ForGood: Louisville's Philanthropy Magazine. Issue 7 / 2018

ISSUE 7 / 2018

LOUISVILLE’S PHILANTHROPY MAGAZINE

Supporting our Creative Community Empowering Through the Arts Donor Advised Funds and the New Tax Law

A C O M M U N I T Y F O U N DAT I O N O F LO U I S V I L L E P U B L I C AT I O N

Perspectives: Susan’s Musings

Photo by O’Neil Arnold

When my daughter was thinking about going to college, we discussed all her options and visited lots of schools. The main thread we found throughout her search was that she wanted a creative experience.

After all our planning, we finally stumbled upon it during her very last college visit in January of her senior year. We both knew it. She got that unmistakable feeling when you know you’ve finally found your tribe. Turns out her “tribe” is determined, ambitious, and soulful, just like her. Creative.

This issue of ForGood challenges convention and offers us all an opportunity to explore what it means to be a “creative.” I see creatives all around me. I bet you do, too. People with fresh ideas.

People who ask why we have to do things the same way over and over.

People who think differently.

But that’s not the only way to define a creative. It could be a young girl at AMPED taking piano lessons every week for a year and then playing in her first concert.

Her story is not about fame and fortune. It is about hard work, resilience, getting up each day, and shooting for the moon. To me, that’s a creative.

Time and time again, both newcomers and old-timers tell

me how impressed they are that Louisville is so supportive of the arts. I like to say that Louisville is a community where the creative class thrives. You’ll see it for yourselves in the inspiring stories we’re sharing in this issue.

One of the most inspiring stories is that of Mary Alice Hadley. She was a tile maker and potter doing her own work quite privately until some friends encouraged her to offer her dishes for sale. She and her husband, George, founded Hadley Pottery in 1940. Today, Mary Alice Hadley’s creative spirit lives on through the George and Mary Alice Hadley Fund at the Community Foundation.

We have supported dozens of arts-related initiatives over the years, but nothing so great as the Hadley Prize, which launched in 2013.

And now, we’re proud to support the Hadley Creatives program launched last year. It’s a fantastic, funky, talented, amazing cohort of 15 creatives changing the world with their creative genius. From podcasts and spoken word to animations, printmaking and painting, they test every boundary of creativity and dare us all to create.

I know in community development, and really, just about any business, we are always looking for ways we can innovate and make improvements. It’s when we set out to look for a better solution that we often discover the creatives among us.

Whatever you do, wherever you are, you have it in you to be a creative. Thanks to our thriving arts and nonprofit community, there are plenty of ways for you to tap into your creative side. You just need to take the first step.

SUSAN A. BARRY, JD President & CEO Community Foundation of Louisville

EDITOR Cara Baribeau

ASSOCIATE EDITOR Molly Melia

CONTRIBUTING WRITERS Trisha Finnegan Sarah Kelley Elizabeth Kramer Ramona Lindsey Molly Melia Bea Rosenberg Nicholas Salter

CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHERS Ron Burgis Kertis Creative William DeShazer Vashti Proctor Julia Youngblood

COPY EDITOR Amy Higgs

DESIGN Bisig Impact Group

PUBLISHER Community Foundation of Louisville

ForGood is a publication of the Community Foundation of Louisville. At the Community Foundation, we are a force for good and invite others to engage in creating a community where people and place thrive. We are committed to promoting the understanding and participation in philanthropy in all of its different shapes and forms. This publication is an expression of that commitment that we hope helps to inform, inspire and create a community of thoughtful citizens dedicated to improving the world around them.

Visit cflouisville.org to learn more.

Contents / feature

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SUPPORTING OUR CREATIVE COMMUNITY: Helping our creative class thrive.

P. 8 ON THE COVER

The inaugural class of Hadley Creatives. L to R, top to bottom: Brianna Harlan, Autumn Lindsey, Cynthia Norton, Darrick Wood, Devin French, Elizabeth Foley, Elmer Lopez, Hannah Drake, Miranda Becht, Lance Newman, Rebecca Norton, Roy Taylor, Sandra Charles, Valerie Sullivan Fuchs, and Vallorie Henderson.

PHOTOGRAPHY

Photo by William DeShazer

William DeShazer

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IS IMPACT INVESTING THE NEXT BIG THING FOR DONOR ADVISED FUNDS? P. 5

EMPOWERING THROUGH THE ARTS Building confidence and courage.

P. 14

WHO INSPIRES US Ensuring the beat goes on.

Photo by Julia Youngblood, Kentucky Center for the Arts

Photo by Ron Burgis

Nonprofits

worth knowing

Our collective humanity is fed by the arts. The arts inspire us. They foster creativity, thought, and beauty. Our emotions, actions, values, and culture are expressed in our art. The arts are a bridge across our differences leading to better understanding.

Americans for the Arts believes “the arts are also a fundamental component of a healthy community, strengthening them socially, educationally, and economically — benefits that persist even in difficult social and economic times.”

Research published by Americans for the Arts in 2017 revealed that 63 percent of the population believe the arts “lift me up beyond everyday experiences.” Many Louisville nonprofits use the arts as an essential vehicle for improving individual well-being. Their programs provide opportunities to experience and participate in various ways. We are proud to highlight the work of several organizations that are providing uplifting arts experiences.

