Kennedy Center President Michael Kaiser is coming to Madison on Monday (August 24) for another stop in his 50-state ‘Arts in Crisis’ conversation tour. Hundreds have already signed up to attend the free event in Overture Center for the Arts. Even if you haven’t pre-registered, you can likely show up to join the crowd (2:00 pm book signing, 3:00 – 4:30 pm session in the Capitol Theater).
From the chatter online (on Twitter, for example, hashtag: #artsincrisis), these sessions seem to offer inspiration and positive vibes. So I’m eager to hear the word.
I’ll be the facilitator and interviewer on stage with him in Madison, where about half the session will be a discussion between us (mostly him), and half will be open to questions and comments from the assembled. Which gives me the opportunity to ask all of you:
What would you ask Michael Kaiser — especially if you’ve already read his book or his many missives on Huffington Post? Are there ideas that really connect to your work? Are there strategies or recommendations that won’t work in organizations, communities, disciplines, or situations like yours? Pass them along, and I’ll pick a few to throw into the mix. Then I’ll report back.
Just post your questions as a comment to this post. Or come to Madison (or some other stop on the tour) to ask them yourself.
Loved him here in Louisville, KY. He signed my “Art of the Turnaround”. An incredibly casual guy with extraordinary outlooks on the work he does.
In the NEA report, “All America’s a Stage: Growth and Challenges in the Nonprofit Theatre” 2008, two figures are presented. Numbers of NFP theatres with budgets greater than $75,000 per annum doubled between 1990 and 2005. Audiences based on a nationwide survey had not increased. Is the NFP theatre overbuilt–more theatres than there are audience numbers to support? Is some consolidation required? How would a troubled theatre–or other performing arts group–know that there was insufficient support in their community for their work and that the best thing to do is dissolve?
Training young singers, dancers, musicians and actors does not start in college. These artists have been studying and practicing , many since elementary school.
Most often in private arts schools and studios, as our public schools do not offer rigourous arts education curricula.
Then these young artists spend summers continuingto hone their craft through countless hours of rehearsals or studio time.
Then they attend an institution of higher learning that specializes in further training the now budding artists.
You dont walk into a music conservatory or a dance studio or theater programme etc and suddenly decide that you are going to be a violinist or dancer or actor.
It is presumed that the history outlined above is in place, the applicants cv filled with performances and competitions and a rich portfolio of artistic success.
Again – these experiences are not provided for in the public realm but in the private one. And the instructors in these private institutions are not making large salaries having themselves gone through lengthy and rigorous training.
Upon graduation will there be a job for these young artists ? Even if they are lucky to land a job in a local symphony or dance troupe or have a show hung at a gallery– the investment in their art is never reflected in their wages.
How can we create an understanding of what it takes to be such an artist. It is hard as pop stars make astronomic figures while the dancer in a ballet company scrapes together just enought from month to month.
Truly these young artists love what they do and are compelled to create despite the knowledge that there is not going to be a six figure salary for their efforts.
I am not putting a salary price tag on arts jobs but there is a deep inequity. What can be done???
Have him discuss subscriptions versus single ticket sales, currently a topic for heated discussions.
I would ask him to specifically address small-town and small-budget issues, if he can. I was moved by his Huffington Post article about his experience in Kalamazoo and I wonder if that changed his thinking about arts in smaller communities. I lived in large cities until 1992, when I moved to Green Bay, and found that things I had taken for granted were thrown out the window in a smaller community. For example, there may be fewer resources for board members to learn how to be good board members; fewer qualified people in the pool when a job opening occurs. How does this change his recommendations — or does it?
My question to Michael Kaiser is why is the US so far behind Europe, particularly Germany, in arts education, arts funding and general creative style and out put. I think it’s embarrassing that the greatest country in the world is so far limited when it comes to culture, creativity and education. Case in point: How is it possible that an institution like New York City Opera is left to fend for itself and nearly disappear from the New York arts scene. I think our political leaders need to have a good course in arts education.
I am working with a group of arts adminstrators to develop a new community wide model for the arts in Dayton, Ohio that hopefully includes new strategies for audience development, capacity building, collaboration, shared services, and governance. I would be interested if Mr. Kaiser has any ideas of what a new model for arts operation could look like, how it could be funded, and whether he has any cautionary talkes going forward?
Thank you.
We had Michael here at the Ordway Center for the Performing Arts in St. Paul for his Minnesota stop last week. He was, as usual, eloquent and passionate about the issues at hand.
I’m a fan of his work, but I would ask him how precisely he’s steering his own centre in Washington through a new government and a financial crisis when he’s spending so much time on the road as the nation’s de facto Secretary of the Arts.