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Diane Ragsdale on what the arts do and why

On a Strategy of Indeterminacy: Or, the Value of Creating Pathways to the Unforeseen

January 27, 2023 By Diane Ragsdale

Given widespread recognition of the need to find radically new and beautiful alternatives to many of the ways of being, doing, and knowing that we embraced throughout the 20th century—new ways of relating to the natural world, to ourselves, to each other, to work, to learning, to organizing, to healing, to sustaining ourselves, etc.—it is perhaps worth asking whether we could benefit from engaging creative processes and practices that are, essentially, pathways to the unforeseen.

Filed Under: artistic processes and practices, creative leadership, Innovation, leadership, Uncategorized

Co-Creating with a Conscience: Or, Why Study Leadership at an Art & Design College?

December 11, 2022 By Diane Ragsdale

Seven years ago I was in the process of completing an essay in which I brought forward an argument for teaching beauty in a business school—a document that would form the basis for a 12-week course for business students at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, where I was to be a visiting guest artist/lecturer. At the […]

Filed Under: creative leadership, leadership Tagged With: #beauty, #creativeleadership

Reflections on 2021 & Questions at the Top of 2022

January 4, 2022 By Diane Ragsdale

In 2021 I took a hiatus from Jumper. I didn’t set out to do so; but 2021 was, to a great extent, a year spent strengthening my skills in listening and holding space for others; reading books that had been sitting for months if not years on my nightstand; figuring out with others how to […]

Filed Under: arts and the pandemic, book recommendations, creative leadership, cultural leadership

On Aesthetics, Ethics, Economics, and Consequential Decisions of Cultural Leaders in the Long Now

September 29, 2020 By Diane Ragsdale

A little over a year ago I had the great pleasure to be a guest on Erik Gensler’s podcast, CI to EYE (a program of Capacity Interactive, of which Gensler is the founder). We delved into a handful of topics including beauty and ethics, the relationship between the commercial and nonprofit theater, cultural leadership, and […]

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: aesthetics, business models, constraints, cultural leadership, decision-making, economics, ethics, governance, policies, values

Changes Afoot: What’s Next For Me

June 25, 2020 By Diane Ragsdale

For those who don’t know, for the past three years I have been working in NYC at The New School, a progressive university with a rich history, located in the West Village of Manhattan. I was hired in 2017 as an assistant professor and program director at The College of Performing Arts to help build […]

Filed Under: Uncategorized

When to Stop? My essay in “A Moment on the Clock of the World” in the context of Covid-19 & Black Lives Matter

June 10, 2020 By Diane Ragsdale

In a 2018 I was invited by Melanie Joseph to write an essay for a book that would mark the final production of the company she founded 25 years earlier, The Foundry Theatre. The book, A Moment on the Clock of the World (pictured above) was published by Haymarket last fall. I am deeply grateful […]

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: cultural democracy, Foundry Theatre, institutionalization, permanence, pluralism

With a country “on the brink” does it matter if your arts venue is shuttered?

June 2, 2020 By Diane Ragsdale

In three short months Americans have shifted from tuning into the daily drama surrounding the democratic primaries, to daily Covid-19 briefings and debates over whether or not lives matter more than money, to now 24/7 coverage of the protests erupting across a reported 350 cities in the US (as of June 2) in the aftermath […]

Filed Under: Uncategorized

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Recent Comments

  • Andrew Taylor on On a Strategy of Indeterminacy: Or, the Value of Creating Pathways to the Unforeseen: “Love this line of thinking, Diane! Although I also wonder about the many small, safe-to-fail ways you could explore randomness…” Feb 21, 22:54
  • Rick Heath on On a Strategy of Indeterminacy: Or, the Value of Creating Pathways to the Unforeseen: “Thanks Dianne Compelled and confused! (Not for the first time, and not entirely because of your words, but somewhat because…” Feb 5, 07:20
  • Diane Ragsdale on On a Strategy of Indeterminacy: Or, the Value of Creating Pathways to the Unforeseen: “Hi Ella! Thanks so much for taking the time to read and engage with the post. Thank you for reminding…” Feb 2, 18:19
  • Diane Ragsdale on On a Strategy of Indeterminacy: Or, the Value of Creating Pathways to the Unforeseen: “Caroline! Thanks so much for reading and sharing reflections. I am compelled by your idea to have an entire college…” Feb 2, 18:18
  • Diane Ragsdale on On a Strategy of Indeterminacy: Or, the Value of Creating Pathways to the Unforeseen: “Margaret, Thank you for taking the time to read and comment and for the warm wishes for my recovery. I…” Feb 2, 16:57

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A Few Things I’ve Written

"Surviving the Culture Change", "The Excellence Barrier", "Holding Up the Arts: Can We Sustain What We've Creatived? Should We?" and "Living in the Struggle: Our Long Tug of War in the Arts" are a few keynote addresses I've given in the US and abroad on the larger changes in the cultural environment and ways arts organizations may need to adapt in order to survive and thrive in the coming years.

If you want a quicker read, then you may want to skip the speeches and opt for the article, "Recreating Fine Arts Institutions," which was published in the November 2009 Stanford Social Innovation Review.

Here is a recent essay commissioned by the Royal Society for the Encouragement of the Arts for the 2011 State of the Arts Conference in London, "Rethinking Cultural Philanthropy".

In 2012 I documented a meeting among commercial theater producers and nonprofit theater directors to discuss partnerships between the two sectors in the development of new theatrical work, which is published by HowlRound. You can get a copy of this report, "In the Intersection," on the HowlRound Website. Finally, last year I also had essays published in Doug Borwick's book, Building Communities Not Audiences and Theatre Bay Area's book (edited by Clay Lord), Counting New Beans.

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