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The Artful Manager

Andrew Taylor on the business of arts & culture

Two goals to rule them all

June 1, 2023 by Andrew Taylor 2 Comments

Photo of two soap bubbles against a black backdrop.

I’ve been reading and thinking a lot about human cognition – about how we make sense and take action. The useful answer describes a combo platter of species-wide sense-making systems and their unique manifestation in each of us…

Strategy and the “standard story”

May 3, 2023 by Andrew Taylor

Photo of an old typewriter.

Any strategy or plan for future action is essentially a story. It describes the present and coming world, the dynamics of the past that invoked them both, and the actions that will propel an organization toward a desired future.

Come work with me!

May 1, 2023 by Andrew Taylor

American University Logo

The Arts Management Program at American University has just posted a full-time contract faculty position for the coming Fall. If you’re interested in joining an amazing learning community in Arts Management, in the global cultural city of Washington, DC, give it a look! And/or pass it along to friends and colleagues who might be a […]

Chasing beauty without losing balance

February 24, 2023 by Andrew Taylor

Photo of a running and jumping dog.

One of the main takeaways from the classic in-depth case study of Steppenwolf Theater is that “self-sufficiency, sustainability, and success pull in different directions.” This tension is a constant balance and bother for arts managers who want to play the long game.

What’s in a name: Arts Management?

February 15, 2023 by Andrew Taylor

Graph of phrase frequency in Google Ngram.

The Google Books Ngram Viewer offers an interesting way to track the popularity of a term over time. The service draws from the scanned contents of tens of millions of books encoded by Google. And it can offer a glimpse at the rise (and fall) of phrases, topics, or subjects over two centuries. A search […]

Six Paths to Support Working Artists

February 8, 2023 by Andrew Taylor

Opportunity Scan

To imagine and explore other opportunities to support working artists and creative projects, Fractured Atlas commissioned an “Opportunity Scan” of six possible paths forward.

What are we planning, exactly, when we plan?

January 20, 2023 by Andrew Taylor

Photo of a tray of coffee cups.

If you and I make a plan to meet for coffee, next Tuesday at 1:00 pm, in a cafe on the second floor of a building downtown, what are we doing exactly? It’s easy to say that “we’re planning to meet for coffee,” but you can’t define a term using the term itself. No fair.

Announcing #ArtsManaged

January 11, 2023 by Andrew Taylor

#ArtsManaged logo

I’m thrilled to announce the public launch of a new experiment, the #ArtsManaged initiative – a series of digital resources exploring and advancing the practice of Arts Management.

Calibrating complexity

November 7, 2022 by Andrew Taylor

Paper clip, Photo by Christin Hume on Unsplash

Managers of all sorts, including arts managers, frequently have to decide about complexity. When we select technology tools, rent/build/buy buildings, make policy, build teams, or develop work processes, we’re calibrating how complex those things need to be against how much time, attention, and money our audiences and organizations actually have to navigate them. If a […]

Imagining the Present

October 27, 2022 by Andrew Taylor

Photo by Braxton Apana on Unsplash

The more I learn about cognitive science, the more I realize that our work in purposeful collective action – such as Arts Management – is built on faulty premises. We think, talk, and act in arts organizations as if we’re dominantly rational beings, making sense of the world and the work through conscious and explicit […]

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#ArtsManaged

Three more paths to improve and inspire your Arts Management practice: Field Notes (weekly newsletter) • Field Guide (online textbook) • YouTube Channel

Artful Manager: The Book!

The Artful Manager BookFifty provocations, inquiries, and insights on the business of arts and culture, available in
paperback, Kindle, or Apple Books formats.

About Andrew Taylor

Andrew Taylor is a faculty member in American University's Arts Management Program in Washington, DC. [Read More …]

Recent Comments

  • Andrew Taylor on Two goals to rule them all: “Absolutely, borrow and build to your heart’s content! The idea that cultural practice BOTH reduces and samples surprise is really…” Jun 2, 18:01
  • Heather Good on Two goals to rule them all: “To “actively sample novel experiences (in safe ways) to build more resilient perception and prediction” is about as useful a…” Jun 2, 15:05
  • Andrew Taylor on What’s in a name: Arts Management?: “Thanks Ken! Grateful for your insights on this. I agree that it’s like screaming into the wind to decide upon…” Feb 19, 13:41
  • Ken Foster on What’s in a name: Arts Management?: “Hi Andrew. Totally agree with your focus of concern on the “Arts” word rather than the second word. I have…” Feb 17, 13:52
  • Andrew Taylor on What’s in a name: Arts Management?: “Thanks Jim! I’m so glad to have the link to your book review in JAMLS. Somehow I missed it the…” Feb 15, 15:17

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