Are you still looking at plays and symphonies and exhibits as your starting point? A reasonable approach in 1976. Big mistake in 2026. As an arts leader, one running an arts organization, how do you start putting together your season? It’s March, after all, and your marketing people want you to have something to tell the press shortly, right? Do you do what leaders … [Read more...] about You’re Not Still Planning an Arts Season From YOUR Perspective, Are You?
Freedom of Speech
Born in the DSA*: Gun Nuts Have Proven Irresponsible and Treacherous. Ban the F@#%&*g Things Already.
The image of the current version of this country around the world is that of a gun-happy, murderous, fascist state in which every weapon is available to everyone who wants to shoot up a crowd. If that perception is correct, why don’t we just get rid of the guns? Protection. Security. Defense. Murder. Suicide. The Second Amendment. Hand wringing. Thoughts and … [Read more...] about Born in the DSA*: Gun Nuts Have Proven Irresponsible and Treacherous. Ban the F@#%&*g Things Already.
Hello, Carol.
Are nonprofit arts leaders simply more susceptible to groupthink, even to their own detriment? After years of listening to artists and watching the 120,000 nonprofit arts organizations across this country, one pattern is impossible to ignore: the loudest, wealthiest institutions — the ones that issued grand equity manifestos — are the same ones now sprinting back to … [Read more...] about Hello, Carol.
Seattle Center is Falling Apart: Notes from the East German Judge
“Seattle’s Living Room” requires a billion dollar renovation. Here’s a thought… I sat in on a convening of arts leaders from across the country recently and heard so much unfounded hope, you’d have thought it was a tent meeting. I heard participant after participant blather on about what they wished for in 20 years, rather than answering the question at hand, which was, … [Read more...] about Seattle Center is Falling Apart: Notes from the East German Judge
It’s 2026. Oy. Is the Nonprofit Arts Sector in America Any Healthier?
Or is it like “climate change?” Is it too late to repair it? Oy. The next generation of arts leaders deserve better than what we’re giving them. I have been lecturing (really, just talking) to college classes of arts administrators of late, many of whose professors have put the Scene Change trilogy on their curriculum list. I find that decision hilarious because I … [Read more...] about It’s 2026. Oy. Is the Nonprofit Arts Sector in America Any Healthier?