/ B Y R AM O N A L INDSEY

ARTxFM ARTxFM uses radio waves to combine contemporary art practices with online and frequency broadcasting to create a meeting place for sounds and ideas accessible to all who wish to participate.

Its FM broadcasting and online platform promotes experimental programming dedicated to the belief that the greatest forms of art, like democracy, flourish with the free and unfettered exchange of ideas. The station dedicates airtime for local and international artists to explore new possibilities in broadcasting while amplifying the local art scene and international arts dialogue.

Louisville Literary Arts Louisville Literary Arts believes creative expression should reach all corners of the community, and writing is an art form that can be practiced by anyone. Louisville Literary Arts is an established community of regional writers who use fiction, non-fiction, and poetry to celebrate the literary arts. It provides spaces for writers to learn, grow, and connect. The

organization encourages writing through monthly readings, workshops, and retreats in ZIP codes throughout Louisville. This community of emerging and established writers recognizes the value of creative work and that all writers deserve support to reach their highest potential.

Girls Rock Louisville Girls Rock Louisville (GRL) uses music to empower girls and gender non-conforming youth to be their own rock heroes by challenging limits placed upon them by society. During the GRL Summer Camp, participants not only form bands, play instruments, and create compositions, but they grow as leaders. Music allows them to eradicate myths about gender and age. GRL programs teach the value of collaboration over competition through hands-on learning and music creation. While participating in music education, GRL participants develop self-confidence, self-expression, and passion for social justice.

Learn more at artxfm.com, louisvilleliteraryarts.org, and girlsrocklouisville.org

Many people in our community confront daily challenges that impact their overall mental and physical health. The arts have been shown to alleviate many of these challenges and improve individual well-being.

Dance, drama, music, and visual and literary arts have been shown to improve mood, reduce stress, and enhance coping. Americans for the Arts reports that 73 percent of the population say arts are a “positive experience in a troubled world.” However, income limitations prevent many individuals from participating in healthy art experiences. Your small, unrestricted gifts can go a long way toward opening the door to positive creative opportunities.

Children’s Fine Art Classes (CFAC) provides 20 hours of intensive, indepth visual art instruction to talented and motivated students in grades 4-8 during a 10-week session managed by Louisville Visual Art.

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BY RAMONA L IN D S E Y

$100 to CFAC will pay for one student’s art supplies to perfect their studio practice in drawing, painting, and mixed media.

Every participant receives a $350 scholarship to cover the cost of tuition.

Louisville Leopard Percussionists provides a comprehensive music education for diverse student musicians from throughout Metro Louisville ranging in age from 7-16. $200 to Louisville Leopard Percussionists will pay tuition for one young musician to receive a half-year of instruction to develop proficiency on a variety of percussion instruments, perfect performance skills, and learn to improvise, compose, and teach music.

Dancing Well: The Soldier Project brings the healing power of dance, live music, and community to veterans and families affected by post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and brain injury. $300 to Dancing Well will pay for live music and a dance caller for one dance session with up to 45 participants. Dancers’ smiling faces draw veterans out of isolation and into belonging.

Learn more at louisvillevisualart.org, louisvilleleopardpercussionists.com, and dancingwell.org

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IS IMPACT INVESTING THE NEXT BIG THING FOR DONOR ADVISED FUNDS?

BY NICHOL AS SALT ER / P R O G R E S S IV E P H IL A N T H R O P Y G R O U P

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ith more individuals turning

to donor advised funds (DAFs) to facilitate their giving, how can those funds also be invested today to improve communities? As a philanthropy strategist, I’m excited for a better functioning DAF market where donors, nonprofits, and communities in need are all better served. I spoke with several national experts to get their thoughts on connecting DAFs and impact investing.

Real resources to mobilize Today, an estimated $85 billion is sitting in DAFs. That’s $85 billion earmarked for charitable purposes, but waiting to be dispersed to nonprofits. DAFs function like

an individual donor’s personal philanthropy account. Donors put assets into these accounts, take an upfront charitable tax deduction, and then, over time, recommend to their account sponsor how the funds are to be granted to nonprofit organizations.

Amit Bouri, CEO at the Global Impact Investing Network, told me, DAFs “represent a largely untapped opportunity for impact investments, particularly as people investing in DAFs have already set this money aside to have a positive impact on the world.” Connecting DAFs with impact investing could also unlock diverse types of capital that are needed as the impact investing market grows. “DAF capital is uniquely flexible. The risk/reward

frame may change for donors after putting assets into a DAF, and that may make impact investing more appealing,” said Fran Seegull, Executive Director of the Impact Investing Alliance.

Increasing demand and challenges to overcome No doubt, there is growing interest from donors and investors to better align their resources, including philanthropic resources, with their values. “We see this trend accelerating, driven by next-gen donors and the rising interest in place-based investing,” Seegull told me. Indeed, many DAF sponsors, including community foundations, already offer their donors limited impact investing options.

