Arts Innovation Fund

The James Irvine Foundation

Opportunity

Through The James Irvine Foundation's $24 million Arts Innovation Fund, 19 California arts institutions conducted 28 experiments to achieve new relevance for audiences, communities and professional artists. Evaluation of this 2006-2011 initiative revealed insights and examples prescient to arts organizations, funders, policymakers and others concerned with the arts sector’s adaptation in a changing world. Irvine invited Williams Group to collaborate with the Foundation's program and communications leaders along with research firm Slover Linett Strategies to disseminate evaluation findings from this major arts initiative.

Approach

Wg provided graphic and editorial support for the assessment report written by the research firm, creating an iPad-friendly publication. We also wrote dissemination messages optimized for Irvine social networking strategies.

In the spirit of innovation and experimentation, Irvine asked Wg to develop a corresponding interactive infographic, designed to engage audiences with a narrative story and visual depiction of key evaluation findings.

The resulting microsite also provides a vehicle for readers interested in browsing 28 case studies of experiments by arts institutions participating in the initiative.

Results

Arts institutions, thought-leaders and others among Irvine’s target audiences have been vocal in their praise for this engaging communication approach.

Launch the site