namac

Over a year ago, when NAMAC chose Boston as the location for its 2009 biennial conference and chose “commonwealth” as its theme, nobody involved knew how important this convening would become.

Capacity means the ability to accomplish, change, remodel, or act on something that is a necessity, but often invisible because it is part of the operations or architecture of an organization. Since nonprofits must focus so intently on the work that becomes their public face, they do not have an easy ability to re-engineer the infrastructure hidden below. Since 1999, NAMAC has offered modest capacity building grants -- much like capital infusions to either start or complete a much-needed home improvement project.

In 2004 NAMAC conducted four regional think tank discussions with media arts leaders in Atlanta, Georgia; Albany, New York; Columbus, Ohio and Lincoln, Nebraska. Representatives from a total of twenty-eight cities, eight states (including Tennessee, N. Carolina, Oklahoma and Kentucky) and sixty-six organizations were involved in thinking together about the direction of the media arts field. The think tank discussions also served to strengthen relationships and provide feedback to help NAMAC assess its services to the field.