Author/educator/teaching artist Eric Booth delivered a fantastic commencement address to New England Conservatory graduates, family, and friends this week, which has been posted online. In it, he offers many essential points about the role and work of an artist or an arts organization, and the ways they help create meaning in the world. He offers a new job title for all of the graduates (fitting for any cultural manager, as well): Agent of Artistic Experience. And he shares some thoughtful ways to live up to that title. … [Read more...]

I can't explain why, exactly, but I've been thinking about uniforms lately -- particularly careers that require a uniform like the military, the judiciary, the priesthood, the police. At first glance, these mandated outfits might seem like costumes, like some relic of a previous age of status and class and credential. But uniforms actually serve a wide variety of functions, and address certain problems of the individuals who wear them and the callings or careers they represent. … [Read more...]

The arts experience is a global experience, where expressions and perspectives from across cultures and around the world can find each other and celebrate what's different and what's the same. And yet, since America locked its borders in so many ways following 9/11, the global arts experience in the United States has been dramatically less global. … [Read more...]

Sometimes dramatic innovation comes not from inventing a whole new thing, but rather from rethinking how to use an old thing in a new way. Better still, sometimes the solution to a nagging problem is embedded in the problem itself -- again, if we can consider the problem's components in a different way. … [Read more...]

Grant McCracken offers a fascinating glimpse at an emerging type of vacation experience, contrary to the 'everything-planned-down-to-the-minute' vacations of the past. He points to American Express Travel's Nextpedition, where the destination, the itineraries, the meals, and the activities are all unfurled as you're traveling -- with each day bringing a next surprise. … [Read more...]

ArtsFwd and EmcArts offer a non-scientific poll of emergent arts leaders, and their perspectives on where they work. Essentially, it's a quick assessment from people who chose to respond, so it can't be generalized to anything but can be riffed upon to suit my purposes. The gist of it: respondents who self-reported that they worked at a 'highly innovative arts organization' were more likely to feel like their voice was heard in the workplace, that they participated in decision making, that they brought their 'whole self' to work, and that they … [Read more...]

Ian David Moss offers a fantastic overview and critique of 'creative placemaking' efforts now bubbling through the NEA, ArtPlace, and other initiatives. He suggests that the renewed focus on building vibrancy and community through artistic pursuits is missing a few rather essential pieces -- mostly the clear description of a desired outcome, and a tested model or evaluative process to determine whether and why such efforts attain that outcome. If you can't describe what (specifically) you want, and you can't select or evaluate potential … [Read more...]

In an online world and with a digital rolodex, it's easy to believe we can manage any number of relationships in our social life, work life, and public life. Want to add a friend? Just click the button and you're connected. You'll get updates about their thoughts and life through their feed -- new baby, new book, vacation plans. They'll get updates on you. But while the ability of our technology to store and scan relationships is growing more diverse and robust, our cognitive skills are still pretty much Medieval. … [Read more...]

I've been skimming through Anthony Weston's 2007 manifesto, How to Re-imagine the World (highly skim-worthy, since it has fabulous ideas and states them quickly), and actually stopped skimming and began to read when I reached the opening to chapter 9: … [Read more...]

The New York Times offers a bundle of short responses from the arts community on the subject of funding. The setup asks: 'What can we do to stabilize funding for the arts? Can we learn from other countries’ examples?' And it offers as inspiration Brazil's large and growing social service (including arts) funding supported by a payroll tax. The responses flag the diverse and arms-length benefits of the American funding system, promote increased incentives for corporate and individual giving, and strive to place the arts in the larger … [Read more...]