{"id":2287,"date":"2012-12-08T07:57:22","date_gmt":"2012-12-08T12:57:22","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/?p=2287"},"modified":"2012-12-08T07:57:22","modified_gmt":"2012-12-08T12:57:22","slug":"what-is-the-arts-business","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/2012\/12\/what-is-the-arts-business\/","title":{"rendered":"What Is the Arts Business?"},"content":{"rendered":"

The problem with unconscious assumptions is that they are\u00a0 . . . unconscious. Even for me, spending time as I do questioning the status quo in the arts, the basic nature of the arts enterprise\u2013deeper even than\u00a0 the “business model”\u2013often remains unexplored. But the arguments for and against community engagement inevitably have at their root this fundamental question. What is<\/em> the arts business?<\/p>\n

Individual or Community Resource?<\/strong>
\nA good (and valuable) preliminary question might be “Are the arts an individual or a community resource?” Trick question, of course. The arts inevitably serve both. However, I think much of our focus is on the individual, both as creator and consumer. I certainly believe more attention should be paid to the arts as a resource for community improvement. And, of course, by community I mean any collection of people who are bound\u2013intentionally or, sometimes, de facto<\/em>\u2013by a characteristic they share: geography, certainly, but also culture, interests, concerns, preferences, background, etc. We speculate that this service to community was one of the origins of the arts but their binding or healing power for communities has been, in my opinion, under-appreciated, under-valued, and under-utilized by the arts infrastructure. (Evil Doug is trying to get me to say that the community service nature of the arts has been under-monetized. Oops, there he went.)<\/p>\n

\"\"What Is <\/em>the Business?<\/strong>
\nThe deeper fundamental (and even less consciously considered) question is “What\u00a0is<\/em> the business?<\/em>” I’ve got three metaphors to consider, but let me clarify as I always used to do for my students, the fact that I list three does not mean that I think these are\u00a0the<\/em> three, that these are correct, or that three is even the right number. I will also acknowledge that almost no one thinks of their work as part of the first two I list, but I am talking about unconscious<\/em> assumptions.<\/p>\n

This is a work in progress. I may not even agree with myself next week. With that caveat, here goes:<\/p>\n