• Home
  • About
    • About this Blog
    • About Andrew Taylor
    • Contact
  • Subscribe
  • Other AJBlogs
  • ArtsJournal

The Artful Manager

Andrew Taylor on the business of arts & culture

A mini manifesto (addendum)

October 4, 2007 by Andrew Taylor

At the beginning of the new school year in the MBA program I direct, I posted my own mini manifesto about the goals of our degree program, and the qualities we hope to foster in our students. The gist of it was this: I believe that our degree program is in the business of finding […]

I think the alien gives it away

October 2, 2007 by Andrew Taylor

I’m sure it’s disrespectful and heretical in a thousand different ways, but I’m still rather fond of this counterfeit art competition with the following rules: You will take any famous painting or artwork (any period is fine) and alter it in such a way that it is obviously a forgery, as in the themepost. As […]

It’s the invisible structures that get you

October 1, 2007 by Andrew Taylor

Last month, I was invited to speak to a group of science outreach folks on my campus about cultural facility development, and the many sandtraps and surprises we’ve discovered in the arts. There is a ”new constellation” of science facilities currently opening or under construction at UW-Madison, and this group is working to understand how […]

Strategy as storytelling

September 28, 2007 by Andrew Taylor

A web discussion at SocialEdge, a program of Skoll Foundation, is exploring the idea of strategic storytelling — or the promise and challenge of creating more compelling narratives about our work. While all agree that narrative is a powerful force in conveying purpose and meaning, it also has a controlling side that should lead us […]

We manage what we measure, so let’s measure what we value

September 25, 2007 by Andrew Taylor

Since metrics are the mantra of public education these days (No Statistic Left Behind), it’s been difficult for arts education to maintain a stake in the larger conversation. Without hard numbers about the current state of arts education, neither policy-makers nor parents could argue in anything but vague and emotional terms. Thanks to an astounding […]

What is scientific literacy? An essay contest helps decide

September 24, 2007 by Andrew Taylor

In the quest to define and advance ”scientific literacy,” SEED Magazine has hosted an essay contest for the best answer to the question: ”What does it mean to be scientifically literate in the 21st Century?” Both the first and second place winners are worth a read. Both have relevance for leaders in the arts. In […]

A Friday diversion

September 21, 2007 by Andrew Taylor

This week’s weblog conversations about intelligence, authenticity, and evolution found a fitting closure in the YouTube video featured on ArtsJournal.com yesterday. The overview of Theo Jansen and his extraordinary work with kinetic sculpture and hand-crafted biology is just the thing to remind us about the energy, insight, and mind-transformation our colleagues in the arts can […]

Evolution vs. adaptation vs. ultimate good

September 20, 2007 by Andrew Taylor

I’m slogging my way through the fascinating economics book Culture and Prosperity by John Kay (known as The Truth About Markets in its original UK release). Kay offers a thoughtful and detailed overview of how markets work, or don’t work, and how economists have succeeded and failed at describing that functionality over time. He’s also […]

Faking authenticity

September 19, 2007 by Andrew Taylor

I know that a weblog post on a four-month-old article may be equivalent to a baker’s “day-old bread” bin. But if the bread still feeds a hunger, I figure it’s worth the offense. And Bill Breen’s article on authenticity from Fast Company has lots of caloric value for arts and cultural managers, even if it […]

At least one indicator changing in our favor

September 18, 2007 by Andrew Taylor

David Brooks has a great Op-Ed in the New York Times (requires subscription, probably) on the diminishing influence of I.Q. as a measure of intelligence. While the conception of the intelligence quotient had some basis in observable fact, Brooks suggests that it was always a bit inelegant and opaque in describing such a complex characteristic. […]

« Previous Page
Next Page »

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

  • The bother of bylaws July 8, 2025
    Does your arts nonprofit's map for action match the terrain?
  • Minimum viable everything July 1, 2025
    Getting better as an arts organization doesn't always (or even often) mean getting bigger.
  • The rise and stall of the nonprofit arts June 24, 2025
    The modern arts nonprofit evolved in an ecology of growth. It's time to evolve again.
  • Connection, concern, and capacity June 17, 2025
    The three-legged stool of fundraising strategy.
  • Is your workplace a pyramid or a wheel? June 10, 2025
    Johan Galtung defined two structures for collective action: thin-and-big (the pyramid) or thick-and-small (the wheel). Which describes your workplace?

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

Archives

Creative Commons License
The written content of this blog is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License. Images are not covered under this license, but are linked (whenever possible) to their original author.

an ArtsJournal blog

Copyright © 2025 · Magazine Pro Theme on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in