{"id":1243,"date":"2009-01-05T08:34:39","date_gmt":"2009-01-05T16:34:39","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/artfulmanager\/wp\/2009\/01\/little_bridges\/"},"modified":"2009-01-05T08:34:39","modified_gmt":"2009-01-05T16:34:39","slug":"little_bridges","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/artfulmanager\/main\/little_bridges.php","title":{"rendered":"Little bridges"},"content":{"rendered":"

Last month, I was invited to speak to a gathering of ”emerging leaders” (a term I still dislike…I’m leaning toward ”emergent leaders” instead) in Wisconsin, hosted by Arts Wisconsin<\/a>, the Wisconsin Arts Board<\/a>, and Overture Center for the Arts<\/a>. My morning speech gave me the opportunity to sit down with the participants during their roundtable discussions, which were engaging and informative.<\/p>\n

At our table, the topic was ”business models” or ”organizational structures” in arts and cultural organizations, and where they were proving frustrating or counterproductive. And a common theme was one of disconnection.<\/p>\n

The young leaders in the group were longing for more direct and frequent connections to the arts and artists they were working to support. But the structure and nature of their organizations tended to keep them apart. One development associate mentioned that she loved the performances of her organization, but that during her daily work she might as well be raising money for a hospital — no music, no musicians, no contact with artistic personnel. Another individual working on the artistic side also mourned the disconnect from those on the administrative staff — her fellow dancers had no idea how the organization sustained itself, or what challenges or innovations their administrative peers were exploring.<\/p>\n

I’ve noticed a similar challenge in almost every governing board I’ve served on or consulted with — a chasm between the passion and purpose that brought them to the table and the generic and mundane topics they tend to discuss. On my public library board, we tend to (and need to) discuss maintenance contracts, building repair, salary schedules, budget allocations, and even landscaping. But rarely do we discuss the power and passion that comes from books and the written word.<\/p>\n

I tend to talk a lot in this blog about BIG systemic issues in arts and culture. But my conversations with the emergent leader group reminded me of how many tiny interventions are available to cultural managers to make their organizations better and brighter. In almost every organizational process — staff meetings, board meetings, coffee breaks, social events, and so on — there are opportunities to build little bridges between the business of the organization and the purpose of the organization.<\/p>\n

Five minutes at a board meeting hearing about how a ballet shoe is constructed. A monthly brownbag between staff and artistic staff to share and celebrate their work. Inside information about how a season was selected, how a set was constructed, how an exhibit informs the art that hangs within it. These are all little bridges that reconnect staff to the reasons they work there, and connect the artistic team to the pillars that support their expression.<\/p>\n

At my library board, we began asking each board member to bring in a book that was meaningful to them — that had some impact on their life for any reason. The resulting conversations took all of five to 10 minutes out of each board meeting. But they animated the room, they reminded us of our passion for books, and they allowed us to learn more about each other beyond the formality of Robert’s Rules of Order.<\/p>\n

As we hammer at the BIG changes required for future arts organizations and the arts ecosystem, let’s be sure we’re making all the LITTLE changes we can to align what we do with what we say we value. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Last month, I was invited to speak to a gathering of ”emerging leaders” (a term I still dislike…I’m leaning toward ”emergent leaders” instead) in Wisconsin, hosted by Arts Wisconsin, the Wisconsin Arts Board, and Overture Center for the Arts. My morning speech gave me the opportunity to sit down with the participants during their roundtable […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-1243","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-main","7":"entry"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/artfulmanager\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1243","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/artfulmanager\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/artfulmanager\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/artfulmanager\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/artfulmanager\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1243"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/artfulmanager\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1243\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/artfulmanager\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1243"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/artfulmanager\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1243"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/artfulmanager\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1243"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}