More Client Services:

• Marketing Communication

• Branding Strategy

• Public Relations

• Media Production

• Public Engagement

• Program Planning

• Strategic Partnerships

Selected Case Studies:

Columbia College Chicago- Program Development

ASA worked closely with Columbia College Chicago’s Institutional Advancement office and various academic departments to design and build new programs that helped the College expand its footprint and engage strategic audiences. These include initial planning, program design and funding strategy for: Center for Community Arts Partnerships, Center for Asian Arts and Media, Center for Arts Policy, Urban Missions Program.

Additionally ASA helped revamp the strategic positioning and designed programs for: Chicago Jazz Ensemble and The Center for Black Music Research.

Art Under 21

ASA worked with Grantmakers in the Arts leadership to conceive, plan and manage an unusual 2-1/2 day Art Under 21 conference focusing grantmakers’ attention on the impact of arts on community and youth development. The 1998 annual conference included over 45 professional artists, 19 youth serving arts organizations, and 250 funders.

Arthur Ashe Institute for Urban Health

ASA developed “Be The Cure”, a public education program to broaden access to medical professions for those who have been historically excluded. “Be The Cure” trains health professionals of color to mentor middle school youth, and organizes school-wide assemblies for parents and teachers. A PR strategy amplifies the message through the media.

Chicago Cultural Alliance

Chicago Cultural Alliance – In 2006, ASA facilitated a planning process and wrote the business plan to form the Chicago Cultural Alliance (CCA), an alliance of 26 ethnic museums and cultural centers and several large institutions. Through the Alliance the ethnic museums are able to build and sustain cross-cultural dialogue and leverage the voices of their communities to create social change.

Urban Network: Museums Embracing Communities

Urban Network: Museums Embracing Communities – The Urban Network is a consortium of 10 major metropolitan museums in five U.S. cities. Members work together to share strategies for increasing civic engagement and enhancing access to museum learning. ASA developed the Urban Network with The Field Museum in 2002, and edited a book about civic engagement strategies in 2003.

The Arts Marketing Center

ASA developed the Arts Marketing Center at the Arts and Business Council of Chicago to help nonprofit arts organizations increase their audiences and earned income. The model and its four program components have been replicated in six cities nationwide.

Duncan YMCA

ASA developed the business plan and pro forma for the Duncan YMCA Chernin Center for the Arts, the first YMCA in the nation dedicated completely to the arts, set within the traditional YMCA structure. This planning project included market research and constituency building with community organizations, local youth, YMCA board members and artists.

The Small Schools Workshop

The Small Schools Workshop provides several levels of technical assistance to schools and school districts that want to create more intimate learning environments and restructure into smaller schools. ASA extrapolated universal technical assistance solutions from the work done in several small schools in Chicago to help the Small Schools Workshop package and market these programs of assistance nationally.

Columbia College Chicago

ASA developed program plans to establish the Center for Asian Arts and Media, the Center for Arts Policy, and the Center for Community Arts Partnerships at Columbia. Additionally, ASA worked with the Chicago Jazz Ensemble and the Center for Black Music Research on strategic planning and fundraising. ASA also facilitated a year-long planning process for a partnership between five community arts organizations and Columbia College.

The Field Museum

The renown Field museum hired ASA to build a consortium of 8-10 internationally leading natural history museums from other urban areas to address the many and complex issues related to audience diversification. ASA leads the consortium as it explores strategies and shares best practices. ASA identified and convenes consortium members, defines paths of shared learning, publishes various materials, and disseminates the findings broadly.

Community Arts Partnership

ASA designed the CAP Institute and manages the four-year program in-house. This Institute provides technical assistance to a consortium of seven arts colleges and universities nationally that are working in partnership with community organizations to provide educational arts programs to low-income youth. ASA documents and disseminates the work of CAPs and provides leadership in positioning CAPs within allied fields. Begun in 1999, CAP Institute is funded by the Wallace Funds.