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Despite the huge potential to better engage DAFs with deeper impact investment, real challenges remain. “There are operational, infrastructure and investor education challenges. But the will to participate in impact investments is there,” Tracy Palandjian, CEO and Co-Founder of Social Finance told me.

Donor and financial advisor awareness and education is still needed. Amy Bennett, at ImpactAssets, noted that DAFs are “still primarily viewed as a granting vehicle. We need to shift that perception and build awareness and understanding of how to optimize a donor-advised fund for meaningful impact investing opportunities.”

Unlocking deeper-impact investments Last year, Social Finance, a national nonprofit that mobilizes capital for social impact, closed a $12 million Pay for Success transaction in Massachusetts focused on workforce development. Forty investors participated, including 16 individual investors who utilized their DAFs to support the deal.

“In general, we have seen community foundations becoming more active in impact investing.”

Because of this investment capital, Jewish Vocational Services will provide educational and workforce development services to 2,000 adults in Boston. In this model, investors provide upfront capital to scale a proven program and receive success payments by the Commonwealth if specific, measurable outcomes are achieved.

“Unlocking DAF capital hinged on two primary factors—visionary donors who were excited about deploying their DAF in an innovative manner, and fast-moving DAF sponsors who were willing to partner

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on a specific impact investing opportunity,” according to Tracey Hsu at Social Finance. Recoverable grants may be a potential pathway to democratize this approach for more DAF donors. According to Gelfand, a recoverable grant allows donors “to dip their toes into providing a different type of financial support to nonprofits they work with.”

In another example, Calvert Impact Capital, the Chicago Community Trust (CCT) and the MacArthur Foundation launched Benefit Chicago—a $100 million impact investment initiative focused on Chicago. The MacArthur Foundation invested $50 million, and CCT committed $15 million from its regular investment pool.

Any DAF donor invested in the pool automatically also became an investor in Benefit Chicago. In less than two years, the collaborative raised another $30 million more in investments, mainly from DAFs. CCT directly engaged some of its largest donors, educating them about the opportunity to grow their philanthropic capital while having an immediate, positive impact in the local community. Benefit Chicago has already made $12 million in loans to social enterprises and intermediaries in Chicago and will deploy another $6 million in the coming months.

Beth Bafford at Calvert Impact Capital, told me, “In general, we have seen community foundations becoming more active in impact investing. For them, it’s a differentiator. They can offer grants and investments that stay local and expand their community impact.

It is an attractive value proposition, especially to next-gen donors.”

Nicholas Salter is the Founder of Progressive Philanthropy Group where he advises individuals and families on social change philanthropy and impact investing.

The full version of this article first appeared in Inside Philanthropy in April 2018.

INVESTING IN LOUISVILLE

B Y TR I SH A FI N N EG AN The journey to explore impact investing began in early 2013 for the Community Foundation of Louisville.

Motivated by the desire to have impact in the community beyond grantmaking and to create a unique and compelling opportunity for donors to leverage their charitable capital in a progressive new way, the Foundation started small and has been building ever since.

CFL Impact Capital, its impact investing program, began with one loan of $100,000 to the Navigate Enterprise Center at Jewish Family & Career Services to extend micro-loans to small businesses. That $100,000 loan has since produced more than $200,000 worth of investment that has created and preserved 55 jobs, launched 39 new businesses, and increased family stability for many in our community. From that humble beginning, the Foundation now manages a portfolio of 12 investments that have provided $2.6 million in loan funds to both nonprofits and socially focused for-profit companies across Louisville.

Other projects include: the Housing Partnership Inc.’s Beyond 9th Initiative for affordable housing in West Louisville, Community Ventures’ Chef Space kitchen incubator, New Directions’ St. Benedict Center for Early Childhood Education, Portland Investment Initiative’s building renovation for an educational facility, River City Housing’s affordable housing in Southwest Louisville, Volunteers of America’s Freedom House Addiction Recovery Center, YouthBuild Louisville’s campus expansion, Day Spring’s headquarters renovation, Passport Health Plan’s Health & Wellbeing Campus, and new CDFI LHOME’s support for homeowners in West Louisville.

Community needs are great, and innovative approaches and practices like these offer powerful opportunities for each of us to do more than any of us thought possible. To learn more about CFL’s Impact Capital portfolio or to explore how you can get involved, contact Anne McKune, Director of Philanthropy at annemc@cflouisville.org or 502.585.4649.

Visit cflimpactcapital.org.

Empowering

Through the Arts

BY SARAH KEL L EY

THE STRETCH of South 28th Street where the Blue House sits is all quiet on a recent Saturday morning. Then four young violinists launch into Bach’s “Minuet 1,” and the high-pitch sounds waft out the front door, piercing the silence.

“Excellent!” Keith Cook tells the boys, who range in age from 8 to 12. “Now, let me hear you try this…” Cook plays a short, uptempo piece of music. One student — whose delicate, honey-colored violin starkly contrasts with his red T-shirt, athletic shorts, and soccer shoes — starts talking and giggling. Without missing a beat, Cook gently redirects the boy.

It’s a scenario that unfolds almost daily inside the Blue House, a name inspired by the historic home’s bright, sky-blue exterior. Cook has offered free violin lessons to kids here since 1997, when he founded the nonprofit West Louisville Talent and Education Center.

