ALLIANCE LAUNCHES NEW MEMBERSHIP PROGRAM

The Alliance for the Arts announces the Friends of the Arts, a new membership program supporting our advocacy work. Members are invited to the annual Friends of the Arts Party at Christie's, to be held this year on Tuesday, November 29 from 6:30 to 8:30 pm. Members also receive the Alliance's printed cultural guides and monthly e-newsletter throughout the year.

CALENDAR

OPENHOUSENEWYORK WEEKEND OCT 8-9

On October 8 and 9, New Yorkers will once again have a chance to go inside more than 150 of the city's architectural gems, many of which are not typically open to the public. It's all part of the openhousenewyork weekend, the popular event which drew more than 50,000 people last year. The third annual weekend includes access to sites such as the Art Deco lobby of the Chrysler Building, the Brooklyn Navy Yard and the interior of the Soldiers and Sailors Monument at Riverside Park as well as lectures by architects and designers, children's workshops, tours, performances and more. OHNY also provides a number of online resources related to the event, including a kids' activity and curriculum guide for teachers. The Alliance for the Arts is a partner institution of OHNY. For a compete list of sites and events or to download the kids' guide, visit www.ohny.org.

IN THE NEWS

AMERICANS FOR THE ARTS LAUNCHES RELIEF FUND
In response to the Hurricane Katrina disaster, Americans for the Arts has established the Americans for the Arts Emergency Relief Fund. This permanent fund has been developed to provide financial assistance to victims of a major disaster in order to help them rebuild the arts in their community. The fund has been initiated with $100,000 from Americans for the Arts' financial reserves, which will go directly to those assisting with the recovery of local arts agencies or providing needed services and funding to local nonprofit arts groups and individual artists affected in the Gulf states. To learn more or to make a contribution, visit www.americansforthearts.org/emergencyrelief, or call (866) 471-2787.

FUNDING FOR THE ARTS MONTH
October is "Funding for the Arts Month" at the Foundation Center. For the fourth year, the center will offer a month of free or discounted information and programming of benefit to grantseekers, grantmakers and the entire arts community. The offerings include a wealth of information newly available on the center's Web site, including Foundation Funding for Arts Education, a new research report and a free one-week trial of the center's online course, Grantseeking Basics for Individuals; and a host of workshops on topics such as how to write a business plan for an arts nonprofit and legal issues for arts professionals.

PEOPLE

Lisa Dennison is the new director of the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum as of October 1. Ms. Dennison, former deputy director and chief curator of the museum, succeeds Thomas Krens. (Mr. Krens will continue to serve as the museum's foundation director.)

Maggie Jones is the new executive director at Children for Children. Ms. Jones was previously a member of the department of Volunteer Services at the Children's Aid Society.

David Singer is the new executive director of the Culture Project. Mr. Singer was previously senior vice president and executive producer at Radio City Music Hall.

NEWS AT THE ALLIANCE

Anita Contini, vice chairman, is the new senior vice president and director, corporate and public affairs, at CIT Group as of September 7. Ms Contini previously served as vice president and director, memorial, cultural and civic programs at the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation and oversaw the processes of selecting the September 11 Memorial design and the cultural uses at the World Trade Center site.

Ashton Hawkins, chairman of the Nominating Committee, is president of the American Council for Cultural Policy, which has just published Who Owns the Past? Cultural Policy, Cultural Property, and the Law, a collection of essays on art and cultural heritage policies, focusing on some of the most controversial and hotly debated issues in the art world today. Philippe de Montebello, director of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, has called the book an "...authoritative and illuminating publication...a welcome addition and a valuable resource for specialists and generalists alike." ($27.96 +free shipping [cover price $34.95], 384 pp., 30 b&w illustrations. Rutgers University Press Series: The Public Life of the Arts. Also available at online booksellers). To order, visit http://rutgerspress.rutgers.edu/ACCP or call (800) 446-9323.

Richard Mittenthal, trustee, will become chief executive officer at the consulting firm the TCC Group, effective January 2006. Mr. Mittenthal is currently president and chief operating officer at TCC.

Justin Rockefeller, trustee, is co-founder and national program director of Generation Engage, a nonpartisan, nonprofit effort aimed at increasing the political participation of young adults with no college experience by engaging them at the grassroots level (www.generationengage.org). Mr. Rockefeller previously worked in the department of government and community relations at the Museum of Modern Art.

Eric Shiner, manager of the Alliance's New York State Cultural Database project, is also the new managing editor for Art AsiaPacific, a magazine focused on the contemporary art of Asia, from Turkey to Tonga (www.aapmag.com).

J. P. Versace, Jr., vice chairman, is vice president at Bernstein Investment Research and Management, effective September 19. Mr. Versace was previously director of corporate and public affairs at Microsoft.