The 2023 Association of Arts Administration Educators’ Annual Conference
Hosted by Baruch College / CUNY, New York
Opening June 1:::Closing June 3:::Departure June 4
Pre-Conference registration is now open at a flat rate!
Pre-Conference Day
Registration is required. If you have already registered for the conference but would like to add the Pre-Conference day, you can still do so HERE. Pre-Conference Day registration fee is $50 for members, and $70 for non-members, and it includes free access to all workshops, Arts&Culture off-campus visits, morning coffee and the Opening Reception.
THURSDAY, 1 JUNE
Baruch College, 55 Lexington Ave, New York, NY 10010
12:00 pm - 5:00 pm Registration & Coffee
12:30 pm - 1:30 pm Fulbright Information Session for Arts Administrators with Aferdita Krasniqi, a Fulbright U.S. Scholar Outreach and Recruitment Specialist
1:30 pm - 4:00 pm NYC Arts & Culture off-campus visits
Concurrent visits to several art organizations and museums (Locations TBC). Sign up sheet will be added soon.
4:00 pm - 5:00 pm Journal & Book Publishing Workshop with James Campbell, International Marketing & Acquisitions, Intellect Books, UK
5:30 pm - 7:30 pm Opening Reception
Welcome Remarks by Dr. Linda Essig, Provost & Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs at Baruch College/City University of New York
Keynote Talk by Stephanie A. Johnson-Cunningham, Executive Director of Museum Hue
Conference
Baruch College, 55 Lexington Ave, New York, NY 10010 and Location for Closing Reception
Registration is required, and could be completed HERE. Conference registration fee includes free access to Opening and Closing receptions, morning coffee, Keynote talks, Plenary, and all sessions and partner events.
FRIDAY, 2 JUNE
8:00 am - 3:30 pm: Registration
8:00 am - 9:00 am: First-Time Attendees Welcome and Coffee
9:00 am - 10:30 am: Hosts Opening Remarks
Opening Plenary: How Teaching Arts Administration Students Positively Affects My Professional Practice
Presenters: David Milch and Baruch Faculty (TBC)
10:45 am - 11:45 am
Concurrent Sessions 1:
Stream 1:
Preliminary Findings from the PA Humanities Discovery Project
Presenter(s): Julie Goodman (Drexel University), Dr. Andrew Zitcer (Drexel University), Allison Wright (Drexel University)
Description: This research proposal presents initial results from the PA Humanities Discovery Project, a collaboration between PA Humanities, Drexel University, and funded by the National Endowment for the Humanities. The project aims to document the experiences of individuals engaged in humanities practices across Pennsylvania communities. The research involved a statewide survey with over 500 responses and eight focus groups with 10-12 participants each. The topics covered include how participants describe their work, themes addressed, engagement, location, support, impacts, and connections to other organizations. Additionally, the effects of social justice movements, COVID-19 pandemic, and other political and social events on their practice were explored. While the full conclusions are not yet available, this proposal aims to present a subset of the research effort. Specifically, the proposal includes social network analysis results using data from both the survey responses and focus groups to identify existing connections and networks among Pennsylvania's humanities workers. This analysis also examines how recent events have impacted their practice, including social justice, political, and public health factors.
These questions will be explored through multiple lenses, including the demographic characteristics of the survey and focus group participants.
Racialized Leadership and Organizational Performance in the Arts
Presenter(s): Charlie Wall-Andrews (Toronto Metropolitan University), Reima Shakeir (New York University)
Description: The aim of this study is to examine the impact of racialized people’s leadership and to see if it significantly predicts the financial performance of art organizations in Canada. We compared 12 arts (non-profit) organizations in Canada with racialized people in key executive positions and 14 arts (non-profit) organizations in Canada where all executive-level managers were white in 2014-2021. Both parametric and nonparametric tests were used to compare various numeric outcomes between organizations in the control and treatment groups. Our results show that racialized leaders in arts organizations enable at least the same and, in some cases, improved effects on the financial performance of organizations with white leadership in the arts sector. Empirical facts inferred from panel regressions imply that such assignments were, on average, associated with some moderately positive effects on revenue and net revenue. This paper illustrates that there is a need for arts organizations to embrace and represent more racialized leadership by using a criticality and a systems-theory approach.
