March 17, 2016, Atlanta, GA – The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation recently awarded a grant of $50,000 to LYRASIS, a leading member-based non-profit organization serving libraries, archives, and museums, to facilitate planning with eight partner organizations to design a program to build capacity and improve emergency preparedness within performing arts organizations. The six-month planning grant will support identification of strategies to increase knowledge, ability, and readiness among performing arts organizations to plan and execute emergency recovery plans.
The project planning committee brings together expertise in emergency preparedness from both the cultural heritage and performing arts communities with representatives from: ArtsReady at South Arts, The Conservation Center for Art & Historic Artifacts (CCAHA), LYRASIS, Midwest Art Conservation Center (MACC), National Coalition for Arts’ Preparedness and Emergency Response, National Performance Network, New Jersey State Council on the Arts, Northeast Document Conservation Center (NEDCC), and Western States and Territories Preservation Assistance Service (WESTPAS).Mollie Quinlan-Hayes, ArtsReady Director at South Arts, notes that “These nine groups have expertise and have developed programs, services and tools focused on emergency preparedness and recovery. We are now bringing that body of knowledge together to identify potential collaborations and adaptations of what has already been created.”
Through research, in-person meetings, and focus group sessions, the partners will develop a plan that will be user-centered and scalable to have broad reach across different types and sizes of performing arts organizations. This white paper will include recommendations and opportunities for leaders in the performing arts field to support the readiness and resiliency of their constituents. It will seek to build resiliency in the performing arts sector by increasing the number of organizations with emergency response and recovery plans, and build expertise within the performing arts sector to advocate for and sustain emergency preparedness more broadly.
The group expects to complete its planning work by June 30, 2016. We welcome your input on this project. For more information or to get involved, please contact Project Manager Tom Clareson, LYRASIS’ Senior Consultant for Digital & Preservation Services, tom.clareson@lyrasis.org.
About LYRASIS
LYRASIS (www.lyrassis.org), a non-profit membership organization, partners with member libraries, archives, and museums to create, access, and manage information, with an emphasis on digital content, while building and sustaining collaboration, enhancing operations and technology, and increasing buying power.
About The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation
Founded in 1969, the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation endeavors to strengthen, promote, and, where necessary, defend the contributions of the humanities and the arts to human flourishing and to the well-being of diverse and democratic societies by supporting exemplary institutions of higher education and culture as they renew and provide access to an invaluable heritage of ambitious, path-breaking work. Additional information is available at mellon.org
About ArtsReady at South Arts
ArtsReady, an online emergency preparedness service by and for arts/cultural nonprofits, provides arts organizations with customized business continuity plans for post-crisis sustainability. ArtsReady is a national initiative of South Arts. South Arts, one of the nation’s six regional arts organizations, strengthens the South through advancing excellence in the arts, connecting the arts to key state and national policies and nurturing a vibrant quality of life. South Arts works in partnership with the state arts agencies of Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Tennessee. South Arts is supported by the National Endowment for the Arts, member states, foundations, businesses, and individuals.
About Conservation Center for Art & Historic Artifacts
The Conservation Center for Art & Historic Artifacts (CCAHA) is a nonprofit conservation facility specializing in the treatment of works on paper, photographs, and books through conservation and state-of-the-art digital imaging services. Founded in 1977, CCAHA serves nonprofit cultural institutions, private individuals, and other collecting organizations.
About Midwest Art Conservation Center
The Midwest Art Conservation Center is a non-profit regional center for the preservation and conservation of art and artifacts, providing treatment, education, and training for museums, historical societies, libraries, other cultural institutions, artists, and the public.
About National Performance Network
The National Performance Network, including the Visual Artists Network (NPN/VAN), is a group of diverse cultural organizers and artists, working to create meaningful partnerships and to provide leadership that enables the practice and public experience of the arts in the United States.
About National Coalition for Arts’ Preparedness and Emergency Response
The Coalition is a voluntary network of government agencies, private organizations and individuals dedicated to building and sustaining an organized safety net of services, tools and information for those involved the arts and culture sector –artists, arts/culture organizations and arts businesses– before, during, and after disasters and emergencies. The Coalition also collaborates with other sectors at national, regional, and local levels to strengthen recovery efforts in the larger community.
About New Jersey State Council on the Arts
The New Jersey State Council on the Arts is the division of the NJ Department of State. It receives funding in direct appropriations from the State of New Jersey through a dedicated Hotel/Motel Occupancy fee and grants from the National Endowment for the Arts. Since 1966, its volunteer members and professional staff have worked to improve the quality of life in New Jersey by helping the arts to flourish.
About Northeast Document Conservation Center
Founded in 1973, the nonprofit Northeast Document Conservation Center serves museums, libraries, archives, and individuals nationwide. NEDCC provides conservation treatment for book and paper collections as well as digital imaging, audio preservation, assessments, consultations, training, and disaster assistance. To learn more, visit www.nedcc.org.
About WESTPAS
Western States and Territories Preservation Assistance Service: WESTPAS is an NEH-funded preservation information, education, and training program designed to extend the access lives of heritage collections, including performing arts libraries and archives, throughout the 14 U.S. Western and Pacific states and territories. WESTPAS also supports collaborative disaster planning and assistance.
Contact:
Meg Blum, Associate Director of Marketing and Communications, LYRASIS 720.215.2179 meg.blum@lyrasis.org
Mollie Quinlan-Hayes Deputy Director and Accessibility Coordinator, South Arts 404.874-7244 ext 31 mquinlanhayes@southarts.org