Cars crossing sidewalk:

Worst New York City hotspot

To run into friends

The New York City Department of Transportation, in partnership with the Safe Streets Fund, has unveiled a new series of traffic warning signs that combine public art with a safety awareness effort for pedestrians, cyclists and motorists. The signs, which include 12 designs in all, were the creation of Atlanta artist John Morse. Morse previously created a similar public art installation in Atlanta, which featured tongue-in-cheek haiku advertisements such as "Build Personal Wealth, In the Comfort of Your Home, Read to Your Children."

Read more about the NYC Curbside Haiku Project at Inhabitat NYC.

View a PDF of all 12 Curbside Poetry Designs.

"...I see the impossible everyday. Impossible is trying to connect in this world, trying to hold on to others while things are blowing up around you, knowing that while you're speaking they aren't just waiting for their turn to talk. They hear you, they feel exactly what you feel at the same time that you feel it. It's what I strive for every time I open my mouth - that impossible connection." - Sarah Kay, Hiroshima

Sarah Kay is a performing poet and a founder of Project V.O.I.C.E. (Vocal Outreach Into Creative Expression). Sarah travels throughout the USA teaching people how to use poetry as a medium to better understand themselves, their fellow humans and the world we all share. In this TED talk from March 2011, Sarah shares her journey of self-expression through poetry and of feeling shared recognition and acceptance through storytelling.

In April 2012, Calgarians will receive their first official Poet Laureate. The Calgary Poet Laureate will serve as an ambassador of the arts to the citizens of Calgary and unite them through the "impossible connection" of poetry.

Nominations for the Calgary Poet Laureate will be accepted until January 10, 2012. For more information on how to submit a nomination, please visit our nominations page.

Self-proclaimed "professor of dirt" Paul Curtis partnered his Reverse Graffiti Project with the eco-friendly cleaning company GreenWorks to provide public art in San Francisco's dirt-covered Broadway Tunnel.

A 140-foot mural showcases native plants and trees that would have adorned that very landscape hundreds of years ago for the enjoyment of over 20,000 commuters and pedestrians daily.

Click here to read more on the Reverse Graffiti Project-GreenWorks partnership.

For non-profit arts organizations, the expertise of a well-formed board can be invaluable in helping organizations achieve their mission. Board Members are ambassadors across different social groups as well as the corporate sector and as such must be properly aligned with your organization.

Forbes blogger Elmira Bayrasli discusses tips to building a successful non-profit board based on the work of Lucy P. Marcus, a well known expert on best practices for board development in both for-profit and non-profit sectors. Bayrasli stresses the importance of a board with diverse skills, stating "Whether in finance, marketing or human resources, individuals asked to join a non-profit board should bring added value to the institution - and its staff. Because the majority of non-profits bootstrap their operations, taking care to 'minimize overhead,' they often make do with a small staff that is expected to juggle several responsibilities, none of which few are experts in."

Bayrasli concludes the post with a list of suggestions on how to recruit a non-profit board.

Read the full article.

Brett Wilson's first article for Alberta Venture, Return on Investment: The Give and Get Play, explores the give and take relationship between corporations and charitable organizations and provides ample support for both a philanthropic giving model and a corporate sponsorship model. In the article Wilson issues a challenge to his colleagues "...to think differently about how businesses and non-profit organizations can benefit mutually from collaborative relationships."

Read the full article.

This challenge is well-timed as Calgary Arts Development prepares to launch artsVest Calgary: a new sponsorship training and matching incentive program developed by Business for the Arts. The goal of artsVest is to develop new mutually beneficial partnerships between Calgary businesses and arts organizations. Through an intensive series of workshops, arts organizations accepted to the program will receive training on building stronger partnerships that address the needs of both the arts organizations and their business partners. Matching incentive funds, provided by Canadian Heritage and The City of Calgary through Calgary Arts Development, offer a great return on investment for first time business supporters of the arts. It's a win-win situation!

For more information on artsVest nationally please visit the artsVest website.