Stream 2:
International Ecosystem of Arts Entrepreneurship Pedagogy:
Creating a New Summer School
Presenter(s): Dr. Natalia Grincheva (University of the Arts Singapore)
Description: This presentation will reflect on the experimental project of virtual student exchange developed in 2022 in the framework of the undergraduate course Strategic and Entrepreneurial Thinking for Arts Organisations at the University of the Arts Singapore, LASALLE College of the Arts. Under the pressure of border closures and significantly decreased students’ mobility due to the pandemic crisis, the module incorporated a virtual student exchange component to meet its learning outcomes, expectations and objectives. It was redesigned to accommodate international teamwork of students from 4 different countries (Singapore, Taiwan, Hong Kong and Japan) to develop creative start-up business proposals.
Through teleconference technologies and integrative curriculum design, the module facilitated international collaboration of students from partner universities, including Hong Kong Baptist University, Kyoto Seika University, and Taipei National University of the Arts. The presentation will reflect on the pedagogical implications of the experimental virtual student exchange to discuss how students across countries coped with the course work requirements and what challenges and opportunities did it create in the context of international arts entrepreneurship. Finally, the presentation will conclude by sharing plans of developing an International Summer School to be launched in summer 2024.
Teaching Artists’ Stories: Putting Teaching Artist’s Knowledge and Experience To Everyday Use
Presenter(s): Shanita Bigelow (University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign)
Description: This paper explores the inclusion of teaching artists in discussions about access to arts education, arts education policy, and the ways in which arts education curricula, teaching practices, and school/institutional supports are provided. Teaching artists, who are practitioner-educators, hold the requisite experience and expertise to offer a deeper understanding of what quality arts education necessitates. This study highlights the power and pitfalls inherent in their work, unpacking semi-structured interviews with self-identified, BIPOC, female, and gender-nonconforming teaching artists. By including the experiences and knowledge around teaching/learning practices, this paper emphasizes the importance of teaching artists in conversations around the importance of art education and the ways it can best be presented, distributed, and leveraged in the fight for educational equity.
Teaching artists, who work to maintain a hybrid professional identity and are placed in a myriad of educational settings, require ongoing professional and artistic development, and a community of practitioners or collaborators. This paper offers insight into their experiences in teaching and learning, showcasing the importance of their inclusion in conversations around the importance of art education, curricular choices, guest speakers, and collaborative projects. This study may provide conference participants, particularly arts administration educators, with an understanding of their work and lives in addition to their experiences and expertise as artists, educators, and community members.
Stream 3:
Artists as Co-Creators: Advancing Artists-in-Residence Models in the Local Government Context
Presenter(s): Hsin-Ching Wu (College of Charleston), Kate Keeney (College of Charleston)
Description: There is an increasing interest in the public sector in adopting the arts and culture in development and service delivery, such as culture-led economic, community, and workforce development, art-based approaches to health and social care, and the integration of the arts in education. Additionally, scholars have called for a more active role of artists as co-creators in collaboration with government and nonprofits to solve public sector and societal issues (Taylor, 2021; Woronkowicz & Schert, 2020; Wu, Keeney, & Burgess, 2022). Despite growing attentiveness, gaps remain in the organizing structures, implementation, outcomes, and most importantly value of arts-based residencies in the government context, especially in rural communities.
This research aims to connect the limited empirical knowledge and emerging practice of artist-in-residence arrangements. Specifically, this paper builds upon previous work (Wu, Keeney, and Burgess, 2022) that positions artists as co-creators when in residence or in collaboration with government in order to develop the potentiality of the artist-in-residence practice in smaller municipalities. We undertake a conceptual analysis of literature in order to 1) position artists as co-creators, 2) include nonprofit organizations as essential contributors and capacity builders, and 3) provide a framework for which to build understanding and evaluative efforts by multiple stakeholders. Ultimately, this research aims to advance understanding, impact, and ultimately adoption of artist-in-residence models in rural communities.
