “Watch Where You’re Giving,” discussed the implications for the arts of the growing philanthropic movement called effective altruism. In this series, we look at what it takes to “make it” as a professional artist, as explored in Createquity’s recent series of research-driven articles. Is a college education actually necessary, and how much depends on talent versus luck versus a high tolerance for uncertainty? And is the chance to succeed as a professional artist equally available to people of all backgrounds and income levels, or are people who, for example, grew up in lower-income families less likely to become professional artists? In this latest Createquity podcast series, Createquity and Fractured Atlas team members illuminate the major factors that contribute to artists (or prevent artists from) establishing successful careers. We also focus on some of the tools Fractured Atlas has developed to support artists, with the larger goal of helping create a more navigable and equitable ecosystem for professional artists. Episode 1: Guest Michael Feldman (bio below) provides a quick rundown of the research Createquity has done on this topic. Hear about how the decision to become an artist is affected by socioeconomic background and tolerance for risk, and what artists have in common with tech entrepreneurs. This includes a comparison of different state-run programs for artists in countries outside the United States. Episode 2: In this case study of sorts, guest Theresa Hubbard, Program Specialist in fiscal sponsorship at Fractured Atlas (bio below), explains how fiscal sponsorship and the organization’s other programs can help mitigate some of the challenges and risks working artists face. She also discusses her own professional and personal experiences with access to creativity and her views on the future of the field. The Host Andrew Taylor, Host Andrew Taylor thinks (a bit too much) about organizational structure, strategy, and management practice in the nonprofit arts. An Associate Professor of Arts Management at American University in Washington, DC, he shares what he learns at “The Artful Manager.” The Guests Michael Feldman | Editorial Team, Createquity Michael Feldman provides strategic and engagement advice to local and international arts organizations. Based in Washington, D.C., he also serves as a board member of the Alliance for a New Music Theatre, an arts partner of the Czech Embassy for theirMutual Inspirations Festival. Michael is a former cultural attaché and diplomat whose experience bridges the arts, development, and public policy worlds. Michael was a director at PEPFAR, the President’s Emergency Fund for AIDS Relief; a director for Europe and Central Asia at the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative; and professional staff of the Budget Committee of the U.S. Senateas part of a fellowship with the American Political Science Association. At the US State Department, Michael served in Europe and Central Africa; he oversaw assistance for the Balkans; and he negotiated policy with theOrganization for Economic Cooperation and Development(OECD), the G-7/8 process, and the European Union. Michael graduated from Wesleyan University with a B.A. in Economics and speaks German, Czech, French and Italian. Theresa Hubbard | Program Specialist, Fiscal Sponsorship, Fractured Atlas Theresa Hubbard is a Program Specialist at Fractured Atlas, where she helps sponsored artists and emerging organizations navigate the funding landscape and find resources to support their work. She also serves on the steering committee of the National Network of Fiscal Sponsors. Prior to joining the Fractured Atlas team in 2011, she completed internships with the National Symphony Orchestra at The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts and with the Weill Music Institute at Carnegie Hall. Theresa is an active member of the Oratorio Society of New York and holds a Bachelor of Music degree in Voice Performance from Syracuse University. The Team Ian David Moss | Executive Producer Ian David Moss is the founder and CEO of Createquity, a virtual think tank and online publication investigating the most important issues in the arts and what we can do about them. As Senior Director of Information Strategy for Fractured Atlas, Ian works with his own organization and the wider field to promote a culture of learning and assessment and support informed decision-making on behalf of the arts. Evidence-based strategic frameworks that he helped create have guided the distribution of nearly $100 million in grants to date by some of the nation’s most important arts funders. In addition to Createquity, Ian founded the Cultural Research Network, an open resource-sharing forum for self-identified researchers in the arts, and C4: The Composer/Conductor Collective. He holds BA and MBA degrees from Yale University and is based in Washington, DC. Malcolm Evans | Producer Malcolm Evans is a Program Associate at Fractured Atlas. He graduated from Trinity College (Hartford) in 2013 with a Bachelor of Arts in Theater & Dance. He also carries a minor in Studio Arts and has studied with the London Dramatic Academy Program. When he’s not hard at work at Fractured Atlas, he is hard at work at home, writing screenplays. Follow him on social media @malxavi. Katherine Gressel | Assistant Producer Katherine Gressel is an NYC-based freelance artist, curator and writer focused on site‐specific and community art. She was a 2011 Createquity Writing Fellow and now helps spearhead new public programming for the organization. She has also published and presented with Americans for the Arts’ Public Art Network and Public Art Dialogue, among others. Katherine is currently the Contemporary Curator at Brooklyn’s Old Stone House, and has also curated for Brooklyn Historical Society, FIGMENT, No Longer Empty, and NARS Foundation. Katherine has painted community murals internationally and exhibited her own artwork throughout NYC, and currently runs an award-winning business, Event Painting by Katherine, creating live paintings of private events. Katherine has also held programming, grantwriting and teaching artist jobs and internships at such organizations as Smack Mellon, Arts to Grow, Creative Time and theBrooklyn Museum. Katherine earned her BA in art from Yale and MA in arts administration from Columbia. Jason Tseng | Engineer Jason Tseng has devoted his professional and personal life to empowering ordinary people to make extraordinary change. Splitting his time between serving the arts and queer communities of color, he has worked for organizations like Theatre Communications Group, Gay Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD), and currently serves on the steering committee and chair emeritus of GAPIMNY, the second oldest queer Asian community organization in the nation. Jason currently serves as the Community Engagement Specialist at Fractured Atlas, a nonprofit technology company that serves artists. Before moving to New York, he grew up outside Washington, D.C., in Maryland and graduated from the University of Richmond studying Women, Gender, & Sexuality Studies and Theatre. In his spare time, Jason creates plays, stories, comics, and illustrations (usually about queer people and people of color). He now lives in Long Island City with his fiancé and their rabbit, Turnip Cake. Other Suggested Reading The BFA’s Dance with Inequality— Shawn Lent, Louise Geraghty, Michael Feldman, and Talia Gibas Who Can Afford to Be A Starving Artist?— Shawn Lent, Louise Geraghty, Michael Feldman, Talia Gibas, and Ian David Moss The State: A Friend Indeed to Artists in Need? — Shawn Lent, Michael Feldman, Talia Gibas, and Louise Geraghty Createquity is a virtual think tank and online publication investigating the most important issues in the arts and what we, collectively and individually, can do about them

