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The Artful Manager

Andrew Taylor on the business of arts & culture

Good man gone

September 19, 2008 by Andrew Taylor

jim_dusso.jpgI was sad to hear about the passing of Jim Dusso this week, a longtime colleague and a warm and wonderful leader in the arts. Jim finally succumbed to the brain cancer that had appeared suddenly in 2007. His voice and his presence will be greatly missed.

Jim was an alumnus of the Arts Administration program I now direct, and a significant and positive influence on my professional life. Always warm and generous, with a wonderfully dry wit, he would nudge me and my thinking when he knew it needed nudging. A careful and pointed question from Jim would make you stop and think, and slowly see another way to solve the problem you were trying to solve.

We’ll miss you Jim. But your spirit, and your questions, still nudge me to better things.

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About Andrew Taylor

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

ArtsManaged Field Notes

#ArtsManaged logoAndrew Taylor also publishes a weekly email newsletter, ArtsManaged Field Notes, on Arts Management practice. The most recent notes are listed below.

RSS ArtsManaged Field Notes

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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.

Recent Comments

  • Barry Hessenius on Business in service of beauty: “An enormous loss. Diane changed the discourse on culture – its aspirations, its modus operandi, its assumptions. A brilliant thought…” Jan 19, 18:58
  • Sunil Iyengar on Business in service of beauty: “Thank you, Andrew. The loss is immense. Back when Diane was teaching a course called “Approaching Beauty,” to business majors…” Jan 16, 18:36
  • Michael J Rushton on Business in service of beauty: “A wonderful person and a creative thinker, this is a terrible loss. – thank you for posting this.” Jan 16, 13:18
  • 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

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