The program draws heavily from the nearby Parkland, Russell, California, and Shawnee neighborhoods, though his current roster Photo by William DeShazer

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of 44 students includes kids from Shively, Portland, and other areas.

Cook’s goal: offer kids a welcoming place where they can master skills that will serve them in the future — like discipline, confidence, creativity — while staying out of trouble.

It’s a goal shared by numerous Louisville arts organizations. The belief, which is confirmed by countless studies, is that exposure to the arts in childhood has a positive impact on social skills, emotional state, and academic success. For many kids being served by these nonprofits, engaging in the arts may be the key to developing the resiliency to achieve success.

Cook says that when he was growing up, music was a haven in his sometimes volatile home. It also served as a positive diversion that kept him out of trouble.

“Music was just a hobby at first, but I kept at it because it was a way to stay away from the fray. Some of my friends started running with the wrong crowds as they got older,” Cook recalls. “Plus, things around the home weren’t always that much fun. As long as I was practicing, I was OK. It was kind of an escape. I’ve had students tell me they use it for the same thing.”

Seated in a folding chair inside the Blue House’s living room, Cook repeatedly peers out the front window as he talks. Turns out a kid from the neighborhood had shown an interest in taking lessons, and he

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was supposed to stop by today. Cook is hopeful the boy hasn’t forgotten: “We just need to get him in the door.”

Helping kids build confidence and courage Getting kids in the door is half the battle, according to Dave Christopher Sr., Founder and Executive Director of AMPED, a free youth music program located in the Chickasaw neighborhood.

“The music is the trick to get them here,” says Christopher. “But it’s not a bait and switch. We have the best equipment, the best instructors, and we’re going to do everything we say we can do as far as music is concerned. But we’re also going to find out other ways we can help kids succeed.”

Christopher started AMPED — which stands for Academy of Music Production Education and Development — in 2014. The idea took root years earlier, but he finally was spurred to action amid a rash of violence that year. At the time, he co-owned a professional recording studio called Level Seven, which had inadvertently become a safe space for kids in the neighborhood.

AMPED sprung from Christopher’s desire to get kids “off the streets” and into an environment where they can thrive. The mission: “To put kindness, guidance and support into practice with the use of music education, music creation and performance that will help our youth to become caring, career-minded, and community-

Engaging in the arts may be the key to developing the resiliency to achieve success.

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AMPED Summer Camp student writing original lyrics for the songs they create from scratch.

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Photo by Vashti Proctor, AMPED

focused citizens who will impact their environment in a positive way.”

The organization operates like an academy, meaning participants can select the classes that interest them most. Offerings range from piano and drums, to audio production and engineering, to music business and contract writing. In addition, the program provides tutoring, and an on-site counselor reviews school attendance and grades.

Interest from kids in the community has been overwhelming.

Every eight weeks, AMPED enrolls another 40 kids, and current participants who are doing well in the program are invited to continue taking classes; those who have struggled in the program are encouraged to re-enroll for the next round if they’re interested.

“I tell every kid that comes into the building: You do your part, I’ll do my part,” Christopher says. “Whatever it is you want to do, I’m gonna do what I can to help you.”

Since its launch just a few years ago, AMPED has served hundreds of kids. But Christopher is quick to point out it’s not all about the music. “We’re not running a talent mill. Every kid, regardless of talent or skill, will hit the stage. We’re building confidence and courage and self-esteem, not necessarily making musicians.”

There are many success stories, two of which Christopher recounts during our recent conversation. They

Photo by Julia Youngblood, The Kentucky Center for the Performing Arts D.E.S.T.I.N.E.D. Dance Company performing Koteba/Manjani at ArtsReach Dance Out Loud in the Kentucky Center’s Bomhard Theater, Spring 2018.

sound like extreme cases, though he says their circumstances aren’t all that unusual: A 9-year-old boy had been placed in an alternative school due to violent outbursts. He had been diagnosed with autism and a personality disorder, and he was failing most of his classes. After two years at AMPED, where he takes classes one or two days a week, he’s back in a mainstream JCPS school and getting straight As. A young lady whose GPA was a 1.2 frequently was suspended for fighting. Kids picked on her because she was poor, and her response was to fight. After a few years at AMPED, she’s an A and B student who’s taking AP classes. “She’ll come to me now and say, ‘Dave, they tried to get to me today, but I wouldn’t let them,’” he says. It’s a shift he attributes to the discipline and confidence that are byproducts of participating in the arts — regardless of how talented you are.

“She’s not gonna be a professional singer, but she’s still gonna succeed.”

Creating a better world through arts education During a black-tie gala in the early days of the Kentucky Center for the Arts, Ken Clay, then-Vice President of Programming, noticed a sea of onlookers watching the spectacle

unfold from across the street. At least that’s how the story goes.

“He pointed to those people, and he said, ‘That’s our real job out there. The people who don’t feel like they can come in the door, those are the people we need to reach.’ And he never lost sight of that,” says Julia Youngblood, director of the Kentucky Center’s ArtsReach program, which Clay ultimately co-founded.

