Americans for the Arts held its annual conference in Nashville last month. As always, it was a chance to catch up with long-time colleagues, make new friends, and delve into the issues facing what I call the "arts establishment." I had the pleasure of helping facilitate a gathering of researchers in the field in a discussion of latest trends, needs, and issues. The bottom line was that as young (relatively speaking) as the nonprofit arts industry … [Read more...]
Getting to “Us”
I have commented before on the habit of mind in the arts world that separates "us" and "them," especially with respect to our communities. Most directly, in Want-Need: "Them"? I suggested that: [W]e need to see our constituencies (and potential constituencies) not as "them." We need to understand that, together, we are all "us" in the application of the arts to make all our lives better. This requires humility (Humilité, Discovering … [Read more...]
Dark Future?
In a recent post, Elizabeth Merritt, the founder of the American Association of Museum's Center for the Future of Museums, gave a good synopsis of impending threats to nonprofit status that the arts may well be facing in the near (or immediate) future. (Dark Futures: Nonprofit Fragmentation) The essence of the argument is that in a time of budgetary despair for government, there is great pressure to examine the legitimacy of the tax benefits … [Read more...]
Core Business
I continue to be thinking about basic issues for arts institutions. Here are some thoughts about core business. There is a story–that I have always assumed to be apocryphal–of the dance company manager, newly hired in November, who observed that his troupe sold thousands of ticket and made tens of thousands of dollars with their production of The Nutcracker. His conclusion was that his audience loved lavish ballets by Tchaikovsky. The next … [Read more...]
Enrich @#!*$@
Rant du jour: the word "enrich" in mission statements. Yes, it is important to enrich people's lives–make them more enjoyable, more fulfilling, more meaningful. However, so often when the word is used in mission or vision statements, that's the only reference to interacting with the public. It is, of course, better than focusing on the art to the exclusion of the community, but stopping at "enrich" sells the arts short. If the arts are only … [Read more...]
Magical Thinking
In discussion of the need for change in the arts industry, I am often met with responses that can only be classified as magical thinking. Such comments generally fall into one of two categories. The first holds that, while serious problems exist, all will be well if someone else does things to fix them. The second simply changes the subject, not addressing the question of whether a problem exists, choosing rather to criticize the idea of … [Read more...]
Curators of the Cultural Commons
I had promised myself (and I'm sure some of you had hoped) that I was finished for a while with posts about mission in the arts. However, I'm working on a book about the "how's" of engagement (that's the first time I've acknowledged that here, I believe). Consideration of fundamental mission is critical to effective engagement and in the thinking I stumbled on a concept that may be of value. In a post from a year ago (What Is the Arts … [Read more...]
Trading in the Studebaker
Frequent readers of this blog know that I am in the midst of a series of posts dealing with core mission in the arts. (The Buggy Whip Lesson: Recognizing a Mission Crisis, The Metamission of Arts Institutions, The Old Ball Game, Examining the Mission Model) I've discussed many aspects of the need for arts organizations to re-imagine their role in the world. This one does so as well, with an eye on how changing times can make a venerable "mission … [Read more...]
The Old Ball Game
In light of my recent posts about mission (The Buggy Whip Lesson: Recognizing a Mission Crisis, The Metamission of Arts Institutions), Sept. 29th's New York Times Op-Ed piece on baseball was fascinating. ("Is the Game Over?" by Jonathan Mahler) I found myself reading it and channeling discussions about the future of the arts into it. There are many points of overlap between Mr. Mahler's analysis of Major League Baseball and the state of affairs … [Read more...]
The Metamission of Arts Institutions
Where angels fear to tread . . . ! If changing environmental factors–like the rise of digital photography that decimated the world of photographic film production (remember Polaroid and Eastman Kodak)–threaten the future of the arts industry (The Buggy Whip Lesson), what should be done? We must seek an expression of the core purpose of art that is viable in the new landscape. For the photographic industry, the shift was from focus on a hard … [Read more...]