I recently returned from a trip in the Netherlands, where I had been invited to experience and comment on programs and research being conducted in a Dutch Lectorate (research group) within the Prince Claus Conservatoire in the Hanze University in Groningen.  The leader of the lectorate, Rineke Smilde, is a long-time friend and colleague.  I came away deeply impressed by a number of factors.  One, the professors from Hanze demonstrated incredible commitment to their own learning and the learning of their students.  Two, the … [Read more...]

Last night was the last Arts Entrepreneurship class.  Student projects were nothing short of amazing.  The amount of hard work (hours in), plus creativity and demonstration of already-acquired skills and knowledge was impressive.  This experience once again reinforces what we have known in education for a century: that students working on projects of interest will greatly exceed expectations.  The larger question, and one worthy of addressing here is, does the teaching of arts entrepreneurship positively change the thinking … [Read more...]

I plan to publish some of my class student projects: those that lend themselves to posting, i.e. a PowerPoint that provides complete or almost-complete information, or a paper that expresses a complete idea or process. This first one is the work of Melanie Grenier.    Entrepreneurship ppt.pptx … [Read more...]

Check out this Blog Salon -- yours truly is a contributor.  Looking Ahead to the Future of Nonprofit ModelsARTSblog is bringing together a progressive group of thinkers to further the discussion on changes in the nonprofit model. Throughout the week of May 16, you will be able to join in the conversation on this trending topic during the Private Sector Initiatives Blog Salon. ARTSblog will focus on examples of changes in the nonprofit model and the reasons dictating the changes. Get the inside scoop from leaders like Janet Brown of … [Read more...]

--following up on my promise to keep interested readers up-to-date on my class, Arts Entrepreneurship.  Recall that I posed 2 major assignments.  The first of these was to identify an existing arts organization, study it deeply, then pose one expanded program and one new one.  The second of these was to write/create a business plan for a new venture. For the first assignment students were grouped according to arts interest area (visual arts, literary arts, dance, music, theatre).  For the second assignment students were … [Read more...]

With thanks to Andrew Taylor for initiating and planning this session, please join Nina Simon, Andrew and me on Monday (details below) for a discussion of new, innovative and old business models in the arts and culture sector.  I hope to see you online!      Monday, April 25 4:00 pm Eastern Time http://www.vokle.com/series/3972-the-artful-manager Joining me for this one-hour discussion, and responding to your comments and questions, will be Andrew Taylor, Director of the Bolz Center for Arts Administration, an MBA … [Read more...]

Last weekend I attended the annual conference of the Association of Arts Administration Educators.  There I heard that the arts entrepreneurship "movement" is spreading rapidly in higher education.  This has to be of concern, as the "it" is so poorly defined, -- and understood.  Note my own previous misunderstanding of the term, social entrepreneurship.  Nonetheless, a number of my colleagues at the conference are readers here, and told me they were eager to hear about how my class was going.  And now that the class is … [Read more...]

Years ago I wrote an article (I can't even remember for what publication) called The Great Disconnect. It focused on the tragic separation and total lack of communication between the professional presenting world and the K-12 arts education world.  At that time I attempted to make the case that unless these 2 sectors immediately found ways to collaborate to the benefit of all, each would separately suffer.  Sadly not only was I right, but the prediction is playing out. I teach a class called Seminar, the capstone class in the master's … [Read more...]

So I'm in the final planning stages for my course in Arts Entrepreneurship (starts March 30), and I have come to the conclusion that I will teach and present materials and activities in 2 different tracks: those for the social entrepreneur, and those for the traditional one.  I'm particularly taken with Peter C. Brinckerhoff's definitions of these 2 categories.  "Social entrepreneurs are people who take risk on behalf of the people their organization serves.  Traditional entrepreneurs take risk on their own behalf, or on behalf … [Read more...]