Ragdale — A Historic Landscape Revisited
Created in 1898 by Architect Howard Van Doren Shaw in Lake Forest, Illinois, Ragdale served as the family retreat for more than three-quarters of a century. After 25 years of operation as an artists’ retreat, it was clear that without intervention and careful planning and management, the resources that have given Ragdale its identity and significance for more than a century would begin to disappear. The Alliance spoke with Carol Yetken, the landscape architect who created Ragdale’s Master Plan based upon a collaboration of Ragdale staff and trustees, professionals, Shaw family descendants, artists-in-residence, and community stakeholders.
Measuring Joy: Evaluation at Baltimore Clayworks
It wasn’t so long ago that when I would see the words “measurable outcomes” on a grant proposal, I would experience a wave of nausea and anxiety. I would be required, the grant stated, to prove to the prospective funder that our programs and activities had created a better life for those who touched clay, and for the rest of the city -- and maybe the rest of humanity. Wow! A tall order. Not only were we to prove how a small clay airplane can save the world, but save it by what percent over last year, and how airplanes versus cups, for instance, can have a significant impact on a community.
Public Access to Your Financial Data
As a nonprofit, your organization’s financial data is, generally speaking, public information. Increasingly, funders, prospective employees, community groups, and others are accessing nonprofits’ 990 forms. Being able to access this information also means that more data can be collected on nonprofits and research conducted on trends, financial viability, and growth in the nonprofit sector.
Raising Women’s Voices
“Unless you hear from women, you’re only hearing half the story,” goes the saying at Hedgebrook, a retreat for women writers on Whidbey Island, Washington. Others, too, follow this principle, including Hopscotch House, the residency program of the Kentucky Foundation for Women, in Prospect, Kentucky; Soapstone, a residency for women writers on the Oregon coast; and Women’s Studio Workshop, a residency for women in the visual arts, focusing on the production of artists’ books, in Rosendale, New York. The stories of their beginnings are similar—one or a small handful of women working to increase opportunities for women artists and to create an environment that will be a catalyst for change.
Studio Safety
There are many resources to help you establish studio practices that protect the health and safety of both artists and the environment. Your local college or university likely has a department of health and environmental safety, with guidelines for waste disposal, clean-up, spill procedures and more. There are also a number of online resources available.