an blog | AJBlog Central | Contact me | Advertise | Follow me:
You are here: Home / 2011 / Archives for February 2011

Which nonprofit arts orgs deserve these pennies?

February 28, 2011 By 4 Comments
shutterstock_1347453 penny jar cropped

In response to last week's post, Leonard Jacobs posted a thoughtful essay at The Clyde Fitch Report in which he made many excellent points--many of them fair criticisms of my post. I cannot adequately address all of Jacobs' points in this post, but I hope to address a few while expounding upon some of my previous comments. In my first post, I was endeavoring to both (1) discuss perceptions of the current threats to funding (which Jacobs rightly says are not 'attacks' in the sense of the culture wars) and (2) make the assertion that the … [Read more...]

02/28/11 2:00 AM | filed under: leadership, subsidization of the arts |

Perhaps we need to rethink which nonprofit arts groups are considered leaders in their fields?

February 21, 2011 By 25 Comments
shutterstock_71062825 fallen king exp grey

Many have written in the past week on the pending and proposed eliminations of the Kansas, Texas, and South Carolina state arts agencies (among others). For a roundup of the news on this front I recommend this post on Createquity. Some see these attacks as yet another sign that the country is filled with philistines, some see them as symbolic or purely political, and others as the reasonable end of decades of disregard by arts organizations of their communities-at-large. The arts (which in the minds of most people equates with 'the fine … [Read more...]

02/21/11 2:13 AM | filed under: Democratization of Culture, Pricing |

What is a mission-failing arts org? Like its opposite, perhaps you know it when you see it.

February 13, 2011 By 14 Comments
STREB: The Opposite of Mission Failure

In last week's post I suggested that the sector might be strengthened if some ‘mission-failing’ organizations were to close. I defined mission-failing organizations as those that were not providing sufficient cultural or social value relative to the investments in them. It’s an awkward phrase and I find it difficult to describe a mission-failing organization with any confidence; however, I can give an example of its opposite--an organization that is providing great cultural and social value--and did so in a talk I gave in 2010 called … [Read more...]

02/13/11 11:17 PM | filed under: Supply/Demand, Undercapitalization |

Supply and Demand Redux: Rocco’s Comment and the Elephant in the Room

February 7, 2011 By 43 Comments
shutterstock_68024548 pink elephant revised

I’ve been following the responses to Rocco’s 'decreasing supply' comment and his subsequent post on the NEA blog. Some believe that supply/demand is the wrong framework through which to look at the sector; some that there is no such thing as too much art and that we should increase patronage rather than ‘kill’ organizations; some agree with him but believe it was inappropriate for him to make the statement; and a few seem to agree with his points and believe that it was beneficial for him to make them. I'm in the last … [Read more...]

02/7/11 12:30 AM | filed under: Supply/Demand, Undercapitalization |

an ArtsJournal blog