{"id":1535,"date":"2013-02-14T14:38:42","date_gmt":"2013-02-14T21:38:42","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/audience\/?p=1535"},"modified":"2013-02-14T14:45:16","modified_gmt":"2013-02-14T21:45:16","slug":"kerry-lengel-a-critics-take-on-arts-entrepreneurship","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/audience\/2013\/02\/kerry-lengel-a-critics-take-on-arts-entrepreneurship\/","title":{"rendered":"Kerry Lengel:  A Critic&#8217;s Take on Arts &#038; Entrepreneurship"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft size-medium wp-image-1536\" alt=\"StaffPortraits\" src=\"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/audience\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/02\/klengel.staffphoto-300x200.jpg\" width=\"300\" height=\"200\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/audience\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/02\/klengel.staffphoto-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/audience\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/02\/klengel.staffphoto-500x333.jpg 500w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><em>Kerry Lengel is the Arizona Republic&#8217;s theatre critic. \u00a0His articles are most readily found <strong><a href=\"http:\/\/www.facebook.com\/LengelOnTheater\" target=\"_blank\">HERE<\/a><\/strong>:\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>Recently, I invited Kerry to address the Seminar on Arts Entrepreneurship that I am teaching at Arizona State University this semester. \u00a0In preparation for that class, we got together for a lengthy (and lively)\u00a0discussion about the nature of arts &amp; entrepreneurship. \u00a0The discussion was so fascinating and insightful that I asked Kerry to provide written responses to several of my questions to share in this blog.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>In presenting this interview, I offer my thanks to Kerry for his unfailing willingness to engage in deep and thought-provoking discussions about the challenges and opportunities of the arts &amp; cultural sector.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n<p>&#8212;&#8211;<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong><span style=\"font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px;\" data-mce-mark=\"1\">As a theatre critic \u2013 and also as a journalist covering the arts \u201cbeat\u201d \u2013 you are a professional observer of how companies strive to advance their \u201cart\u201d as well as of the challenges they face to sustain their \u201cbusiness.\u201d Do you see the demands of \u201cadvancing art\u201d and \u201cserving a market\u201d as conflicting objectives? In other words, is \u201carts entrepreneurship\u201d an oxymoron?<\/span><\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>\u201cArts entrepreneurship\u201d certainly\u00a0isn&#8217;t\u00a0an oxymoron, unless your definition of art is so narrow that any business success disqualifies it \u2013 the attitude of the stereotypical rock snob for whom the little-heard indie debut is always better than the major-label follow-up. On the other hand, the conflict between art and commerce is age-old, and there\u2019s no question pandering to an audience can undermine artistic quality. But there\u2019s no magic formula for striking the balance. Broadway theater is a for-profit business where selling tickets is Job One, but it has produced many artistic masterpieces. And often, although certainly not always, the best art has the most crowd-pleasing longevity. (I\u2019m talking \u201cWest Side Story\u201d here \u2013 not so much \u201cWicked.\u201d)<\/p>\n<p>A key issue for the non-profit arts industry, if you want to call it that, is that a large swath of the market isn\u2019t interested in advancing art at all. At least in a place like Phoenix, Beethoven\u2019s Fifth outsells an Osvaldo Golijov world premiere any day, and even a 60-year-old Modernist classic by George Balanchine is no match at the box office for \u201cSwan Lake.\u201d The Catch-22 is that the more traditional arts become museum pieces, the less relevant they become to the mainstream, endangering their survival in the long term.<\/p>\n<p>For those who really care about the future of art, then, the goal is to cultivate a market \u2013 I\u2019d prefer the word \u201caudience\u201d here \u2013 for innovation. This can only really work as a genuine dialogue between artists and those for whom they create. Easier said than done. If I knew how, I\u2019d be running a theater company instead of writing for a newspaper. Speaking of endangered media.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong style=\"font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px;\">If on a given evening you had to choose between covering an event that you expected would be making a really significant artistic statement (but probably to an extremely small audience) versus a highly popular event whose artistic merit was, in your expectation, lackluster \u2013 which would you chose and why? (Would your personal preference be different from your professional responsibilities?)<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>I\u2019ll answer the parenthetical question first. I write for a general audience, and that most definitely influences what I cover and how I cover it. However, since the readership for the arts is still more a newspaper audience than an online one, I am not subjected to the same page-view-counting scrutiny that some of my colleagues are, and that gives me a bit more freedom \u2013 for now, at least.<\/p>\n<p>As to the main question, I\u2019d opt for the significant artistic statement every time \u2013 assuming one could predict that ahead of time \u2013 because that is an opportunity to practice my own craft at a higher level. It would be more likely to produce an interesting read; even people who would never bother to attend the performance might get something out of a well-written analytical review.<\/p>\n<p>At least that\u2019s what I tell myself. The truth is, judging from Facebook recommendations of my reviews, nothing attracts online readers more than a full-throated rave. But since I am too bad a liar to manufacture a rave, there\u2019s still no percentage in it for me to review that touring production of \u201cMy Mother\u2019s Italian, My Father\u2019s Jewish and I\u2019m in Therapy!\u201d I\u2019ll cover that with my reporter\u2019s hat on instead.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong><span style=\"font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px;\" data-mce-mark=\"1\">In performing arts, it seems pretty obvious that every performance requires the presence of an audience. Yet, in visual arts, it\u2019s often the case that the artist is completely separate from (and possibly even uncaring about) the act of an audience\u2019s engagement. So, what\u2019s your take on the \u201cif a tree falls in the woods, does it make a sound\u201d question? Is it still \u201cart\u201d if there\u2019s no audience?