Emotion is a core element of expressive action — both in the conception and creation of new work, and in all of the collective human effort that brings that work into the world. We often pretend that emotions are appropriate and essential to the artistic work and experience, while the business side of that work […]

I’m in Lugano, Switzerland, for the Global Cultural Districts Network convening (it is odd, unnerving, and glorious to be traveling again). And I just had to take the opportunity of this location to talk about art and accounting! Why? Because about 40 miles south of here, and about five and a quarter centuries ago, art […]

The latest episode in the #ArtsManaged video series explores governance, that weird world of collective leadership that inspires and requires so many books, articles, workshops, and difficult conversations. Why is governance so hard? Here are three discomforts, and one dangerous comfort, that might make it so. TRANSCRIPT One of my favorite descriptions of what a […]

Defining an artist is both simple — an artist is a person who makes art — and treacherous. In the context of Arts Management, cultural policy, or public practice, your particular definition will necessarily exclude most people from the circle, and celebrate a narrow few within.

Whenever you’re dealing with complex and entangled issues of human behavior (and honestly, when AREN’T you?), there are three words that can help you find a path to clarity, insight, and positive action. The latest episode of my #ArtsManaged video series shares these words and takes them for a spin.

Episode 4 in the #ArtsManaged video series explores the concept and components of a “business model.” As I continue the search for the cleanest and clearest definition, I’m still drawn to Alexander Osterwalder, Yves Pigneur, et al’s version in Business Model Generation: “A business model describes the rationale of how an organization creates, delivers, and […]

A brand new episode in the #ArtsManaged series focuses on what a nonprofit arts organization is, and why they exist. You’ll also find an overview of three broad “sectors” within which we aggregate and animate people, money, and stuff – the private sector (where somebody owns the money and the stuff), the public sector (where […]

Back in November, I posted about Twelve Functions of Arts Management as a first attempt at a list of key/core clusters of action in the arts manager’s toolbox. I received some great feedback and challenges (thanks to you all!) and have been stewing on it since then. And now I’m focused on the Ten Functions […]

As I wander the web, I notice only a few basic and foundational resources for arts and cultural managers, or those who aspire to the work. This is particularly true among short-form, video/media resources where people often turn for first-cut insights on a topic or task or career. As one drop in that blue ocean, […]

Why is it that some arts initiatives or disciplines tend toward commercial markets, others non-commercial? Some tend toward complex and durable nonprofit organizational forms and some toward episodic projects? Some are independent of major media companies and others deeply dependent? And how and why do some initiatives evolve from one dynamic to another over time […]