The “Phantom Effect,” family and friends, and a wish for 2023 for my fellow arts people The year is coming to an end. It seems that every year’s end, I feel sadder and sadder because we as the people of the United States always insist on taking two steps forward, three steps back, four steps sideways, and then get crushed by the old Monty Python 16-ton … [Read more...] about Isolation: Nonprofit Arts Organizations, Can You Help With That?
Charity
Why Successful Nonprofit Arts Organizations Are More Like Restaurants Than You Think
Read the menu. It’s for a restaurant called El Bistró Argentino (The Argentinian Bistro). Do you believe that French food is their specialty? Do they believe it? Peanut butter and banana toast? And with Wonder® Bread, no less? And did you notice the prices? Let me ask you: if you wanted a French, Italian, or Chinese dinner, or a greasy spoon breakfast, might you … [Read more...] about Why Successful Nonprofit Arts Organizations Are More Like Restaurants Than You Think
What’s the Difference Between Stocking a Buffet and Feeding Hungry People?
Thanksgiving’s coming (here in the US, that is. It already happened in Canada because they’re way ahead of us on so many things, like universal healthcare, eh?). It’s on the 24th of the month. As a typical American, you will spend the week cooking up a storm. Well, not so much a storm as a typhoon. Generally, you’ll roast a turkey, make an accompanying gravy, and fix your … [Read more...] about What’s the Difference Between Stocking a Buffet and Feeding Hungry People?
Why the Van Gogh Assault Matters to Nonprofit Arts Organizations
It's not what you think. On October 14, 2022, in Room 43 of the National Gallery in London, at approximately 11:00am, protesters threw tomato soup at a Van Gogh painting of sunflowers. It drenched the glass that protects the painting, something the protesters took into account before embarking on Tomato-gate. Pronounced “tō-mäʹ-tō-gāt.” In retaliation, I have thrown … [Read more...] about Why the Van Gogh Assault Matters to Nonprofit Arts Organizations