Creative conundrum Brian Eno has some interesting things to say about art and culture and their role in modern life. In this short interview/overview for The Globe and Mail, he defines things this way: ”Culture is everything we don’t have to do,” he said. Eating is necessary, but cuisine is culture. Clothes must be worn, […]
The wonderful world of budget games
I was just revisiting Chris Argyris’ classic (and strangely expensive) book from 1990 on Overcoming Organizational Defenses, and rediscovered his list of 12 budget games managers and politicians play when trying to get a project passed through the system. See how many look familiar to your organization or to yourself (be honest): Foot in the […]
If you ran the government
Only time for a short link today, but one well worth your time. The UK’s Guardian put a fascinating question to 50 cultural and civic leaders regarding the purpose and function of government support for the arts. The question, in a nutshell, is ‘What would you do for culture if you were running the next […]
The power of ‘slacktivism’
Have you received an earnest e-mail from a friend or colleague lately, with some impassioned call to action, and a request to sign the bottom and e-mail the e-petition on to all your other e-friends? Perhaps the message had to do with the impending destruction of the NEA, NPR, CPB, or other public cultural agency. […]
Building stale metaphors in stone
The design and construction of a new cultural facility is a unique moment in the life of an arts organization or arts community. It’s a chance to rethink how arts and audiences connect, how works are produced, how thriving ecologies of innovation and meaningful experience are structured and sustained. But there’s a fascinating tension in […]
Seems like only a decade ago
MIT’s Technology Review recently reprinted an article from April 1995 describing the then-emerging World Wide Web, just to remind us all how new the phenomenon is to our hectic world. A mere decade ago, technology students were drafting their first home pages, a few companies were sticking a big toe into this new idea for […]
The big cultural nonprofit as nation state
Eamonn Kelly, president and CEO of the Global Business Network (a futurist think tank of sorts), knows something about the future — or at least how individuals and groups can project dynamic trends into what might be someday. So, it’s interesting to hear his perspective on the next 500 years of civilization…especially when he can […]
When you say it with money, you mean it
A reader comment to a previous post let me know about the Canadian $20 note, and its specific emphasis on the arts. I already had a warm spot in my heart for my northern neighbors, after spending two days talking with them about ‘the healthy arts leader‘ and the importance of a supported and engaged […]
Reconnecting science and art
A short piece in New Music Box reminds us of the close and symbiotic connections between art and science, despite the efforts of the past few centuries to separate the two: In the modern world, we have seen scientific knowledge assume a status as the most valuable or authoritative kind of knowledge, while artistic knowledge […]
A hammer or a sponge
I was part of a fascinating conversation of ‘new business models for the arts’ the other day. The general set-up was that the nonprofit corporate form is showing some wear, and that the downsides of the model (its tendendency toward undercapitalization, organizational isolation, plodding governance structures, cumbersome and demanding funding sources, etc.) are coming to […]
