This week’s public theater discussion at Arena Stage (aka, The Summit), caused quite a stir on the interwebs, primarily around questions of diversity and equity — or lack thereof — in the Washington, DC, theater scene. The Summit is a series of live discussions, curated and facilitated by journalist Peter Marks (described here by Mr. […]
The components of risk
I’ve been in a lot of arts discussions lately that wander around the question of risk. Most have been about risk-taking in audiences or communities. Some have been about risk tolerance and philanthropy. In these conversations, our language suggests that risk is a single variable, and that the individual is the best unit of analysis […]
New art vs. old growth
Science fiction author Bruce Sterling is a far better writer than public speaker. But in both media he can capture a compelling tension, conflict, or possibility.
Fostering critical response to complex experience
During the CAPACOA conference in Toronto, I attended a fantastic workshop on the ‘Critical Response Protocol‘ — a process developed to encourage reflection, connection, and inclusion in group discussions about artworks, texts, lessons, performances, or any other complex shared experience. Facilitators Judy Harquail and Tim Yerxa had been trained in the protocol, and talked us […]
That’s going to dampen fundraising
There are a lot of learning moments in this recent story out of Pennsylvania about a grand jury, a nonprofit, and the museum in the middle. And there’s a gut-punching sentence that might encourage you to learn from them: ”The grand jury requested the Pennsylvania Attorney General’s Office investigate and forcibly dissolve the nonprofit if […]
Curiouser and curiouser
Last week I had the pleasure of keynoting the CAPACOA conference in Toronto – a charming bundle of Canadian performing arts presenters, managers, artists, and related professionals. The topic, as assigned, was curiosity. Which led me to wonder a few things: what is curiosity, how does it work, and what might a cultural manager do […]
The Culture of Curiosity
I’m off to Toronto to offer the opening keynote and conversation session for the 2014 CAPACOA conference. Their theme this year is “The Culture of Curiosity,” which turned out to be an intriguing topic to explore and explain. I’ll share some of my key points from the keynote in a future post.
As it turns out, language matters
It’s fun to think that the new world of the Internet demands entirely new methods to connect and cultivate supporters. But as it turns out, many ancient practices still apply. Case in point, this recent study of successful and unsuccessful Kickstarter campaign language. It found that phrases connected to value for the audience, and confidence […]
Cats, the Internet, and the Lively Arts
This holiday season, our thoughts turn, of course, to Internet cat videos, and their implications for the live performing arts.
Ambient intimacy and the rise of the selfie
This month, the Oxford Dictonaries announced ‘selfie’ as their word of the year, noting that usage had increased 17,000% since January. A ‘selfie,’ as you know, is a photographic self-portrait, usually shared over social media, usually shot on a mobile phone (here’s a handy infographic). One poll in the UK found that 30 percent of […]