The program strives to engage youth in community settings through instruction in dance, music and visual art. Now in its 27th year, ArtsReach empowers community centers to program the arts and nurtures diverse artists who might not otherwise have access to instruction.

“When I was a kid, I never really had access to the arts. If you didn’t have money for private instruction or a dance class or whatever, you were just out of luck and didn’t have the opportunity,” Youngblood says. “It’s really fulfilling to be able to make this possible for so many young people.”

Last year, ArtsReach enabled 6,000 kids to experience the arts as Kentucky Center patrons. The program also made it possible for around 450 young people to participate in studio instruction led by professional artists — such as Keith Cook of the Blue House.

For years, Cook was a professional

violinist. He played with the Louisville Orchestra for 31 years. In addition to teaching at Blue House, he is a music educator at the West End School, a pre-kindergarten through eighth grade school for young men.

There’s a waitlist of kids who would like to take violin classes at the Blue House, and Cook hopes to expand his team of instructors to meet the demand. Several former students already assist with instruction, and K.J. Wilson hopes to join those ranks.

Wilson began taking violin from Cook at age 3; now he’s majoring in music at the University of Louisville.

One day he hopes to play in a big-city orchestra, but he’s also interested in teaching — specifically in the Suzuki method of violin instruction, which is Cook’s specialty. It’s named after Japanese violinist Shinichi Suzuki.

“Dr. Suzuki believed children are pure and happy. Because of that, we need to keep them on that path, we need to help them continue to be good people, and we can do that through music. Through music, children learn focus and discipline, but also creativity,” Wilson says.

“Music and art instill happiness and peace,” he adds. “I know there’s no such thing as a perfect world, but there’s an ideal perfect world, and we can definitely get closer through arts education.”

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Supporting our Creative Community

The inaugural class of Hadley Creatives at 21c Museum Hotel where their opening retreat was held.

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BY EL IZABET H KRAME R PHOT OGRAPHY WIL L IA M D E S H A Z E R

n the cool of the KMAC Museum on a balmy Friday in June, a simple white telephone was on exhibit as part of one artist’s work. Visitors who picked up the receiver heard the recording of a man’s calming voice, who spoke of courage and coached them to be brave in life.

Throughout the evening, people also listened to other encouraging words on that recording, then walked to a square in the middle of the gallery and clapped. This often startled other visitors, who mingled among the many artworks on display.

The telephone-based sound work was created by Darrick Wood, one of 15 artists who make up the first cohort of Hadley Creatives.

This group exhibit celebrated the completion of their six-month professional development program the Community Foundation of Louisville established in partnership with Creative Capital. The New York-based nonprofit has provided professional development and grants to hundreds of artists since 1999. Creative Capital provided seasoned workshop leaders and 21c Museum Hotel provided training accommodations.

This is not the kind of recognition or even training that

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Hadley Creatives supports artists’ development Lindsey has a passion for what the Hadley Creatives’ work can achieve.

“Through their art, we as a community can begin to look at things differently and talk about uncomfortable situations,” she says.

“For me, artists do more than provide beauty to our community. They provoke thought, enlightenment, and change.”

Foundations and art organizations across the country are beginning to more seriously invest in artists and their career development by providing them with resources to help them chart their paths and mine available opportunities. This includes more organizations in Louisville, like the Community Foundation.

The Hadley Creatives — who practice different artistic disciplines including visual, literary, and performing arts — are the first group of a five-year commitment to this professional development program, funded with $250,000 from the Community Foundation of Louisville’s George and Mary Alice

Hadley Fund. Mary Alice Hadley, a well-known potter, founded Hadley Pottery Co. with her husband in 1940.

Funding for the program is part of the millions of dollars the Community Foundation distributes in grants each year toward arts, culture, and the humanities.

Starting last fall, the first Hadley Creatives cohort participated in an intensive three-day workshop.

They met each month after that to work on developing individualized strategic plans for their careers with support from experts in different fields.

Four new cohorts will be selected via an application process so that at the end of five years, the project will meet its goal of helping 75 artists turn their passion into a sustainable profession.

A time of change Other cities — including Philadelphia, Detroit, Des Moines — believe investment in artists can offer long-term returns. Artists can help cities form distinctive identities, make them better places to live and attractive places to visit, and boost their economic prospects by enticing business and tourism.

For nearly 20 years, organizations across the country — from Americans for the Arts at the national level to Louisville’s Fund for the Arts — have touted the economic

For me, artists do more than provide beauty to our community. They provoke thought, enlightenment, and change.

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Louisville’s artists often receive, says Ramona Lindsey, the Community Foundation’s program officer who oversees the new program.

“As a city that loves the arts, we want to make sure we are giving these artists the support they deserve,” she said.

Artwork by Hadley Creative Vallorie Henderson

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There are more opportunities for artists in this time of exponential change than ever before.

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Clockwise from top left: Artwork by Hadley Creatives Autumn Lindsey, Devin French, Elmer Lopez, Lance Newman, Rebecca Norton, Darrick Wood, and Brianna Harlan.

benefits of the arts. In more recent years, organizations have been taking up the mantle for working directly with artists.

