Interesting thoughts on artistry and authorship in this excerpt from Aram Sinnreich’s book Mashed Up: Music, Technology, and the Rise of Configurable Culture. It’s now a well-worn story that technology is blurring the line between artist and audience, and our understanding of art-making and artists is evolving. But Sinnreich tells the story rather well. Says he: […]
Economies of Life
Most conversations that try to connect ”the arts” to ”the economy” are exercises in frustration. For arts enthusiasts, the conversations seem cold and disconnected, but necessary to advance the cause. For non-enthusiasts interested a strong economy, the conversations seem like sales pitches more than substance. But in his lovely collection of essays entitled Economies of […]
Are you ready for Facebook Places?
Facebook unveiled its new “Places” feature last night, a riff on other geolocation and tagging systems already in vogue among the mobilirati. In a nutshell, Places makes your current location (latitude and longitude) part of the menu when posting what you’re doing, what your thinking, or what you’d like to share. Further, it lets businesses […]
Connecting the dots, again
The artist service and support organization Fractured Atlas has a knack for offering what’s necessary and useful on the path from creative inspiration to realized experience. Their service areas may not be glamorous — health and liability insurance, technology infrastructure, fiscal sponsorship — but they are essential elements for independent artists or arts groups striving […]
One business model to rule them all
A favorite moment in my arts conference trek this summer was an Americans for the Arts panel on new business models in the arts. Clara Miller of the Nonprofit Finance Fund cut through the clutter with this little phrase: ”There is one business model: reliable revenue that meets or exceeds expenses. Any questions?” This after […]
Art, disease, and economics
Economist John Kay offers a useful rant against our common approach to measuring economic impact for the arts (and sports, and leisure activities). He begins the rant by applying that very same approach to a less desirable social element: disease. Many people underestimate the contribution disease makes to the economy. In Britain, more than a […]
Happy Birthday Blog
Just a quick summer-hiatus post to recognize the seventh birthday of this blog, which launched on this day way back in 2003 (aka, “olden times”). Lots of great conversation, confusions, and connections in those years. And I hope many more to come. When I get my brain out of current summer projects, I’ll be back […]
Few and far between
Over the summer months, I’ll be blogging less often, with long stretches in between. Lots of reconstruction and reframing to do for the MBA/Arts Administration program I direct at the Wisconsin School of Business. And a few too many conferences in the way. Hope to see some at the Theatre Communications Group conference in Chicago […]
Let’s get ready to mingle
Trendwatching’s latest trend analysis suggest that the online world is not driving citizens into digital isolation. Rather, it is fueling real-world gathering at a new scope and scale. Says the summary of ”Mass Mingling”: Thanks to the online revolution, hundreds of millions are now actively searching for, finding, connecting/signaling, and staying in touch with likeminded […]
Tax-status agnostic
I’m in Washington, DC, for my final conference as president of the Association of Arts Administration Educators. These are colleagues from around the world who direct and/or teach in undergraduate or graduate degree programs in arts administration (or cultural management, or cultural policy, or…). Looking forward to keynotes by the Kennedy Center’s Michael Kaiser, the […]
