When methodologies clash in search of the truth.
Artists not alone in steep climb to the top
From fashion to law, winner-take-all markets are all over the economy.
What am I worth to you?
Earlier this year, the New York Times reported on the controversy over the Upright Citizens Brigade (UCB) Theatre’s policy of not paying its performers. UCB is almost universally considered the leading improv theater in New York, and attracts much of the top talent. It’s not a small side project, or an isolated community; it shapesRead More
Around the horn: cease fire edition
ART AND THE GOVERNMENT “Kansas arts agencies have been on hold several months, waiting for a clue as to how state dollars allocated by the 2012 Legislature might translate into an economic boon to arts programs.” The recent public arts funding update had some grim news from the UK. Here’s one possible reason: an annual studyRead More
Around the horn: poolside edition
ART AND THE GOVERNMENT Americans for the Arts hosted a blog salon last month on the Common Core State Standards (“the next big thing in education”) and what they mean for arts education. I particularly enjoyed former colleague Richard Kessler’s “Steal This Blog” entry. Quite interesting analysis from Barry Hessenius of possible future directions for local arts agencies.Read More
Audiences at the Gate published in Grantmakers in the Arts Reader (and why it’s still relevant)
Readers who have been with us for a while will recall that in 2010, Daniel Reid and I wrote an article for Edward P. Clapp’s 20UNDER40 anthology called Audiences at the Gate: Reinventing Arts Philanthropy Through Guided Crowdsourcing. The article contends that traditional models of philanthropy, in which a single program officer or a handfulRead More
The challenges we face
Michael Kaiser wants us to focus on the reason why we do it (the art, silly!), but I’m more struck by his succinct diagnosis of why arts institutions are in scary times: The development of new technology has given our audience members new forms of entertainment and new ways to spend their discretionary time andRead More
TEDx Talk
“Never Heard of ’Em”: Why Citizen Curators (not Daddy’s Money) Should Decide Who Gets to Be an Artist.
Supply is Not Going to Decrease (So It’s Time to Think About Curating)
A response to NEA Chairman Rocco Landesman’s controversial comments about the arts market.
Audiences at the Gate: Reinventing Arts Philanthropy Through Guided Crowdsourcing
(This article originally appeared in 20UNDER40 anthologyi edited by Edward P. Clapp, and has been republished with permission.) Spurred on by major technological advances, the number of aspiring professional artists in the United States has reached unprecedented levels and will only continue to grow. The arts’ current system of philanthropic support is woefully underequipped to evaluate thisRead More