Creative Capital has been a national forerunner on this track.

Colleen Keegan, who has been associated with the organization for more than 20 years, heads up its strategic planning team and led the first class of Hadley Creatives.

“There are more opportunities for artists in this time of exponential change than ever before,” says Keegan.

But, she offers the caveat that

Photo by Kertis Creative Public art project in Smoketown called Reflection.

artists must have the tools to organize their work lives and be strategic as they build their professions. She also advises communities to provide them with help as well, especially given the changing economics of our society.

“It’s enormously important that people give artists opportunities in our current world,” she says.

Those opportunities include showing artists how to generate and manage multiple streams of income, which their art-making careers require. Keegan adds the Hadley Creatives program also helps them answer financial questions so they can understand how to balance life with a family, children, and a home and also be a practicing artist.

Building engagement Through her work with the Hadley Creatives, Keegan learned that many of them, including Hannah Drake, had already found some support and worked in entrepreneurial ways at the neighborhood level.

Last year, Drake collaborated with a group in Smoketown, where she grew up, to put poetry and positive images on nearly a dozen billboards. They also created a mural with the message, “Smoketown is worthy of everything.” She was inspired by all the billboards with black people on them she saw during a 2016 trip to Senegal.

The Hadley Creatives program has boosted Hannah Drake performing her poem “Spaces” in front of an oil her confidence level. painting of her done by fellow Hadley Creative Sandra Charles.

“I found people who were artists and living develop training and networking well. They weren’t Beyoncé. But they opportunities. weren’t struggling,” she says.

Artists are a key part of the Drake and fellow Hadley Creatives community, Boone says. “They worked with other artists from encourage us to reach out around the country to contribute across barriers, whether that’s visual art and poetry to a public art neighborhoods or political barriers.” project commissioned by KMAC That idea was partly on Kara Museum in Smoketown called Nichols’ mind when she founded Reflection. The installation serves as 1619 Flux, which opened on West a promise to the community that Main Street in 2016. She also wanted art and culture are ways to invite to serve artists and the neighborhood conversation and build community where the gallery is located. engagement.

Its mission is focused on

working with public art projects Community efforts in the arts and transforming spaces. Nichols Other Louisville organizations says both can be powerful tools in are looking to do their part to “breaking silos and segregation — support artists. One is Louisville’s those related to geographic, racial, Fund for the Arts, which President and sexual orientation.” and CEO Christen Boone says plans She wants 1619 Flux to be a hub to work in new ways with groups for art and for people to talk about such as Louisville Visual Art and art and ideas. the new Elevator Artist Resource to

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“We want to show artists of all levels together,” she says. “All of it can encourage community conversations on a regular basis and give emerging artists a place to learn and grow.”

Growth through travel was part of what Community Foundation donor and longtime art collector Al Shands had in mind when he established the Great Meadows Foundation two years ago. It awards professional development grants to artists and curators through travel. Several Hadley Creative artists have received awards. Others are planning to apply.

“We encourage them to be ambitious,” Shands says. “We are continually focused on how we can help strengthen critical engagement among artists in the region.”

The Community Foundation has worked with Louisville Visual Art to award the annual $5,000 Bill Fischer Award for Visual Artists, which supports the execution and exhibition of artwork and other efforts to foster a professional career as a visual artist. The two organizations also administer the $5,000 Mary Alice Hadley Prize for Visual Art, which goes toward an enrichment experience to help the recipient achieve their full artistic potential.

Artist development yields positive results In 2013, Susanna Crum received the first Mary Alice Hadley Prize after returning to her hometown to establish a print shop with her soonto-be spouse and artist, Rudy Salgado.

They used the money to visit print shops nationwide.

Today, they own a building in Smoketown that houses Calliope Arts, a fine art printmaking studio that offers printmaking classes, sells prints, and provides services to artists for projects.

“Many artists get in touch with us for project advising. We’ve been able to work with all kinds of professional artists,” Crum says.

She sees more work to be done to encourage people in Louisville to

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Top: Hadley Prize Winner Susanna Crum.

Bottom: Hadley Creatives 15 Exhibit Opening at KMAC.

purchase and collect art by regional artists. She thinks local companies and government can do more to encourage recognition of local art as “a resource with distinct value.”

Through her work as an Indiana University Southeast assistant professor, she talks about the Hadley Prize, grant-writing strategies, and entrepreneurship with her students and others at conferences outside the region and the country.

“We’re trying to pay it forward as much as we can,” she says.

That idea — paying it forward — is intrinsic in the minds of both artists and the Community Foundation.

This year’s Hadley Creatives have talked about ways they can support each other in fulfilling their goals after the program ends, including continuing to meet regularly. They also want to help mentor artists in

upcoming groups over the next four years.

Community Foundation President and CEO Susan Barry was thinking of ways to pay forward the success of the Hadley Prize even before the 2017 launch of Louisville’s plan to support the arts, called Imagine Greater Louisville 2020. She wanted to find ways to help more artists thrive, and she wanted to establish a project to contribute to that communitywide effort. She knew the talents in this region, Creative Capital’s track record, and the Community Foundation’s commitment to be a force for good. And so, Hadley Creatives was born.

