[liberationtech] Kickstarter Expects To Provide More Funding To The Arts Than NEA

Wed Feb 29 23:23:37 PST 2012

What if the NEA, NEH, and others employ an experimental grant-making
process that's more Kickstarter style?

There is lots of value from having a proposal evaluated by a board, such
that the NE* does, but the process also takes a long time (and, a lot of
these volunteer board reader's times as well). The way technology is
progressing, these long process doesn't always work out.

On Wed, Feb 29, 2012 at 7:01 PM, Lina Srivastava <lina at linasrivastava.com>wrote:

> I'm not sure why it's important whether the headline is predictive or
> actual (and particularly to this list). At any rate, as Lilly nicely points
> out, the comparison is a bit false, since Kickstarter is a different model
> than the NEA and other institutional funders. On the plus side it fills a
> funding gap for all the creative industries. On the minus, it highlights
> how we've crippled our government's ability to fund the creative
> industries. This year Kickstarter is estimated, I believe, to funnel about
> $50mil for "arts"-based projects and $100 for others, incl design, media,
> publishing, etc. The NEA has $146mil in total for everything, including
> field-building, convenings, production, etc.
>
> From my perspective for this list, the pertinent points this article
> raises are:
> 1) creative communities (and that includes some in the libtech community)
> in the US should care about the level of funding and activities of the NEA,
> particularly as it is expanding its parameters around what constitutes art,
> creativity, and new media;
> 2) Kickstarter is a viable funding avenue, and a fantastic success in its
> own right as a company, but the jury is still out on its viability as an
> ongoing concern (and as a business model), and alsoit is a valuable service
> for creatives but not a field-building organization;
> 3) You all on this list who are American and have "creative" elements in
> your projects and products should consider both avenues when thinking about
> funding your creative projects.
>
> Thanks, Lina
>
> On Wednesday, February 29, 2012, Lilly Irani wrote:
>
>> Sorry to offend.
>>
>> It was the "to the Arts" that I was pointing to. Kickstarter is going to
>> fund more projects in general than the NEA does, but NEA has a narrower
>> scope.
>>
>> It was not at all the fault of the person who sent it along to the list.
>> The headline of the piece itself is misleading.
>>
>> On Wed, Feb 29, 2012 at 5:42 PM, Jillian C. York <jilliancyork at gmail.com>wrote:
>>
>> The headline clearly says "Kickstarter *Expects To* Provide More Funding
>> To The Arts Than NEA" (bold is mine)
>>
>> I don't see what's misleading about that.  Sounds pretty clearly like a
>> prediction to me.
>>
>>
>> On Wed, Feb 29, 2012 at 4:52 PM, Lilly Irani <lilly.irani at gmail.com>wrote:
>>
>> Also, if you read the article, the quote is actually:
>> “It is probable Kickstarter will distribute more money this year than the
>> NEA,”
>> So 1) this is a prediction 2) this is across all sectors (including fun
>> tea strainers and coffee cozies), not just the arts
>>
>> The headline for the piece, repeated in the subject line, is misleading
>>
>> Kickstarter is really amazing, but we need the facts straight.
>>
>> On Wed, Feb 29, 2012 at 4:28 PM, Lina Srivastava <lina at linasrivastava.com
>> > wrote:
>>
>> Sorry for the late reply, but inasmuch as the NEA has lately been showing
>> interest in innovations in media beyond film and television, into
>> transmedia, serious games and educational games, and new media platforms
>> for storyteling, journalism, and social networking, this might be of
>> interest to some people on this list: Last month, I was on a review panel
>> for the NEA Arts in Media grant cycle. I work at the intersection of
>> culture, art, medis, technology, and activism, and they invited me on the
>> panel primarily due to my work in transmedia design. The applications I saw
>> weren't as staid as I had expected or feared, and some were rather
>> technologically innovative, even including some aimed specifically at
>> social benefit projects. I don't know what will eventually be funded, but I
>> was heartened to see what American artists are creating and the dorection
>> towards innovation the NEA is taking-- and I thought some American libtech
>> projects incorporating creative and cultural elements might actually be a
>> good fit in the NEA portfolio, whether for individual grant support or
>> through their support of networks of organizations. The main thrust of the
>> grants is still for artistic/cultural merit and excellence but the NEA
>> seems to be expanding its scope of what constitutes art and culture, so I'd
>> encourage some of you on this list to learn a bit more about its grant
>> making and organizational support, and think about applying. I'd also
>> encourage you think about advocating for the agency's continued health. As
>> a country, we kind of need them.  To get back to David's original
>> point, Kickstarter, indieGoGo, and other crowdfunding platforms have been a
>> huge benefit to the creative communities, but it's a shame we've defunded
>> the NEA to the level that its annual budget approximates the daily budget
>> of the DoD. We still need a robust NEA for its support of small arts and
>> cultural organizations, and its support of free cultural expression.
>>
>>
>> On Friday, February 24, 2012, David Johnson wrote:
>>
>> Amazing news ...
>>
>>
>> http://idealab.talkingpointsmemo.com/2012/02/kickstarter-expects-to-provide-more-funding-to-the-arts-than-nea.php
>>
>> --
>>
>> David V. Johnson
>> Web Editor
>> Boston Review
>> Website: ht <http://www.bostonreview.net>
>>
>>
>
> --
> Lina Srivastava
> --
> linasrivastava.com  |  twitter <http://twitter.com/lksriv>  |  linkedin<http://www.linkedin.com/in/linasrivastava>
>
>
>
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