The Baltimore Symphony is considering a unique way to escape its debt and build its endowment…by leveraging the nonprofit’s access to even more debt. Under a scenario described in the Baltimore Sun (username: ajreader@artsjournal.com, password: access) they would sell their concert hall to a newly created nonprofit, and use the proceeds to fill their coffers. […]

The Sunday New York Times has an extended story on the Museum of Modern Art, and their recently announced entry price increase from $12 to $20 when they open their new facility. The price would make MoMA ‘the most expensive major art museum in the United States.’ The article is fairly balanced in its exploration […]

Early this month, I talked about simulation games, and their potential to support learning for arts managers and other complex activities. Now there are a few more examples — beyond Roller Coaster Tycoon — to show the idea in action. The interesting twist is that games are now supporting an agenda, a point of view, […]

I talk a lot about arts organizations needing to focus on the experience of art rather than just the production or presentation of it…not ‘experience’ in the flashy, theme-store sense, mind you, but in the essential connection between perceiver and perceived that great art moments provide. It’s so easy to get stuck in the production-oriented […]

My weblog neighbor Drew McManus has been doing some heavy surfing lately, reviewing and rating 70 orchestra web sites in his First Annual Adaptistration Web Site Review. At the top of the list was the Chicago Symphony site, followed closely by the National Symphony (see the full rankings here). As an annoying academic, I’m always […]

Madison, Wisconsin, is set to open phase one of its new $205-million arts complex, beginning this Saturday. Everybody who is anybody will be there during its full opening week of free and paid performance/exhibit activities (I’ll be there too, even though I’m not anybody). For those that want to dig deep into the unprecedented single-donor […]

If you’ve forgotten what a Philistine is beyond the concert hall, can’t distinguish Chaplin from Chopin, if a friend mentions the Apocrypha and you think about the Apocalypse, there may be a book you need on your shelf (or in your web bookmarks). The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy (available on-line and in print) is […]

Nonprofit arts leaders and staff responsible for payroll, hiring, governance, or financial reporting may want to keep an eye on the IRS in the coming months (more than usual, that is). Last month, they issued an advisory that they will be scrutinizing executive compensation practices for nonprofits, beginning with about 2000 throughout the sector (arts […]

A recent article in The Economist, and another in Newsweek, explore the early stages of ‘neuromarketing’ and ‘neuroeconomics,’ or the use of brain scanning equipment in pursuit of consumer cash and decision making. Since people can’t usually describe their actual motivations (or they describe them incorrectly), a few research centers and consulting firms are hard […]

The fun and intrigue of a national election (especially in a swing state like Wisconsin) always bring me to wonder at the glory of statistical evidence, and its practical application to really important decision-making. We all take measures of things when deciding which way to turn, how to vote, how much energy, cash, or staff […]