“I think this is a defining moment for the artistic, creative and cultural community in Louisville,” Barry says.

“And it’s just the beginning.”

ROY TAYLOR / STOP MOTION ANIMATION ARTIST

BRIANNA HARLAN / MIXED MEDIA ARTIST Frustration. Restlessness.

Yearning.

These emotions grew within artist Brianna Harlan after her 2015 graduation from Hanover College with a bachelor’s degree in studio art.

Harlan had studied business as well, thinking it would help her more easily transition to the professional world, but “that’s easier said than done,” she says.

Then last year, she readied herself for change.

“I wanted an arts community.

And I missed not having that, which I had in school,” she says.

This desire compelled her to apply for Hadley Creatives, a new program designed to support artists by helping them create strategic plans for their careers and connect them with other artists.

Once she got into the sixmonth program, she found the community she had been missing with the other 14 artists.

Early on, the program’s intensive three-day workshop gave her confidence and the impetus to take steps in her career planning.

“What clicked for me is that I needed to get out of my own way,” she says.

In December, Harlan made a proposal to the Center for Interfaith Relations for a largescale art installation for its Festival of Faiths.

“I would have never done that before the program,” Harlan says.

Festival organizers accepted her proposal. So in April, visitors walked through her installation, “Oasis,” in the lobby of the Kentucky Center for the Arts.

The multimedia work enveloped visitors in a glowing orb of purple, pink, and blue cloth.

Overall, Harlan says, the Hadley Creatives program taught her how to plan her art, find support for it, and thrive.

“When you are around so many people going after their pie-in-the-sky dream, it really shakes you up,” she says.

Harlan has already found additional support through the Great Meadows Foundation, which has arranged for her to attend the Ox-Bow School of Art and Artists’ Residency program in Saugatuck, Michigan, for four weeks during the summer of 2018.

Making movies wasn’t something Roy Taylor thought he’d do full time, even though he had gone to film school in the 1970s.

Taylor has carved much of his career in the music business.

Since 2002, he has been the production and tour manager for singer-songwriter Patty Griffin.

But her light tour schedule has afforded him the time and financial flexibility to work as an artist in recent years.

During the past decade, Taylor began experimenting with stop-motion animation, which he had toyed with as a child using a Super 8 camera.

His big opportunity came when Griffin asked him to create a music video for her song “Ohio” more than five years ago. The 2013 video features cut-paper illustrations alluringly accentuated with color and light.

“Plus, Robert Plant sang on the song and was in the video, so it got more attention than it probably would have gotten otherwise,” Taylor says.

The video put Taylor’s name in some prominent press, including Rolling Stone.

Taylor continued to make other films, and in 2016 moved to

Louisville from Austin, saying the Texas town had become too big and expensive.

Last year, he got word about the Hadley Creatives program and wanted to take advantage of the skills it offered to help him learn to better manage his career. He decided to apply.

“I’m so new to all of this coming from the music business,” Taylor said.

He became part of the inaugural class of 15 artists last fall, who received training in creating strategic plans for their careers. He says he learned about topics he “had no clue about” before, including marketing, social media, finding sponsorships, pitching ideas, and grant writing.

“What I learned is that you should know what your work is worth and value what you do properly,” he says.

These days, Taylor is making his home in a camelback shotgun house in Louisville’s Portland neighborhood. His major goal is to make a featurelength film.

Equipped with new insights about how to work as an artist thanks to the Hadley Creatives program, Taylor says he’s more focused on developing his career, making his films, and getting them into festivals around the world.

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Who

inspires us

B Y M O LLY MEL IA

ED “NARDIE” WHITE A FOR C E F O R G O O D

R

iver City Drum Corp.

(RCDC) is nestled in an older home in West Louisville, where Ed “Nardie” White sits at a table, surrounded by art from around the world. There is little silence, as instruments buzz in the background accompanied by a soft female soprano.

The house is filled with memories.

White reminisces about the beginning of RCDC, which was cultivated from a need he identified while working with the Parkland Girls’ & Boys’ Club. Growing up, he experienced the win-lose mentality of sports, which inspired him to leverage his position as Director of the Parklands Club and strive to integrate creativity into the everyday life of the youth he worked with. It was then that White made a promise — for every dollar spent on sports, a dollar must be put toward the arts.

“We knew that we wanted to drum and dance, but I needed some help,” White says.

The journey to RCDC was not a lonesome one. It was filled with many different teachers willing to put forth their own talents so White could help the children of West Louisville. The musical element was not White’s only focus for RCDC. In fact, his love for the arts acts more as a tool for delivering the leadership skills that the organization focuses on highly. White knew that the beat of the drums would touch the youth, but he recognized that without teaching them skills for the future, the beat might not leave a lasting impact.

Not only did White’s community support come from arts programming, instrument makers, and musicians, but it also came from his late wife, Zambia.

Honored today as the “heartbeat” behind the drums in the organization,

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For Good / Issue 7 / 2 0 1 8

Photo by Ron Burgis

her life and legacy still shine through the work of RCDC. Zambia, an educator, worked hand-in-hand with her husband to develop an academic program to teach leadership development. “Now here we are,” White says. “Education doesn’t guarantee that you are going to be successful, but it does mean that the odds are a lot greater.”

