Who makes iconography decisions in your arts organization? If you are the leader, it better be you. I have recently advised a number of student research papers that examine alignment between mission, program and iconography, and I'm appalled by the lack of synchronization. It makes be wonder, no suspect, that the iconography has a (false) life of its own; or … [Read more...] about Ten Work Items for 2011, Task #7
Ten Work Items for 2011, Task #6
Let's break down, get rid of the artificial barriers between not-for-profit arts and commercial arts. This artificial designation does us no good, as it causes internal sector strife, and confusion and misunderstanding among the public. There's plenty of really cheesy not-for-profit art, and plenty of high quality commercial art. Examples surely pop into your head … [Read more...] about Ten Work Items for 2011, Task #6
Ten Work Items for 2011, Task #5
Number 5 is short and sweet, like Five Golden Rings! Let's practice what we preach. Let's approach our work with creativity, and with an appetite for risk. Although my interpretation of his work may be over-simplified, Robert Persig, in his iconic work, Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance (and later in Lila), asserted that unless we are moving … [Read more...] about Ten Work Items for 2011, Task #5
Ten Work Items for 2011, Task #4
This one will be no surprise to readers of this blog. Let's really work on exploring and then considering organizational designs other than the 501c3. Yes, the 501c3 offers a number of seductive characteristics, but it is also expensive to operate, cumbersome administratively and has the potential to become insular. Organizational design, as well as … [Read more...] about Ten Work Items for 2011, Task #4
Ten Work Items for 2011, Task #3
Let's make a commitment to creating and nurturing cooperative ventures, not just within our inner circles, or our comfort zones, but those that stretch us artistically and those that make our entities more efficient. Face it: we're very, very conservative and unimaginative when it comes to artistic cooperative ventures. Our first thoughts are to cooperate with those like … [Read more...] about Ten Work Items for 2011, Task #3