<\/span><\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Visual art is a second language to me. OK, third. But a musician also can be a solitary creator, in the recording studio, or composing at a piano. I guess I would say that any such work of art has at least an audience of one \u2013 the creator him or herself. But an artist of any ambition wants to evoke a response in other people, and to participate in the dialogue of artist to artist through time.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong><span style=\"font-size: small;\" data-mce-mark=\"1\"><span style=\"line-height: 19px;\" data-mce-mark=\"1\">It\u2019s a dichotomy,\u00a0<\/span><\/span>isn&#8217;t<span style=\"font-size: small;\" data-mce-mark=\"1\"><span style=\"line-height: 19px;\" data-mce-mark=\"1\">\u00a0it, that the nature of \u201cart\u201d is to be progressive (that is, to advance new ideas and means of expression) while the nature of the non-profit organizations that produce\/present such work must be cautious and risk-averse as they balance scarce resources and the interests of varied stakeholders. Do you agree with this premise? If so, what are its implications and what could (or should) be done about it?<\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>I mostly answered this under the first question, but I don\u2019t necessarily agree with the premise than non-profit organizations must be risk averse. Indeed, theoretically, working as a not-for-profit is supposed to free you from the most ruthless (and homogenizing) of market forces. That\u2019s the idea behind public radio and television, for example. But it only works if there is an adequate support structure (government or otherwise), which is a dicey proposition in the current cultural and political climate. The real reason arts entrepreneurship is a necessary concept now is that the old social compacts that used to support the arts are breaking down. And yes, that can force organizations to balance their artistic missions with their financial health.<\/p>\n<p>This also means that the organizations with the most artistic freedom are the small ones. The bigger your audience (and your budget), the more of a balancing act you have to perform.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong style=\"font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px;\">In a few weeks, you\u2019ll be addressing the Seminar on Arts Entrepreneurship I am teaching at Arizona State University. What candid career advice will you offer students who passionately aspire to be the greatest artists they can possibly be &#8211; but who also recognize the practical need to find a way to support themselves.<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Do both, and have a backup plan. Yes, being able to work on your own artistic vision full-time makes it easier to develop your voice, but learning how to engage with an audience also can hone your craft. I know a painter in Phoenix who does commercial art under a pseudonym and produces more personal stuff (ironical pop art with lots \u201cbooze and boobies\u201d) that is shown and sold in galleries in several states. And plenty of successful writers have plugged away at their debut novel at night while holding down a day job or two. All it takes is genuine talent and a willingness to work your ass off. Or, if you\u2019re like me, you can come to peace with the fact that you\u2019re a lousy poet and a lazy novelist and apply your writing talent in a way that might be less artistic but is nonetheless fulfilling.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong><span style=\"font-size: small;\" data-mce-mark=\"1\"><span style=\"line-height: 19px;\" data-mce-mark=\"1\">Let\u2019s end with a question about the community that you cover professionally: What lessons might arts &amp; cultural leaders in other communities draw from the efforts and accomplishments\u00a0<\/span><\/span>you&#8217;ve<span style=\"font-size: small;\" data-mce-mark=\"1\"><span style=\"line-height: 19px;\" data-mce-mark=\"1\">\u00a0seen in Greater Phoenix? What makes you especially proud to cover the arts &amp; cultural affairs of the Phoenix area?<\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Phoenix has several top-caliber arts organizations, including <strong><a href=\"http:\/\/balletaz.org\/\" target=\"_blank\">Ballet Arizona<\/a><\/strong>, which the New York Times called \u201cone of the most musically intelligent in the world,\u201d and <strong><a href=\"http:\/\/childsplayaz.org\/\" target=\"_blank\">Childsplay<\/a><\/strong>, a national leader in theater for youth that developed four world-premiere shows in the 2011-12 season, all of them good and some of them great. Overall, though, this community has a long way to go before it is a cultural mecca \u2013 and my primary measure of that is how much new work it creates, and how much of that finds a place in the national conversation. But I have to say that what I love most about covering the arts, and especially theater, in Phoenix is how much of a true community it is. As a \u201ctheater town\u201d it\u2019s small, but that means everyone knows everybody, and the level of positivity and support that I see is truly inspiring.<\/p>\n<p># # #<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Kerry Lengel is the Arizona Republic&#8217;s theatre critic. \u00a0His articles are most readily found HERE:\u00a0 Recently, I invited Kerry to address the Seminar on Arts Entrepreneurship that I am teaching at Arizona State University this semester. \u00a0In preparation for that class, we got together for a lengthy (and lively)\u00a0discussion about the nature of arts &amp; [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","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":[34,4,25],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-1535","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-marketing","7":"category-strategy","8":"category-value","9":"entry","10":"has-post-thumbnail"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/audience\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1535","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/audience\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/audience\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/audience\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/audience\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1535"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/audience\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1535\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/audience\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1535"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/audience\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1535"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/audience\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1535"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}