The rooms of RCDC’s West Louisville house are filled with youth, who together learn the base of the drum beat at their own pace. But the music is only the product of their leadership development. “It’s like a beehive,” White stresses. “The success of the colony is built on each bee that is in his or her station delivering.”

In the over 25 years that White has followed his dream, he has seen it all.

Rubbing his face and breathing deeply,

he shares a recent memory, “I ran into one of my old students, who told me, ‘I just want you to know that I made something out of my life.’ And that has been ringing in my head.”

White has given hope and opportunity to so many children over the last quarter of a century. His next step is to retire and work on his own art. With a Fund for Louisville capacity-building grant in hand from the Community Foundation, RCDC is preparing for White’s successor.

White has taught the next generation of teachers and lifts up a prayer that acknowledges changes may come with a switch in leadership, but he is optimistic they will continue what he started. Thanks to White, both teachers and students have everything they need to ensure the beat goes on.

LOCAL KNOWLEDGE. PERSONALIZED SERVICE. MAXIMUM IMPACT.

CFL Ad

Curious how the new tax law will impact your ability to be a force for good through your charitable giving? Let the Community Foundation help you be more strategic with your philanthropy through a Donor Advised Fund. Contact Jennifer Fust-Rutherford, JD, Director of Gift Planning.

502.585.4649 jenniferfr@cflouisville.org

DONOR ADVISED FUNDS CHARITABLE CHECKING FUNDS GIFT & ESTATE PLANNING

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15

Advisors

Corner they and their future generations can recommend grants to the causes they care about.

The Community Foundation of Louisville offers two types of DAFs: one that requires a minimum gift of $25,000, offers four investment options, and has a minimal fee; and one that requires no minimum gift amount, offers no opportunity for investment, and has no fee.

DONOR ADVISED FUNDS: AN EFFECTIVE PLANNING TOOL UNDER THE NEW TAX LAW

If you are interested in learning more about donor advised funds at the Community Foundation of Louisville, please contact Jennifer FustRutherford, Director of Gift Planning, at 502-855-6953 or Jenniferfr@cflouisville.org.

BY BEA R OSENBERG, CPA

In April, I completed my 21st tax season with DMLO CPAs. My career has spanned three decades, and I am continually amazed at how each tax year brings new challenges. This year’s challenge was coping with two different tax laws. While busy assisting clients with their 2017 tax returns, we were also helping them understand what they could expect for 2018 due to the year-end passing of the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA). This certainly lent itself to a very unusual tax season.

The major goal of tax reform was to simplify tax filing. Provisions of the 2017 TCJA affecting all individuals include the elimination of the deduction for personal exemptions and the near doubling of the standard deduction. The loss of many itemized deductions will channel an even greater number of taxpayers to the new $24,000 standard deduction for married couples ($12,000 for single taxpayers). For this reason, individual donors may want to be more strategic in their charitable giving by “bunching” charitable contributions in one year to exceed the standard deduction.

A donor advised fund (DAF) with the Community Foundation of Louisville can be an ideal solution.

Individuals can use a DAF to combine two-to-three years’ worth of charitable giving into a single gift for income tax

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For Good / Issue 6 / 2 0 1 8

purposes in the first year. In the subsequent two-to-three years, they can take the standard deduction, but use the money in their DAF to recommend charitable contributions to their preferred nonprofits. This strategy can maximize a donor’s tax advantage and result in a total deduction over the two-to-three year period that is greater than it would have been otherwise.

To give you an idea of the potential tax savings: Assume I have a client (a married couple) who consistently gives $1,000 per month to their favorite charities each year. Under the new tax law, the $12,000 in annual charitable donations, combined with other itemized deductions of $10,000, will not exceed the $24,000 new standard deduction. Alternatively, if the couple contributes $36,000 in 2018 to a DAF, they can itemize their deductions (total $46,000) in 2018, then use the standard deduction in 2019 and 2020. The result: $94,000 in total deductions with the DAF, compared to $72,000 in deductions with annual giving. Using this strategy, the tax savings may range from an estimated $2,500 to as much as $8,000, depending upon the couple’s tax bracket.

Not only will this couple reduce tax liability by “bunching” their contributions, their DAF will be invested for long-term growth, and

INFORMATION SESSION October 18 10:00 – 11:00 AM Community Foundation Curious how the new tax law will impact your charitable giving and how you can be more strategic with your charitable giving? Join us to learn how a Donor Advised Fund at the Foundation can help.

RSVP: jenniferfr@cflouisville.org

Bea Rosenberg is a Director with Deming, Malone, Livesay & Ostroff (DMLO) and serves as Chair of its Wealth Advisory Niche. Bea specializes in estate planning, estate & gift tax, and fiduciary & individual income tax. Prior to joining DMLO, she devoted over 15 years to developing expertise in this field within the tax departments of two local trust companies.

Bea earned both a Bachelor’s in Accounting and Master’s of Business Administration from the University of Louisville, and is a licensed CPA.

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EMPOWERING THROUGH THE ARTS PAGE 5

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