Passing the Mantle: An Exploration of Leadership Transitions at the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater
Presenter(s): Dr. Amanda Nelson (Virginia Tech)
Description: Founded in 1958, The Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater is one of the premier dance companies in the world. Between the years 2008-2013, the organization navigated four significant artistic and administrative leadership transitions: Artistic Director; Director of The Ailey School; Artistic Director of Ailey II; and Executive Director. All four of these transitions involved leadership roles held by women with significant tenures at the organization.
Succession is a sensitive subject that involves deeply personal decisions that can have significant organizational impact. The team at Ailey approached these transitions, the passing of the mantle, with empathy and intentionality: discussion and planning were coordinated and choreographed.
This paper will explore succession and succession planning through the observations and reflections of those who experienced this series of rapid transitions. The paper will examine communications (both internal and external) and logistics, alongside off-boarding and onboarding practices employed during these leadership transitions.
Stream 4:
Integrating Tessitura CRM Training into An Undergraduate Arts Marketing Class: A Case Study at Xavier University
Presenter(s): Dr. Jason C. White (Xavier University), Kristen Olson (Tessitura Network)
Description: According to the AAAE undergraduate standards, Marketing is about generating income; communicating a brand, mission, and vision; and understanding what your audience wants and needs. While most arts administration education programs include a marketing class or a contextual equivalent, training in CRM (Customer Relationship Management) systems is rarely integrated into those courses. This is unfortunate because large non-profit arts and cultural organizations increasingly use CRM systems to log customer data, track attendance and participation rates, automate the sale of tickets and subscriptions, offer programs and events based on customers’ cultural preferences, build and nurture personal relationships with customers, and to customize diverse audience experiences. As a result, job postings for marketing and ticketing positions in these organizations increasingly list a preference for candidates who are CRM certified.
Recognizing this need, Dr. Jason C. White (Assistant Professor of Arts Administration) contacted and partnered with Kristen Olson (Vice President of Learning & Thought Leadership) at Tessitura, one of the most popular CRM systems used by non-profit arts and cultural organizations around the world with budgets over 1 million. Together with additional Tessitura staff, White and Olson worked to develop a 16-week (undergraduate) version of Tessitura’s professional certificate program; Fundamental Ticketing. This innovative educational collaboration resulted in a new 3-credit hour undergraduate course at Xavier University called Arts Marketing and Ticketing. White piloted this course at Xavier in Spring 2023. Students took the course and provided feedback on the experience. In this session, White and Olson will talk about the co-development process, share student outcomes and feedback, and share lessons learned.
Enhancing Civic Engagement Through Artistic Programming
Presenter(s): Kaitlyn Hardiman (Oklahoma Arts Management Solutions / Oklahoma City University / University of Kentucky)
Description: This presentation examines how professional dance companies can redefine their community engagement by exploring the case study of RACE Dance Collective. Performing arts nonprofits, specifically professional dance companies, tend to rank lowest in civic engagement, but RACE Dance Collective is changing this by redefining who engages with dance and how. RACE’s mission is to “ignite social awareness and change through dance performance, education, and community engagement.”
RACE's annual production of "Race's Hip Hop Nutcracker" is produced in partnership with Oklahoma City Public Schools and offers high school students hands-on educational and performance opportunities. In response to a lack of engagement with the Hispanic student population, RACE translated the show into Spanish and programmed it for two of six performances, offering them for free. This subtle shift resulted in a 600% increase in project grant support from 2021 to 2022, with RACE being a new applicant to 70% of the funding organizations.
This case study shows how professional dance companies can achieve impactful changes in grant support, volunteer and donor engagement, equitable artistic interactions between community groups, community-based organizational collaboration, and promoting community education and awareness. RACE Dance Collective's innovative approach to community engagement can serve as an inspiration for other performing arts nonprofits to engage with their communities in a meaningful and impactful way.
