Goal

Support the state's premier cultural institutions as they advance their artistic vision and deliver innovative, aspirational programming.

Initiative Description

The nonprofit arts and cultural sector is facing major structural changes brought on by technological advances, demographic changes and shifting consumer behaviors. The Arts Innovation Fund (AIF) is designed to enable organizations to respond to these environmental changes by seeding innovative ideas, projects and directions that will constitute significant advancements for the organization, as well as potential leadership opportunities AIF focuses on funding innovations in three priority areas: artistic capacity, constituency engagement and organizational management. Additional details about the fund are available here.

Evaluation

This evaluation explores whether grantees develop their institutional capacity for innovation and adaptation over time, allowing them to learn from their experiences and react to changing environments. The evaluation will also document and assess the relative impact of each innovation to its discipline and/or the arts field. Because AIF grantees operate in different artistic fields, the exact nature of the innovations will vary. In our view, building adaptive capacity among these grantees is equally as important as funding any single innovative effort.

In addition to tracking and assessing grantee activity, this evaluation includes a literature review to develop a definition for innovation in the arts field and to consider ways to include our findings about innovation within the field in the most effective manner.

Objective

The objective for this evaluation is to assess the success of grantees in reaching their innovation goals in a way that maximizes learning for the grantees and the Foundation. The evaluation also seeks to contribute knowledge to the field about innovation in the arts.

Time frame

The evaluation focuses on the period from 2006 to 2010.

Participating grantees:

First cohort (2006):


• Hammer Museum
• Japanese American National Museum (JANM)
• La Jolla Playhouse
• Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA)
• Oakland Museum of California
• San Diego Opera
• San Francisco Symphony

Second cohort (2007):


• Berkeley Repertory Theater
• The Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco (de Young)
• Los Angeles Philharmonic
• Music Center - Performing Arts Center of Los Angeles County
• San Francisco Museum of Modern Art

Third Cohort (2008):


• Center Theatre Group
• Museum of Contemporary Art
• The Old Globe Theatre
• San Francisco Ballet

Fourth Cohort (2009):


• The American Conservatory Theater
• Hammer Museum
• Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego
• Oakland Museum of California

Methods

This evaluation involves document review, multiple site visits, logic modeling for the innovation project at each grantee organization, interviews, online surveys and grantee convenings. Based on a review of the literature on innovation, the evaluation team developed an “innovation rubric” to articulate and assess innovative capacity within the grantee arts organizations. Using this rubric, the team will identify key drivers of innovation in arts organizations and the related changes in institutional adaptive capacity.

Findings

We plan to report findings from this evaluation in 2010.

Related materials

• Arts Innovation Fund Theory of Change
• Arts Innovation Fund Evaluation Design
• Defining Innovation in the Arts
• Description of the Innovation Rubric

Evaluator

Melissa Dibble
Director of Client Partnerships
EmcArts Inc.
www.emcarts.org

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