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The Artful Manager

Andrew Taylor on the business of arts & culture

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 […]

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, […]

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 […]

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.

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.

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 […]

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.

Private, public, plural

August 10, 2018 by Andrew Taylor

In the U.S. we’ve agreed to disagree about what to call that “other” sector of collective action that isn’t private (aka, privately owned business) and isn’t public (aka, government). Non-profit, not-for-profit, third, social, civil, voluntary all capture bits of it, but miss important bits as well. Which is why I’m increasingly fond of Henry Mintzberg’s […]

15 Years Ago

July 14, 2018 by Andrew Taylor

cc flickr Bill Swingle

This week marks the 15th anniversary of the launch of The Artful Manager blog, brought to life through the invitation and innovative brilliance of ArtsJournal editor Doug McLennan, and my own growing curiosities at the intersection of art and management and collective action.

Strong opinions, weakly held

June 25, 2018 by Andrew Taylor

Strong opinions, weakly held

The yelling and pointing in our current civic environment keeps me going back to futurist Paul Saffo and his mantra: “strong opinions, weakly held.” In his extensive work exploring the present and divining the future, he found this combination to be a productive path toward more robust thinking.

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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

  • Flip the script on your money narrative June 3, 2025
    Your income statement tells the tale of how (and why) money drives your business. Don't share the wrong story.
  • The sneaky surprise of new arts buildings May 27, 2025
    That shiny new arts facility is full of promise and potential, but also unexpected and unrelenting expense.
  • The one and the many of board service May 20, 2025
    How do nonprofit boards balance individual impulse with collective resolve?
  • The relentless rise of pseudo-productivity May 13, 2025
    Visible activity and physical exhaustion are not useful measures of valuable work.
  • The strategy screen May 6, 2025
    A strong strategy demands a clear job description

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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