12:00 pm - 1:00 pm
Concurrent Sessions 2:
Stream 1:
Career Impacts of the Pandemic: A Longitudinal Study
Presenter(s): Douglas DeNatale (Boston University)
Description: The Covid-19 pandemic had a profound and immediate impact on the nonprofit arts sector, leading to widespread closures and staff layoffs. This presentation will outline the preliminary findings of an ongoing study that aims to examine the career trajectories of individual arts managers who were employed by nonprofit arts organizations in greater Boston prior to the pandemic.
Employing a large sample drawn from over 900 nonprofit arts organizations in the region, we have tracked the career outcomes of individual arts managers through various sources such as organization websites, financial returns, surveys, and social media platforms like LinkedIn.
The study explores patterns of employment layoffs among arts nonprofits and investigates whether they vary by organization type and/or financial status. It also examines the characteristics of arts managers who were laid off during this period, such as their job function, length of experience, and educational background.
Our methodology allows us to investigate the subsequent career outcomes for these arts managers: whether they remain in the field, secure employment elsewhere, or are rehired by their previous employers. We are also examining whether they find employment in other arts organizations in the Boston area or beyond.
While we are collecting individual-level data, findings will be disseminated only in aggregate form to protect the privacy of the participants. Ultimately, this study aims to shed light on the impact of the pandemic on the nonprofit arts sector and inform strategies for supporting arts managers and organizations during times of crisis.
Acknowledging The Past To Build the Future - Responding to Cultural Appropriation in the Arts
Presenter(s): Pamela Yau (Drexel University)
Description: This session will provide an example and model as to how we as arts administration educators can empower our students with the knowledge and skills to take a stand in response to cultural appropriation and insensitive representations. It is important to recognize that our students will most likely have to deal with issues of cultural appropriation and insensitivity especially in dealing with historical examples that may arise in their work such as in a museum setting or in performing arts repertoire. A noted case from the recent past would be the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston's "Kimono Wednesdays" program incident that was deemed culturally inappropriate and insensitive as it was an inaccurate representation of Japanese culture as the program was inspired by and focused on an Orientalist painting by Claude Monet rather than authentic Japanese artwork. The presenter will present a case study of an exhibition that they developed (which included the involvement of arts administration students) in partnership with their university's historic fashion and art collections that both held examples of items and artifacts that may be otherwise seen as culturally inauthentic and even culturally appropriative of Asian cultures. During the session, the presenter will demonstrate how they addressed the issues of an orientalist past in light of the present day and how to educate our arts administration students in being culturally responsive and sensitive in addressing these issues head-on.
Stream 2:
Preparing Tomorrow’s Arts Leaders: Insights From the 2022 SNAAP Data
Presenter(s): Lee Ann Scotto Adams (SNAAP), Deanna Ibrahim (SNAAP), Dr. Jennifer Novak-Leonard (University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign)
Description: The 2022 SNAAP survey of arts alumni launched in the fall of 2022. The largest, most diverse group of institutions in SNAAP’s history participated, and for the first time, several community colleges and HBCUs took part in the survey. Close to one million arts alumni in the United States and Canada were contacted by SNAAP and invited to take the survey, representing SNAAP’s largest survey pool.
The 2015-2017 SNAAP survey yielded great insights for the field of arts administration. Much has changed in the world since then. In response, SNAAP developed new questions to measure the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and implications for training, education and employment of arts alumni. Additionally, SNAAP included questions to garner more insight on arts alumni experiences in terms of their sense of belonging during their educational experience.
As arts administration educators seek to prepare the next generation of arts leaders, what can be learned from the 2022 SNAAP data? SNAAP will present preliminary findings and leverage the diverse perspectives of arts administration graduates across cohorts, institution types, and more, to enhance our understanding of the current value of an arts administration education.
