A few weeks back, I got to follow NEA Chairman Rocco Landesman around Wisconsin (not in a creepy way) as he made a few whistle stops to celebrate art as a placemaker in communities. Of particular note was his visit to rural Reedsburg, Wisconsin, where an NEA grant is supporting the Farm/Art DTour, a self-guided […]
Dance v. Powerpoint (advantage: dance)
While a thicket of work projects has kept from blogging for the past two weeks, I couldn’t let this week conclude without sharing this fantastic TEDxBrussels presentation by science writer and ‘Dance your PhD‘ founder John Bohannon. Bohannon explains (and demonstrates) the expressive and interpretive power of dance to convey complex information. Since I work […]
A new invocation
I hereby nominate this video and this song to serve as an invocation to every professional arts conference in 2012. It’s short. It’s to the point. It carries an important message. And it sticks with you (boy, does it stick with you). There are big changes coming in the ways we make, curate, produce, present, […]
Mobile meets local, get used to it
In the world of retail, we used to think of in-person sales and online sales as distinct events. You could go to a store’s website and make a purchase. Or you could go to a physical store to make the same purchase. Or, more recently, you could pay for something online and then go pick […]
The arts at a crossroads…so says Ben Cameron
If you’re in the vicinity of Madison, Wisconsin, this Thursday evening, you should make your way to the Wisconsin School of Business where I’ll be hosting a public talk by Ben Cameron, Program Director for the Arts at the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation. Ben’s insights on the past, present, and future of artists, audiences, and […]
Zero-based budgeting, on steroids
There are many who wonder weather our current funding and support systems for the arts are equitable, or even aligned with what we would decide together we want in the world. Like all complex systems, the ecology of individual, government, business, and related contributions to artistic endeavor evolved in fits and pockets over hundreds of […]
Artists in search of a ‘liquidity event’
Last night I attended the Madison performance of Little Big Town, an alt-country group whose current national tour is sponsored by Country Financial (which is where I got the backstage invite…thanks Sean). And in the pre-show chat for the sponsor’s guests, they were asked about how they managed to endure as a band before they […]
Participatory practice in the arts
Arts organizations and arts funders have long been discussing the rise of a more ‘participatory’ interest among arts audiences. Beyond ‘butts in seats,’ this emerging interest suggests that audiences increasingly engage in expressive activity throughout their lives (online, at home, among friends), and they value a similar engagement in other cultural consumption. The James Irvine […]
Government. Arts. Agency.
Last week, I was honored to be a plenary panelist at the National Assembly of State Arts Agencies Leadership Institute, a gathering of directors, deputy directors, and council members of the state funding/support agencies. I was invited there to listen to their conversations, respond to what I heard, and share some insights with some rather […]
Relative wealth
Many people who haven’t done big-ticket philanthropy can be intimidated by the numbers. “How can I seriously sit across from someone and ask them for $1 million?” they will say. “I can’t even imagine$1 million.” And therein lies the problem. If your family wasn’t wealthy, and you’ve never been wealthy, your frame of reference is […]
