August 8 – 12, 2005, is ‘rerun week’ at The Artful Manager. While I’m on vacation, enjoy some favorite entries from the past. So I get this pizza pan as a gift…I’m pro-pizza, to be sure. But when reading the promotional copy on the pizza pan, I find this: Sensible and sublime, practical and whimsical, […]

August 8 – 12, 2005, is ‘rerun week’ at The Artful Manager. While I’m on vacation, enjoy some favorite entries from the past. Choreographer/dancer Liz Lerman has always provided a broad and engaging perspective at any professional conference I’ve seen her present. A friend (thanks Becky) recently forwarded this 2001 keynote address she gave to […]

August 8 – 12, 2005, is ‘rerun week’ at The Artful Manager. While I’m on vacation, enjoy some favorite entries from the past. Sometimes when we try to talk our way out of a problem, we end up reinforcing the problem…or even making it worse. Such is the case with ‘the box,’ that clever phrase […]

August 8 – 12, 2005, is ‘rerun week’ at The Artful Manager. While I’m on vacation, enjoy some favorite entries from the past. PBS ran a great series on contemporary art a while back, art:21, that was rich with metaphor and insight into the creative process…the process we managers are supposed to be supporting, nurturing, […]

I wrote a few weeks back about the rise of amateur culture, and the possible coming boom in creative content produced by non-professionals. Bob Baker’s extended discussion of the trend led me to this report by Demos on The Pro-Am Revolution, subtitled ”how enthusiasts are changing our economy and society.” The report offers a fascinating […]

A fun article in this month’s Wired magazine explores the life and work of Bansky, a self-described ”art terrorist” who, among other accomplishments, snuck his works into four of New York’s major museums in a single day. Says Bansky: ”Art’s the last of the great cartels….A handful of people make it, a handful buy it, […]

Neal Gabler had a provocative but flawed commentary in the LA Times on Sunday, built on the premise that we’re now more infatuated with the backstory of entertainment (personal trials, break-ups, star behavior) than we are with the entertainment itself. Says Gabler: Movies, television and DVDs are attracting fewer patrons because people, especially young people, […]

A new study from the ever-interesting Pew Internet & American Life Project explores the emerging behaviors and perspectives of teens on-line (lots of media coverage available, on ClickZ or through AP feeds…the full report is available on-line, as well). As you might expect, a large majority of teens use the Internet (87 percent, up from […]

If you’ve wondered about the best day of the week for sending out mass e-mails to your patrons, eROI has done extensive tracking and research to find the answer: it’s hard to say. That’s the gist of their most recent analysis of e-mail sending, reading, and clicking. Among their conclusions: Fatigue sets in as the […]

Arts organizations and arts developments are often part of a community’s effort to revitalize or re-animate areas of downtown that have stumbled into stasis. In fact, urban revitalization is often a key talking point in proposals to construct or refurbish cultural facilities (”If we build it…blah blah blah”). All of us know, however, that a […]