{"id":1326,"date":"2009-07-22T08:37:30","date_gmt":"2009-07-22T15:37:30","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/artfulmanager\/wp\/2009\/07\/broad_strokes_about_business_m\/"},"modified":"2009-07-22T08:37:30","modified_gmt":"2009-07-22T15:37:30","slug":"broad_strokes_about_business_m","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/artfulmanager\/main\/broad_strokes_about_business_m.php","title":{"rendered":"Broad strokes about the arts business"},"content":{"rendered":"

Leonard Jacobs at The Clyde Fitch Report bestows honor and queries<\/a> upon Michael Kaiser’s latest essay in the Huffington Post, which explores ”Why the arts don’t pay for themselves<\/a>.” Jacobs answers his first question quite ably — the arts DO pay for themselves, but through multiple marketplaces, including consumer and philanthropic. But his final question shows the gaps in Kaiser’s analysis, and the broad strokes that often blunt such conversations. <\/p>\n

One of Kaiser’s comments suggests entrepreneurial venture as one road to bridge the gap of program losses. But he also suggests it has been a predominantly unsuccessful path. Says Jacobs:<\/p>\n

My question is why have they been unsuccessful? What is it in our arts
\nadministration training programs that leaves our leaders able to write
\ngrant proposals and learn how to do the “ask” but cannot think
\nentrepreneurially?<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Both the point and the question demand a slightly sharper focus.<\/p>\n

Kaiser’s two points about why the arts ‘don’t pay for themselves’ are on the mark, but incomplete. He calls forward the classic Baumol and Bowen<\/a> analysis of the performing arts from the 1960s, suggesting that performing arts organizations can’t achieve the same increases in productivity as other industries, leading to an ever-widening gap between income and expenses (which turned out to be only partially true). Secondly, he mentions the perishable and limited quality of live, experiential offerings like the arts — where the hall, gallery, and event dates constrain the boundaries of earned income potential.<\/p>\n

Both are true, but more particularly to some art forms than others. Traditional performing arts organizations — which provide Kaiser’s primary lens on the subject — are the MOST subject to these two economic challenges. And for a range of reasons, these types of organizations have struggled with entrepreneurial thinking on both the cost and the revenue side.<\/p>\n

But there is a universe of arts organizations that are extraordinarily entrepreneurial, and are not as subject to the two forces Kaiser flags. Small theaters, ensembles, community-based institutions, collectives, individuals, and cooperatives are innovating all the time, both on the cost side (borrowing, bartering, or begging venues; pooling resources and capacities; etc.) and on the revenue side (renting facility space to commercial and nonprofit users; charging for business services or consulting; licensing their intellectual property; attaching to retail activities or coffee shops or bars). They are resourceful beyond all reason, and deliver extraordinary art and arts experiences from only sweat, swagger, and duct tape.<\/p>\n

Certainly, we could use more of this entrepreneurial drive (and more attention to what’s already happening). And any arts administration training program should make extra effort to foster this thinking among its students (as many do). But it’s out there now, in abundance, if we widen our gaze to see it.<\/p>\n

Why don’t the arts pay for themselves? Well…they do. But if we’re limiting the discussion to earned income, the answer is more elemental:<\/p>\n

The fundamental function of nonprofits is to deliver goods and services at below their cost of production. They exist to provide something of value to a community or a society at a quality, quantity, or diversity that traditional markets won’t bear, and the public sector can’t or won’t produce. To do so with energy and impact over an extended period of time is about as entrepreneurial as you can get.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Leonard Jacobs at The Clyde Fitch Report bestows honor and queries upon Michael Kaiser’s latest essay in the Huffington Post, which explores ”Why the arts don’t pay for themselves.” Jacobs answers his first question quite ably — the arts DO pay for themselves, but through multiple marketplaces, including consumer and philanthropic. But his final question […]<\/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-1326","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\/1326","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=1326"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/artfulmanager\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1326\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/artfulmanager\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1326"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/artfulmanager\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1326"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/artfulmanager\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1326"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}