The Robert W. Deutsch Foundation, which generously makes my Arts & Technology Policy fellowship possible, recently connected me with an organization that shares the Fractured Atlas mission to eliminate barriers to artistic expression. Maryland Volunteer Lawyers for the Arts — or MdVLA for short — protects the legal rights of Maryland-based artists through pro bono legal referrals and education. Adam Holofcener, MdVLA’s executive director, has a background in policy work and graciously agreed to answer a few of my questions. You’ll find our conversation, which has been lightly edited for the sake of brevity, below.

Every week, we find the most interesting and important stories at the intersection of the Arts, technology, and business and share them with you. (If you’d like to get these in your e-mail inbox you can subscribe to here). Check back every week for insightful and eye-opening stories that peaked our interest, and hopefully yours too. OPINION: How to Build a Better Board. The first thing we have to do is recognize and embrace the basic fact that leadership for nonprofit arts organizations must come from the board, not the staff.” Pokémon Go Is a Massive Art Happening and You’re All Invited. The app’s number of daily users is set to surpass Twitter’s, somewhere around 140 million people, and they’re spending at least 43 minutes a day in-app. It’s a cultural phenomenon to say the least, and it’s also an art happening. Lawmakers Restore $7.7M in Funding for Massachusetts Cultural Council. This funding allows the Massachusetts Cultural Council to continue their crucial programming including […] support for Springfield’s new cultural district, and arts and music programming for thousands of school-aged kids’. Canada Pursues New Approach to Arts Funding. In Canada, by contrast, the arts are elemental to what the prime minister has called the emergence of Canada as the ‘first post-national state. What Instagram Reveals About Inequality in New York City. Their analysis shows that more than half of all visitors’ photos are concentrated in 24 tracts, which cover just 12 percent of Manhattan’s total area. Pressure Mounts for US Museums to Increase Diversity at the Top. Two recent studies paint a stark picture of the lack of ethnic and racial diversity among top museum staff in the US. While people of colour represent 38% of the country’s population, they make up only 9% of museum boards and 16% of the administrators, curators, conservators and educators who make decisions about what is exhibited and preserved as culturally important. Former Met Tech Maestro Named Chief Digital Officer of New York City. Sreenivasan, who was responsible for the creation of a Met smartphone application and a redesigned website, will now head the Office of Digital Strategy, which is in charge of engaging the public and representing city government through technology.

Guest post by Jamie Hoffman, Home Decor and Garden Buyer at UncommonGoods Jamie Hoffman — Uncommon Goods As a buyer for UncommonGoods, I spend my days scouring craft fairs and trade shows looking for new items to sell in our online shop. I meet a lot of talented artists who’ve worked hard to perfect their products, but who are struggling with how to break into the commercial market. Sometimes it’s because they haven’t figured out how to scale their production capacity in a way that inspires confidence. Other times it’s because they’re neglecting to frame their work in a way that shows how special it is — be it through photography or written product descriptions. Because of my experience and perspective as a retail buyer, I know that every aspect of developing and showcasing product is an opportunity to share it with the customer.

