PHILADELPHIA, PA - Beth Tuttle, President and CEO of DataArts, announced today that she will resign from her leadership role in the organization. DataArts, formerly known as the Cultural Data Project, is the respected national resource for in-depth data about nonprofit arts and culture organizations. Tuttle, who has led the organization since March 2013, will remain in her role through October 6, 2017.

“DataArts is in an excellent position to move to the next phase of its development under new leadership, following its successful transition to a growing independent national nonprofit and its launch of a new technology platform that is streamlining and consolidating national cultural data collection,” Tuttle explained. “It has been an honor to lead an organization that has such a passionate board, talented staff, and dedicated field partners and funders who believe in the power of data to improve the performance vitality and public impact of arts and culture.

Under Tuttle’s leadership, DataArts grew from a project of The Pew Charitable Trusts, operating in 13 states and the District of Columbia, to an independent 501(c)(3) organization serving more than 17,000 cultural nonprofits, 100 public and private grantmakers, and numerous arts service organization and research partners nationwide. She guided the organization through a strategic, business, and technology transformation process that included a 2016 name change and rebranding the Cultural Data Project as DataArts.

A successful fundraising campaign, led by Ms. Tuttle, allowed DataArts to develop and launch a sophisticated and scalable data management technology platform that uses a flexible survey instrument tailored to the respective disciplines, scale, and activities of individual arts and culture nonprofits to collect financial and programmatic information in a standardized format. The platform not only consolidates and streamlines annual field survey activities, but also provides data analytics and business insights to users.

Under Tuttle’s leadership, the organization also introduced a suite of educational resources to enhance the data fluency of arts and culture professionals and facilitated the growth of Cultural Data Networks that bring together professionals from across the arts ecosystem to share insights, undertake local cultural data initiatives, and contribute to a growing field of data-informed practice.

With Tuttle at the helm, DataArts has contributed to the national dialogue on equity, diversity, and inclusion in the arts sector both by developing sensitive, secure, and standardized approaches to collecting demographic data on the arts and culture workforce and by piloting methodologies to offer the sector’s nonprofits access to scalable and affordable audience demographics.

“We are enormously thankful to Beth for the work she has done to transform and grow DataArts," said Glen S. Howard, Founding Chair of DataArts' Board of Directors. "As our first CEO, Beth's clear vision, perseverance, and strong management skills were essential to both leading our organization and being responsive to the field during changing times,” he added. “Beth promised us three years but gave us nearly five, leaving DataArts on a solid financial footing, with top-notch staff delivering a broad array of data-related services and education."

In anticipation of Tuttle’s planned departure, DataArts’ Board of Directors began in early 2017 the process of choosing a firm to conduct the national search for her successor, engaging the Arts Consulting Group for that assignment. The search process is being led by Founding Board Chair Glen S. Howard.

Tuttle will become President and CEO of the American Horticultural Society at George Washington’s River Farm, based in Alexandria, VA., where her family resides. In addition to being a lifetime arts advocate, Tuttle is a Master Gardener Volunteer and passionate horticultural educator with a belief in the social, spiritual, environmental, human health, and economic benefits of nature.

About DataArts
DataArts’ mission is to empower the nonprofit arts and cultural sector with high-quality data and resources in order to strengthen its vitality, performance, and public impact. DataArts serves as an important catalyst for data-driven decision-making, resulting in stronger management for arts and cultural organizations, better informed funding policy for grant makers, and a rich information resource for advocates and researchers.