Stream 3:
Strategic Planning for the Creative Professional
Presenter(s): Javier J. Hernández Acosta (Universidad del Sagrado Corazón, PR)
Description: Many professionals in the creative sector rely on self-employment, making entrepreneurship skills essential to complement their training in the arts. However, most undergraduate programs focus on creating companies or non-profit entities, neglecting self-employment, and leaving students struggling to apply marketing, finance, and strategic planning to their individual projects.
To address this challenge, the Creative Professional Canvas was developed to facilitate understanding of concepts such as creative mission, identification of opportunities, business model, brand identity, and execution plan. The Canvas employs the use of questions such as why, what, where, how, and when to help students develop these critical skills.
This presentation will highlight the significance of individual entrepreneurship for all professionals in the creative industries, and evaluate the effectiveness of current teaching methods in imparting entrepreneurship skills to individual artists. Additionally, it will explore ways to eliminate language and business tool barriers, making them more accessible to artists. The presentation aims to contribute to the development of new tools to communicate the importance of entrepreneurship in the cultural and creative industries.
Preparing the Next Generation of Arts Administrators: A Dynamic Approach
Presenter(s): Mary E. Carlisle (Converse University)
Description: This paper will present results from a nested case study that investigated the relationships between the skills acquired through fine arts programs of study and skills used in the 21st-century workplace as perceived by undergraduate alumni from a rural IHE who graduated and entered the workforce between 2010-2019. Specifically, the alumni population studied are from three of the IHE’s School of the Arts (SoA) fine arts disciplines: (1) Art & Design, (2) Music, and (3) Theatre & Dance, for which the curricular framework emphasizes experiential learning and career readiness. Research questions that guided this study included: (1) What do fine arts alumni consider to be essential skills in their respective workplaces? (2) What skills do fine arts alumni believe they gained as a result of their undergraduate experience? And (3) How do fine arts alumni’s perceptions of essential skills in their workplaces differ across specific fine arts disciplines? Methods of inquiry used in the study consisted of an analysis of data obtained using three data collection methods: (1) Alumni Survey, (2) Semi-structured One-on-one interviews, and (3) Artifacts. The overall findings discussed will include (1) the embedded “hidden skill sets” that can result from fine arts programs of study at the collegiate level, (2) how these skill sets become tangible through experiential learning, and (3) how students perceive this preparation, which can lend itself into preparing themselves for becoming dynamic arts administrators.
Stream 4:
The Impacts of Salary Disclosure on Early Career Arts Administrators
Presenter(s): Karen Munnelly (Florida State University)
Description: The equity of including salary in job postings is a much-debated topic across industries, and some states have even adopted legislation requiring companies to disclose salary ranges. However, some companies have not adhered to this practice, posting unrealistic salary gaps or refusing to hire candidates in states with disclosure requirements. The lack of salary information can negatively affect job candidates, who may invest time and money in the application and interview process before learning if the position meets their financial needs. The gender wage gap and discrimination against people of color can also be perpetuated when salary information is not disclosed.
This presentation will focus on how salary disclosure in job postings affects early career arts administrators. Surveys and interviews with administrators with under five years of experience reveal that many prefer to apply to positions with disclosed salaries but face a lack of options due to the frequency of postings that lack this information. The findings also indicate that many early career arts administrators do not feel prepared to negotiate due to a lack of salary transparency and inconsistency in salaries across the field. Despite some job boards requiring salary disclosure, early career arts administrators still face challenges in their job search.
What Can Art Administrators Learn from Social Work?
Presenter(s): Marc Arthur (Wayne State University)
Description: This paper proposes that arts administrators can learn from social workers' use of art and performance practices to aid in individual and community transformation. Social workers are increasingly using creative methods, like Photovoice, to measure art's impact and address difficult topics. Photovoice is a community-based participatory research method in which participants are given cameras to take pictures that are then used to guide interviews and discussions. The paper explores how this method might be applied in museums, galleries, and performance institutions.
