For years, my work has been built on three simple premises. First, the combination of skyrocketing costs and rapidly withering traditional arts funding represents an unavoidable, near-term, existential crisis for arts organizations. Second, the only path to viability is a dramatic increase of arts organizations' reach–the pool of people who could realistically become arts supporters. Third, the means to that end is the development of trusting, … [Read more...]
Existential Threats
I have written about this basic topic on numerous occasions but I keep getting asked related questions in new ways. Toward the end of last year someone asked what was the most important reason for arts organizations to embrace community engagement: economic viability or cultural justice. Before I try to address the question, let me summarize the basic points. The first is that due to rapidly increasing costs, demographic shifts in the … [Read more...]