By R.M. CAMPBELLP-I MUSIC / DANCE CRITIC
Foundations have long been a means for the rich to get substantial tax benefits while also doing some good along the way. With assets in the billions, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation has given away more than $12 billion -- most of it to international heath concerns. The Gateses' grants to regional nonprofts have been limited and occasional, although they've given millions to the University of Washington and Seattle Art Museum.
The Paul G. Allen Family Foundation is not global in the same way as the Gateses', instead concentrating on a five-state region. Initially Allen had six private foundations, but in 2004 they were consolidated into one and given professional direction. In total, about $377 million has been distributed to nearly 1,600 nonprofit groups.
Allen is famous not only for his wealth but the range of his interests. Among the most recent is $20 million to help launch SpaceShipOne, which became the first privately manned rocket to make it into space. Then, there is the Science Fiction Museum/Hall of Fame and the Experience Music Project. Enough said.
His art collection, first seen by the general public two years ago at EMP, is one of the most notable in the area.
It contains superb examples of French Impressionists and Post-Impressionists and 20th-century masters, as well as a Jan Brueghel, the Younger, from the early 17th century. One of the most visible Allen-owned sculptures is in the Seattle Art Museum's Olympic Sculpture Park -- Claes Oldenburg's "Typewriter Eraser."
Add to that a collection of World War II fighter planes, professional sports teams, and a production film company. He also is interested in brain research, to which he has so far donated $100 million.
Giving reflects interests
"I have a very broad set of interests," Allen said in an Associated Press interview in January, "from music to philanthropy to technology to aerospace-related things, and that's been true going back to my childhood. I'm in the fortunate position of being able to explore my different interests."
His foundation reflects this aspect of his personality. For instance, in its newest giving cycle late last year, the foundation provided $9.6 million in funding to 60 groups in Washington, 20 in Oregon, nine in Montana, two in Idaho and three in Alaska. Of that, nearly $4 million went for arts and culture, nearly $4 million to community development and social change, and $1.7 million to youth engagement programs.
About $2.5 million went to Puget Sound arts groups such as ACT Theatre, Bellevue Arts Museum, Henry Gallery, Kirkland Arts Center, Maureen Whiting Dance, On the Boards, Pacific Northwest Ballet, Pat Graney Performance, Seattle Arts and Lectures, Seattle Chamber Players, Seattle Opera, Seattle Shakespeare Festival, Seattle Theatre Group, Tacoma Art Museum, Town Hall, Velocity Dance Center and the Village Theatre.
Although figures vary from year to year, the foundation often gives more money to the arts than most key funders in the region.
"The Allen foundation gives a lot of money to arts groups that would be hard to replace," said James F. Tune, president and chief executive officer of ArtsFund. "It is a major player and will continue to be. It is also important because of its ability to take a longer look."
Generally foundations have an endowment from which to draw disposable income.
The Allen foundation does not. Instead it is funded, usually with about $30 million, every year by Allen.
"When I first arrived at the foundation," said Susan M. Coliton, foundation vice president, "one of the first decisions to be made was its geographical focus. We (Allen is president of the board and his sister, Jody Allen Patton, is vice president) decided that a regional scale made sense. Not having an endowment makes us more nimble and gives us more flexibility in responding to applications." By law a minimum of 5 percent of earnings must be given away every year.
"One of the wonderful aspects of the Allen foundation," said Kelly Tweeddale, executive director of Seattle Opera, "is that arts and culture are central to its giving philosophy."
"We have a theory," Coliton said, "that good art is integral to a healthy society. It raises questions about who we are, what we want to be and how we can get there.
"I first began grant-making during the culture wars (the early 1990s)," Coliton continued, "when the virtual existence of the National Endowment for the Arts and National Endowment for the Humanities was in question. I am thrilled we have moved past those clouds to a greater respect and understanding of the arts."
Coliton said the Allen foundation receives about 1,000 inquiries a year. Of those, 300 to 400 are invited to make a formal proposal, of which 200 are given money.
The foundation's grants to the arts fall into several categories, Coliton said, including capital projects that are among the largest awards it has given. Some examples: Henry Art Gallery, $5 million; Olympic Sculpture Park, $4 million; McCaw Hall, $2.5 million; Wing Luke Museum, $1.25 million.
The foundation is particularly keen on something it calls "capacity building" -- funding an organization so it can grow and prosper, to get to the next level. All sorts of issues can hinder the development of an arts organization, from lack of money for marketing and infrastructure to programming, technology and leadership, as well as grappling with new business models.
"How do we ensure these organizations exist in the future?" Coliton asks.
"Capacity building" is an example of the foundation's interest in finding ways to fund groups in innovative ways. One of the hallmarks of these grants is that they can run over several years, giving groups time to develop and work through their ideas.
Not afraid to think big
Smaller and midsize groups often are the focus of these sorts of grants but not always. Seattle Opera, among the largest arts organizations in the Pacific Northwest, received a $75,000 grant to fund a study of how technology is changing the world of opera.
"Creation and presentation" are among the more traditional reasons for funding organizations. These are seen as elements that support artistic ventures -- creating new works, preserving old ones.
Last season Pacific Northwest Ballet mounted an unprecedented three-week festival, titled Celebrate Seattle, which brought together works by choreographers and companies ranging from Eugene, Ore., to Vancouver, B.C.
The choreographers included some of the most famous names in dance -- Merce Cunningham, Robert Joffrey, Trisha Brown and Mark Morris -- all born in the Northwest and not represented in PNB's repertory.
No ballet impresario would ever believe so much new work by so many choreographers -- many unknown to the general public -- could support itself at the box office. A generous patron was required. Enter the Allen foundation with a grant of $250,000.
"We had never done a festival like this before," PNB Executive Director D. David Brown said, "so it was an experiment on our part. We would not have been able to do it on this scale without the Allen foundation. We have never had a grant of this size for this kind of project. The foundation is very attentive to the arts community, regularly talking with arts managers about what is going on, what are the challenges facing their organizations and what the important funding issues are. That is a very progressive attitude."
"Arts and cultural organizations," Coliton said, "need to do a better job of explaining to the public the value of arts in society," which may be among the reasons the Allen foundation funds periodic economic impact surveys by ArtsFund. "It is too easy for people to say the homeless or eradicating malaria are more important," Coliton said. "All of it is crucial to our well-being."
P-I music/dance critic R.M. Campbell can be reached at 206-448-8396 or rmcampbell@seattlepi.com.
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