The author suggests that blending methodological approaches from contemporary art and social work practice can create more relevant and impactful social and political transformation. The paper proposes a few models for how an integrated collaboration between social work and contemporary art might reorganize museum governance and curation. The goal is to better connect art institutions to audiences and create more equitable and sustainable community partnerships. By learning from social work's emphasis on qualitative and quantitative analysis, arts administrators can develop innovative methods to measure art's impact and create more impactful programming.
Lunch Break: 1:00 pm - 2:30 pm
2:30 pm - 3:30 pm
Concurrent Sessions 3:
Stream 1:
Co-Creating Leadership Development: The Artistic Directors Initiative
Presenter(s): E. Andrew Taylor (American University), Ximena Varela (American University)
Description: Newly appointed Artistic Directors in professional nonprofit theaters inherit complex organizations, unique challenges, shifting contexts, and daily crises at the boundaries of aesthetic, institutional, and civic practice. In 2019, the Arts Management Program at American University partnered with Arena Stage for a pilot research project to explore this world. Project participants were Artistic Directors in nonprofit professional theaters, recently appointed to their position, representing racial/ethnic/gender diversity, geographic diversity, as well as diversity of organizational size and mission.
The central research focus was to discover and define the dynamics of Artistic Directors’ institutional roles and the environmental, social, and structural factors that focus or diffuse their work. Further, the project sought to explore whether a specific methodology, “consultancy protocols,” would be useful to both illuminate these issues and foster community among participants.
This conference session will discuss the structure, process, and outcomes of the project, and the discovered benefits of consultancy protocol, which helped participants think more expansively about a particular, concrete dilemma; developed their capacity, more broadly, to see and describe the dilemmas that are the essential material of their work; and fostered peer inquiry and group sensemaking to inform a productive response.
Stream 2:
International Research and Educational Ecosystem of Cultural Diplomacy as an Academic Discipline
Presenter(s): Dr Natalia Grincheva (Singapore University), Dr Hyesun Shin (Kyung Hee University), Dr Christina Kiel (Tulane University), Dr Zülâl Fazlıoğlu Akın (Ohio State University), Noor Danielle Murteza (Ohio State University)
Description: The Panel session will provide a forum for discussion of Cultural Diplomacy as an academic discipline in the context of international research and teaching. The panel will open with a presentation that will share the results of the most recent research project that developed a comprehensive overview of the evolution of the academic literature on cultural diplomacy since its inception. It drew on mapping, chronology building, and thematic analysis of 1663 sources published on cultural diplomacy in the Scopus database, the largest academic database in the world. The research findings exposed significant geographical and thematic gaps in cultural diplomacy academic research and teaching to suggest further trajectories for the development of discipline, focusing on diverse geographies, diplomatic channels, modes of operation, structures, actors, meanings, and implications.
Choreographed Careers: The Importance of Arts Management Within Higher Education Dance Programs
Presenter(s): Rebecca A. Ferrell (College of Charleston)
Description: While higher education dance programs across the United States do a tremendous job preparing emerging artists for the studio or stage, required courses focused on arts management and entrepreneurial skills are often absent or offered only as an elective. Technique classes, creative process, dance history, and courses centered on kinesiology are at the core of a BFA or BA dance degree and are promoted as a holistic approach to 21st century dance training. However, these curriculums are void of any life-learning tools.
The dance ecosystem is particularly laborious to navigate, even with an entrepreneurial spirit. Unionization is limited to those in large ballet companies, not the independent dance artists that make up a majority of the field. Large auditions calls and 40+ week contracts are no longer the norm, and the pandemic has illuminated inequitable contracting issues that are specific to dancers.
It is our job as experts in the field to prepare our students for viable careers in the arts and culture sector. In order to successfully achieve this, arts management and entrepreneurial courses should be required for all dance programs. Understanding legal terminology and tax withholdings, basic financial management, and network-building techniques are essential to creating a sustainable career within the dance field. This presentation outlines the importance of a career focused curriculum in dance and offers valuable examples of programs who have started to implement this approach within their dance degree programs.