Suit filed by the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) contends First Amendment rights are being violated by DMCA’s anti-circumvention provisions Our Robert W. Deutsch Arts & Technology Policy Fellow, Courtney Duffy, returns with a new #CopyrightWithCourtney post on a legal challenge to the U.S. Copyright Office’s flawed system of granting exemptions to tech users who seek to break digital locks to access copyrighted works for legal purposes. The current system has major ramifications for filmmakers. Follow Courtney on Twitter @cduffy90 and join the conversation using #CopyrightWithCourtney. Last week, the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) sued the U.S. Copyright Office and the Department of Justice to overturn the anti-circumvention provisions in Section 1201 of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA), which make it illegal to circumvent digital locks on copyrighted works. Refresh my memory: What’s the DMCA, and what’s wrong with it? The Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) was signed into law in 1998 under President Clinton as an attempt to update copyright law in accordance with the changing technology of the times. Part of the law, Section 1201, makes it illegal to break digital locks placed on copyrighted material whether the intended use is legal or not. It’s the act of breaking the lock itself which is illegal. The Library of Congress, which houses the Copyright Office, has a triennial review process by which individuals and organizations can petition for exemptions to this law on behalf of those who intend to make legal uses of these copyrighted works. This review process is burdensome, and groups must spend time and money to restate their case every three years, even if they have been granted an exemption in the past. How are artists impacted by the broken DMCA? Filmmakers and authors have long held the right to make fair use of copyrighted material, transforming it for uses like criticism and commentary, making arguments, and providing historical context. But since the DMCA made it illegal — and, in some cases, a crime — to access this content by breaking encryption unless an exemption is granted, these artists are forced to restate the same case over again every three years in order to continue to be able to access these works. Veteran filmmaker Gordon Quinn, who is a Fractured Atlas member, has presented the case of the documentary filmmaking community before the Library of Congress for the past several years. In this Motherboard article Gordon and I wrote together, he details the unpredictability of the process, noting that although the filmmakers’ argument for the circumvention of digital locks on Blu-Ray disks was denied two cycles ago, it was accepted during the most recent cycle without significant changes to the argument. This unpredictability has undoubtedly stifled innovation in the field, which harms filmmakers and audiences alike. As a result, Gordon and I argued, the DMCA inadvertently chills fair use and other lawful activities that are central to free expression in a democracy, as well as the livelihoods of filmmakers around the country. What is the nature of EFF’s new lawsuit against the Copyright Office? EFF’s suit comes after years of failures by the Copyright Office to fix the broken DMCA exemption process, which involves a number of burdensome and administrative hoops for artists like Gordon Quinn to jump through every three years. EFF’s main argument in this suit is that the legal proceedings involving circumvention violate consumers’ First Amendment rights to freedom of expression. The Copyright Office, EFF alleges, “has mismanaged the process and repeatedly failed to grant valid exemptions” in violation of the First Amendment. My colleague at Public Knowledge, Kerry Maeve Sheehan, agrees: “The Office has erected a litany of administrative barriers, not required by the law itself, to scholars, technologists, consumers, and many others (like artists) ensnared by unintended consequences and indefensible applications of Section 1201,” she says. “Even when the Copyright Office does recommend exemptions, they are often so narrow as to be practically useless.” Gordon Quinn, pictured on the left, at Public Knowledge’s DMCA panel on Capitol Hill. What sort of advocacy have Fractured Atlas and Public Knowledge done already? My colleagues at Public Knowledge have been paying close attention to this issue for several years, and took a more active approach to advocacy in the fall of 2015, aligning with the most recent triennial review process. Fractured Atlas sponsored a trip for Gordon Quinn to Washington, D.C., where he represented the arts community on a Capitol Hill panel put on by Public Knowledge that focused on the DMCA’s flaws. Gordon discovered a poster of one of his films in a Congressional office during his visit. During his trip to Capitol Hill, Gordon accompanied me on face-to-face visits with a dozen Congressional offices from across the political spectrum in which he described the burdensome exemption process he endures every three years. Gordon clarified that fixing the current system will not in fact lead to additional piracy — a common misconception — because those who seek exemptions are seeking to access copyrighted works for legal uses only. Any uses of the works that do not fall under fair use would be subject to punishment under existing copyright law. Gordon articulated that as a copyright holder himself, he relies on the ability to legally incorporate copyrighted works into his new works. “In a democracy,” he said, “we cannot keep culture locked up.” We will monitor the process of EFF’s suit carefully and provide updates on the blog. Stay tuned! You can find additional blog posts Courtney has written on this subject here, here, and here.

Every week, we find the most interesting and important stories at the intersection of the Arts, technology, and business and share them with you. (If you’d like to get these in your e-mail inbox you can subscribe to here). Check back every week for insightful and eye-opening stories that peaked our interest, and hopefully yours too.