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Date: Apr 14, 2009
National Center for Suburban Studies Receives $15,000 Grant to Help Suburban Arts Communities
Long Island Community Foundation funds will be used to study best practices for collaborative efforts
Hofstra University, Hempstead, NY – A $15,000 Long Island Community Foundation grant will help The National Center for Suburban Studies at Hofstra University® (NCSS) determine how suburban arts groups nationwide work together to emerge from the shadows of nearby cities.
The NCSS will use the funds to look at best practices by suburban performing and fine arts groups around the country that are working collaboratively to create strong regional identities and to encourage participation by local residents. Peter Goodman, assistant professor of journalism, media studies and public relations at Hofstra and a former Newsday reporter with extensive experience covering the arts, will act as the principal researcher for the study.
"Laboring in the shadows of major cities with an abundance of 'world class' performing and fine arts institutions, many professionals and volunteers in the suburbs believe their arts programs, while often of equivalent caliber, do not receive a fair share of either funding from public and private sources, support from the public or attention from the media," said Lawrence Levy, executive director of the NCSS. "Long Island arts organizations, large and small, feel frustrated by the dozens of local competitors operating independently and sometimes in isolation from each other."
Recognizing this as counter-productive, the Long Island Arts Alliance, which includes dozens of local performing and fine arts groups, recently changed its mission to meet the needs of a more collaborative approach to funding, promotion and production of arts programs. The NCSS study will be used to help guide the Alliance and other suburban arts groups by highlighting successful collaborative efforts to serve organizations, consumers and students.
The study will look for regional suburban "success stories" to answer questions such as have other major suburban areas have been able to carve out a strong and sustainable arts economy and collaborative arts community; do those programs involve the creation of a region-wide not-for-profit organization; and how do these groups overcome the obstacles of operating in the shadow of a major city with a strong arts identity?
In 1978 The New York Community Trust, one of the Nation's largest community foundations, established a Long Island division to provide Nassau and Suffolk County residents with an economical alternative to a private foundation or a commercial gift fund. Like the other 650 community foundations around the country, the Long Island Community Fund offers a dual service: for donors, an efficient and hassle-free way of giving; and for the region, a philanthropic institution to support and assist the nonprofit community.
Hofstra University is a dynamic private institution where students can choose from more than 145 undergraduate and 160 graduate programs in liberal arts and sciences, business; engineering; communication; education, health and human services; and honors studies, as well as a School of Law. With a student-faculty ratio of 14-to-1, our professors teach small classes averaging 22 students that emphasize interaction, critical thinking and analysis. Hofstra offers a faculty whose highest priority is teaching excellence. The University also provides excellent facilities with state-of-the-art technology, extensive library resources and internship programs that match students’ interests and abilities with appropriate companies and organizations. The Hofstra community is driven, dynamic and energetic, helping students find and focus their strengths to prepare them for a successful future.
The NCSS will use the funds to look at best practices by suburban performing and fine arts groups around the country that are working collaboratively to create strong regional identities and to encourage participation by local residents. Peter Goodman, assistant professor of journalism, media studies and public relations at Hofstra and a former Newsday reporter with extensive experience covering the arts, will act as the principal researcher for the study.
"Laboring in the shadows of major cities with an abundance of 'world class' performing and fine arts institutions, many professionals and volunteers in the suburbs believe their arts programs, while often of equivalent caliber, do not receive a fair share of either funding from public and private sources, support from the public or attention from the media," said Lawrence Levy, executive director of the NCSS. "Long Island arts organizations, large and small, feel frustrated by the dozens of local competitors operating independently and sometimes in isolation from each other."
Recognizing this as counter-productive, the Long Island Arts Alliance, which includes dozens of local performing and fine arts groups, recently changed its mission to meet the needs of a more collaborative approach to funding, promotion and production of arts programs. The NCSS study will be used to help guide the Alliance and other suburban arts groups by highlighting successful collaborative efforts to serve organizations, consumers and students.
The study will look for regional suburban "success stories" to answer questions such as have other major suburban areas have been able to carve out a strong and sustainable arts economy and collaborative arts community; do those programs involve the creation of a region-wide not-for-profit organization; and how do these groups overcome the obstacles of operating in the shadow of a major city with a strong arts identity?
In 1978 The New York Community Trust, one of the Nation's largest community foundations, established a Long Island division to provide Nassau and Suffolk County residents with an economical alternative to a private foundation or a commercial gift fund. Like the other 650 community foundations around the country, the Long Island Community Fund offers a dual service: for donors, an efficient and hassle-free way of giving; and for the region, a philanthropic institution to support and assist the nonprofit community.
Hofstra University is a dynamic private institution where students can choose from more than 145 undergraduate and 160 graduate programs in liberal arts and sciences, business; engineering; communication; education, health and human services; and honors studies, as well as a School of Law. With a student-faculty ratio of 14-to-1, our professors teach small classes averaging 22 students that emphasize interaction, critical thinking and analysis. Hofstra offers a faculty whose highest priority is teaching excellence. The University also provides excellent facilities with state-of-the-art technology, extensive library resources and internship programs that match students’ interests and abilities with appropriate companies and organizations. The Hofstra community is driven, dynamic and energetic, helping students find and focus their strengths to prepare them for a successful future.
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