Stream 3:
Shuffling the Deck: A Holistic Approach to BIPOC Arts Management Leadership Development
Presenter(s): Ximena Varela (American University)
Description: The arts management field has long been dominated by PWIs and white executives. BIPOC students often face significant, systemic hurdles in their quest to achieve executive positions in PWI arts organizations. This paper describes the approach one arts management program took to successfully diversify its curriculum, faculty, change internal systems at the university more broadly, and modify corporate culture at PWIs arts institutions in its community. The paper argues, based on eight years of evidence, that supporting BIPOC arts executives training needs to be holistic, sustained, and intentional. The paper draws on alumni, industry, and faculty interviews, as well as data tracked by the program, to share the lessons learned during this process, and raise questions about what is to come.
Stream 4:
Curating for Diversity: Two Case Studies
Presenter(s): Dr. Penny Brandt (Wagner College), Alika Hope (Notre Dame)
Description: The practice of "mainstreaming" lesser-known works by women composers is advocated by Richard Taruskin to promote the political and social causes of women, as it counters the belief that women lack innate composing abilities. However, Taruskin's decision to "mainstream" music by Barbara Strozzi instead of Giacomo Carissimi and his negative comparison of the two composers diminishes his activism. Artistic directors and educators must learn from this example and avoid tokenizing or "othering" composers in diversity initiatives. Programs and marketing efforts should not justify decisions or relegate historically excluded artists to lesser spaces to embrace diversity. This paper proposes new methods for curating for diversity and examines problematic historical practices. The Women's Philharmonic Advocacy and the Institute for Composer Diversity's research is used in two case studies: the Women Composers Festival of Hartford and Golden Hornet (Austin, TX). The study highlights the importance of creating diverse and inclusive spaces without reinforcing damaging stereotypes or biases.
3:45 pm - 5:15 pm
Concurrent Sessions 4:
Stream 1:
Horizontal Citizen Participation in Creative Placemaking: A Case Study of Franklinton Arts District
Presenter(s): Gillian Kim
Description: The rise of digitalization and globalization has allowed citizens to participate more actively in government administration, leading to the emergence of New Governance theory, which emphasizes a horizontal relationship with citizens. Citizen participation has become increasingly crucial in governance, including in creative placemaking, which involves citizens as key stakeholders in promoting regional characteristics. The Franklinton Arts District in Columbus has been transformed into an arts district to rebrand the neighborhood, with active citizen participation essential to meeting local needs during various development stages.
This study evaluates citizen participation in decision-making for the Franklinton Arts District and explores means of building an inclusive arts district. The research methods include field study and document analysis of East Franklinton
Review Board meetings from October 2021 to September 2022, which reviews every site plan in the district. By analyzing agendas, reports, and the arts district plan, the study investigates citizen participation in the decision-making process using the Ladder of Citizen Participation and New Governance as theoretical frameworks. Ultimately, the study will provide recommendations on how to prevent the homogenization of places and create a community-driven arts district.
Measuring Inclusive Leadership in Nonprofit Performing Arts Organizations
Presenter(s): Thomas Abruzzo (The Nonprofit Institute/University of San Diego)
Description: This research focuses on the development of inclusive leadership in nonprofit performing arts organizations, which historically privileged certain art forms over others. The study applies the Inclusive Leadership Questionnaire and develops the Uniqueness and Belongingness Index to measure the inclusiveness of leaders in San Diego County. The aim is to evaluate the psychometric properties of the instrument and index, explore the relationship between inclusive leadership scores and demographic and organizational characteristics, and provide recommendations for inclusive leadership practices. The nonprofit arts sector requires a new understanding of inclusive leadership due to its problematic roots in terms of privileging a dominant social class. This study is relevant in expanding work on inclusive leadership, as little is known about effective inclusive leadership, especially in the context of nonprofit performing arts organizations. By focusing on inclusive leadership practices, this research aims to provide nonprofit performing arts organizations with recommendations to create a more inclusive environment.
