About 10 years ago I wrote about a TED talk Jamie Bennett made where he noted it was easier for people to identify themselves with athletes based on sports they may have actively played year…
Via Artsjournal.com, a thought provoking interview with Professor Justin O'Connor, author of the book, Culture Is Not An Industry. His basic premise is that if culture was an industry, decis…
Seth Godin made a post recently that speaks to the perception you either have innate talent or you can never be successful at something. This outlook seems to operate very strongly when it c…
Freakanomics did a two part show about how the Broadway play Stereophonic came together. The first part is broadly about the 11 year creative process playwright David Adjmi went through to m…
Artsjournal.com posted an article from The Yale Review reviewing a book about the benefits the Federal Theatre Project (FTP) of the Works Progress Administration (WPA) brought to Depression …
American Theatre posted a really comprehensive article about the challenges summer theaters are facing. In the wake of social unrest resulting from things like Covid, George Floyd, and Black…
Back in June there was an article on the Harvard Business Review site about 3 Ways to Compassionately Hold Your Team accountable. The authors of the piece approach the topic from the cog…
Seth Godin recently made a post that sort of wrapped the concepts of life long learning, creation being a process, and failure being part of any endeavor. He starts by saying Rome WAS built …
Earlier this month a piece on The Conversation site called attention to the often unseen contributions roadies make to the success of festivals, concerts, and theatrical tours. There is …
Thinking that free or discounted tickets will increase accessibility and loyalty is something of a pet peeve of mine. Yesterday I commented on a post Sean Kelly of Vatic made on LinkedIn whe…
A recent post from Colleen Dilenschneider and the folks at IMPACTS analyzes survey data that shows trust in cultural organizations has grown since the pandemic. Trust in cultural entitie…
The Western Arts Federation (WESTAF), the regional arts organization serving the western portion of the US turns 50 this year. They put out a series of videos on the history of the organizat…
Seth Godin made a post a week or so ago about the need to track things that are really important, but invisible to us or transpire gradually. I sense there is something valuable for arts and…
Bloomberg had an article on a trend that presents an opportunity for arts and cultural organizations. In some respects it could be considered rather mundane news " Gen Z Is abandoning dating…
Here is something of a metaphoric lesson for arts and cultural organizations about changing the nature of the experience you offer to align with the needs and expectations of your customers.…
I caught an interview on a National Endowment for the Arts' podcast with Tyler Blackwell Curator of Contemporary Art at the Speed Art Museum in Louisville, Kentucky. Blackwell talks abou…
American Theatre recently published a "Confidential Plan" written by Zelda Fichandler, founding artistic director of Arena Stage in 1968. Initially a memo written to the Arena Stage board ab…
According to a recent piece on CityLab, smaller cities and towns have much in common with smaller non-profits when it comes to applying for grants. They both have great need but lack the…
Continuing from yesterday's post about the Wallace Foundation's evaluation of their five year audience building and sustainability initiative, In Search of the Magic Bullet, the best summ…
Last Monday, Ruth Hartt sent out an email newsletter noting that the Wallace Foundation's five year, $52 million Building Audiences for Sustainability Initiative basically failed to identify…
Yesterday there was a report that the rate of violent crimes and some property crimes fell in the first quarter of 2024. However, that may come as weak comfort to urban based arts organi…
I saw an novel approach discussed for a concert by the BBC Philharmonic in Manchester, England where the concert is performed by the audience walking to the venue. Composer Huang Ruo's  C…
There is frequently talk about how the availability of arts and cultural organizations and activities are frequently a quality of life element that attract employers to communities. I got a …
You may have heard the disconcerting news that the 150 year old University of the Arts (UArts) in Philadelphia abruptly announced their closure last week, less than a year after Pennsylvania…
Interesting story in Bloomberg about what some arts organizations are doing to resist being displaced by gentrification. The article focuses on Alma Weiser who formed Equity Arts as a Pe…