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The Artful Manager

Andrew Taylor on the business of arts & culture

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The loosely-coupled future of live performance

April 27, 2020 by Andrew Taylor

Chain link

While most performing arts organizations are still in the midst of emergency action around their current reality (safety, solvency, and immediate service, as mentioned in a previous post), most are also looking toward the still-unknowable fall and spring, when their performance seasons and tours would normally begin. The questions aren’t just around whether or when they might re-emerge into a shared physical performers-and-audience space, but also about how they might do so in what will continue to be a changed and changing world. … [Read more...]

Safety, Solvency, Service

April 3, 2020 by Andrew Taylor

cc flickr Tony Armstrong-Sly

These past few weeks, a whole world of arts organizations have been searching for, revisiting, or assembling-on-the-fly their emergency readiness plans as the pandemic turns that world upside down. Many are finding that “pandemic” wasn’t among the expected disasters in their plans, if they had a plan at all, so they’re diving into the many waves of action as best they can. … [Read more...]

The “free range” workplace

January 28, 2020 by Andrew Taylor

Working Outdoors

When we "go to work" in the arts, we often mean actually going to an official and shared physical workspace. There are desks and phones and (sometimes) doors and walls where groups of us work with each other, or at least perform a sort of parallel play. … [Read more...]

Not just subconscious, but DNA deep

January 18, 2020 by Andrew Taylor

DNA Strand

When we talk about organizations, or other forms of collective action by groups of people, we often speak as if we have dominantly conscious control. We talk about designing the business, developing the policies, arranging the office, and building relationships. In short, we talk like architects or construction workers -- agents with autonomy, attention, and control over the ways and means of our working lives. … [Read more...]

The five actions of art-making

May 7, 2019 by Andrew Taylor

A Restless Art

The recent book, A Restless Art: How participation won and why it matters, offers a beautiful balance between theory and practice, abstract and concrete. The author, François Matarasso, brings decades of reflection and action to this exploration of participatory or community art. And that combination brings deep value to so many conversations about art making, arts management, and arts in society. … [Read more...]

Mark Nerenhausen on Curating Outcomes

April 30, 2019 by Andrew Taylor

Mark Nerenhausen

For a second video interview for my Presenting the Performing Arts class at American University, I talked with Mark Nerenhausen, President/CEO of Hennepin Theatre Trust in Minneapolis. While my previous conversation with Pamela Tatge focused on the art and practice of artistic curating, Mark shared the many moving parts in animating and activating a building and a neighborhood through the live performing arts. … [Read more...]

The Complexity Fetish

April 18, 2019 by Andrew Taylor

Complexity by Dany Sternfeld

Nonprofit Quarterly has a thoughtful overview of complexity and sensemaking as they relate to organizations, the first of a four-part series on the subject. The general idea is that purpose-driven collectives, such as civil-sector organizations like nonprofits, need to respond to an increasingly complex world by becoming increasingly complex themselves -- in how they see, interpret, discuss, and act in the world. … [Read more...]

Paying attention

April 1, 2019 by Andrew Taylor

Attention Sign

The New York Times apparently wants us all to be more productive, since it's hammering away at the subject from many fronts. In one article, Charlotte Lieberman tells us that procrastination isn't about self-control but about negative emotions. In another, Adam Grant suggests that productivity isn't about time management, but about attention. … [Read more...]

Pamela Tatge on Curatorial Practice

March 11, 2019 by Andrew Taylor

Pamela Tatge

In support of this semester's "Presenting the Performing Arts" course at American University, I've started a series of video interviews with performing arts professionals. Through my prep for the class, I found strikingly few resources available in any media about the craft, practice, and management of arts organizations in the live performing arts (beyond the usual-suspect books). … [Read more...]

Exploring the Four Stories

January 2, 2019 by Andrew Taylor

The Four Stories

For over a year now, I've been stewing on and adapting the independent work of E.F. Schumacher and Ken Wilber (citations below), both of whom explore and explain what a "whole" view of ourselves and our world might look like. As I've unfolded it (literally) for a few groups and close colleagues, it now seems useful to unfold it for all of you for your reactions. … [Read more...]

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Recent Comments

  • Andrew Taylor on The loosely-coupled future of live performance: “Great points, Meg! And agreed that the large-scale performing arts could and should look to adjacent industries for insights about…” Apr 30, 11:41
  • Andrew Taylor on The loosely-coupled future of live performance: “Thanks John! So helpful to know the pieces that resonated. And I’m equally intrigued about the agreements (formal, informal, explicit,…” Apr 30, 11:39
  • Andrew Taylor on The loosely-coupled future of live performance: “Ha! And yes, also that.” Apr 30, 11:37
  • John McCann on The loosely-coupled future of live performance: “Thanks for this overwhelmingly useful piece! While it’s nice to be reminded of Weick and the tightly coupled/loosely coupled realities,…” Apr 30, 11:18
  • Trevor O’Donnell on The loosely-coupled future of live performance: “Your title made me think of a concert hall where every couple was seated six feet apart!” Apr 29, 10:11

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