Finding the national artistic news spotlight?

June 15, 2009 9:12 PM

Our non-profit arts organization has just earned the support (in the form of a very big grant) from an internationally renowned foundation. We've got a good system of press releases that we send out to local and regional contacts, but we're idealistically looking to see some national artistic attention as the result of getting this grant. Where/who should we attempt contact to really get noticed?

For the record, we're not in one of the top fifteen major US cities that you would expect to see produce the kind of arts organization that we have, so perhaps the story is that we're coming from a location that isn't exactly known for eccentric arts practices?

posted by lifeofthunder to media & arts (6 comments total)

put the effort (and money) into the creation of good art. the notice will follow.
posted by philip-random at 11:45 PM on June 15

It might depend on who you want to notice and specifically what you want them to notice. Do you want to inform them about the grant, or is the focus on the program what you wish to publicize?

Two places you might start are Art News and The Art Newspaper.
posted by Toekneesan at 3:35 AM on June 16

If you just got "a very big grant from an internationally renowned foundation" I would think that you would have the p.r. thing fairly well in hand, so the vagueness of your question puzzles me. There's just not enough information here. What is the nature of the art? Is it pure art or outreach or some combination? Is the funding supporting a purely local effort, or something broader? Is part of the project goal to be able to duplicate it elsewhere? Is it scalable? Are there any 'hooks'-- aspects such as well-known participants, documentable uniqueness or innovation, interesting target audience, etc. Did you not have to provide some sort of public relations plan with the grant proposal (in the very least as a description of how you were planning to get audience/participants)? The way you get recognition is through 1. accomplishment (see philip-random's response) and 2. getting the word out, for which you follow standard p.r. methods, which you are not going to learn on AskMe.
posted by nax at 6:04 AM on June 16 [1 favorite]

I agree that there isn't enough information.

1. Whose attention do you want to catch? The art press? Popular press? Television? Print? Potential event attendees? Potential donors?

2. What are you promoting? The program itself? The fact that you received the grant? Future activities, or current realities?

3. There are people whose work revolves around getting national media to run info about local events. Your local and regional freelance writers, your state Chamber of Commerce and Tourism Board or whatever you have, regional and state magazines (like Texas Monthly or Yankee, for example).

4. Are you connected? Do people from your program attend Arts Council gatherings and state events? A lot of getting the word out widely has to do with networking - having contacts and picking up the phone. Who do you know? Who are your friends? Who do they know? Start saying at every gathering "We're looking for some national attention on this."

5. You need to answer the questions "Who cares?" and "Why should they care?" When you have some examples of people who would care, and can tell them why they should care, you'll begin to have some targets for your media plan.
posted by Miko at 7:29 AM on June 16

If it's an internationally renowned foundation they probably have a media list of their own. Grant announcements are sometimes made by the granter, sometimes by the grantee and sometimes by a combination of the two. I'd call them and ask if they announce and when and where - it might give you some leads.

If I were you I'd be looking at a multi part strategy here. You want to do an immediate press release to your local contacts about how you've gotten the grant and what you're going to do with it. You could do a longer, somewhat more informative one for more regional contacts that are not as familiar with your organization - send pictures. Like, Arts For Kids Yay! has received 8 bazillion dollars to continue with their work creating mosaic murals in city parks with underprivileged youth. Arts for Kids Yay was founded in blah blah blah and has done etc etc etc and this money will enable them to reach x more children in x communities. Specific plans are to begin the new mural project in June 2010 - note, here, that newspapers and magazines are fond of dates and numbers. And then attach a photo of an extremely cute kid with a paintbrush.

Send a copy to your local chamber of commerce and your local tourism development authority/convention and visitors bureau; they will circulate it like crazy. Send it to the state. Just checked your profile and I see you're in Greensboro! I actually do this kind of thing for a living in Asheville, so, yes, definitely definitely send it on to the state tourism authority; they'll love it. Send it to Our State too; they won't publish it for four or five months but they will eventually do something.

Once it gets into the local news, you'd be surprised how many outlets will then pick it up.
posted by mygothlaundry at 9:56 AM on June 16 [1 favorite]

Oops, the second part of the multi part strategy is to do a much longer, more in depth piece after the grant has been received and project is well underway, mentioning the foundation all over it. Sorry. Too busy to think today.
posted by mygothlaundry at 9:58 AM on June 16