Stream 2:
Layers of experience: Arts alumni perspectives on institutional, interpersonal, and internal influences on their sense of belonging
Presenter(s): Dr. Jennifer Novak-Leonard (University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign), Dr. Shanita Bigelow (University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign)
Description: Sense of belonging is crucial for students' academic success and career outcomes. While previous studies have explored the factors that contribute to a sense of belonging among students, there is limited research on the subject within arts-related degree fields that intersect with the educational experiences and careers of arts administrators.
This session will present findings from three papers that examine the sense of belonging in visual and performing arts, design, and media programs. The research draws on interviews with 35 recent alumni of undergraduate programs and explores their experiences of institutional, interpersonal, and internal factors that contributed to or hindered their sense of belonging. The research considers varied institutional contexts, including special focus four-year, doctoral, and tribal universities and colleges, providing further insight into the relationship between students' sense of belonging and the structure of their educational environment and social identity.
During the session, attendees will learn about the motivation for the research, its relevance to higher education literature, and insights gained from alumni interviews. Attendees will also engage in a discussion about how to include the voices of those most affected by institutional policies and processes in order to improve the sense of belonging for future students.
Stream 3:
Global Conversations / International Dialogues (TBC)
Stream 4:
Crossing Perspectives / AAAE-ENCATC Partner event
ENCATC Research Award Presentation “Research on the Crisis Management of the Art World Based on the Perspective of Social Networks”
Presenter(s): Youyou (Ruby) Yu (New York University)
Doctoral Education and Future Arts Administration Educators: Challenges and Opportunities
Presenter(s): Anthony Rhine (Pace University), Gerald Lidstone (Goldsmiths College, University of London), Richard Maloney (New York University)
Description: The average age of college professors today is above the national average for the US workforce. With many faculty members at or near traditional retirement age, it is important for higher education institutions to recognize and actively address this challenge.
This demographic shift may be particularly problematic for the arts administration education field due to the small number of arts administration PhD programs – a traditional source of new faculty members – located in the United States.
While doctoral education has undergone tremendous change during the past twenty years, scholars have identified several issues that continue to worry current and future doctoral students. These include:
1) Student expectations of the doctoral experience and outcomes are not being met.
2) Historically low doctoral completion rates (about 50%) can leave students with increased debt and no degree.
3) Difficulty in finding a suitable job after graduation
4) Gap in funding between available scholarship funds and actual cost of living
5) The challenge of balancing home, work, and school life
6) Self-funding expensive doctoral degree programs can result in enormous debt
7) Lack of high-quality consistent engagement, mentorship, and supervision from faculty
8) Lack of faculty, department, and university support when writing the dissertation
To ensure the continued growth and vitality of the field, it is important to support students who wish to pursue a career in arts administration education. In this panel session, I will present the results of a large survey of arts administration students and alumni that captures their thoughts about doctoral education, and then moderate a discussion – focusing on the issues listed above -- between three experts. The panelists have a wide range of experience with doctoral education – teaching courses, designing programs, supervising dissertations -- at multiple universities in the US, UK, and China.
6:00 PM
Dine-Arounds
SATURDAY, 3 JUNE
8:00 am - 3:30 pm: Registration
8:00 am - 8:30 am First-Time Attendees Welcome and Coffee
8:30 am - 10:30 am Annual Membership Meeting
10:45 am – 11:45 am
Concurrent Sessions 1:
Stream 1
Student Organizations in Arts Management: Why, Where, and How
Presenter(s): Jim O’Connell (University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point), Destyni Green (University of Kentucky), Andrew Taylor (American University), Sherburne Laughlin (American University), Jeff Poulin (Creative Generation)
Description: While there is no national student organization in arts administration/management/ leadership, there are several examples on individual campuses, both graduate and undergraduate. Such organizations exist for several reasons, among which might be:
- to provide co-curricular/pre-professional experience, mentorship opportunities, and cohort engagement
- to continue contact, engagement, and support with recent alumni
- to increase visibility for programs and the field among prospective students, potential employers, institutional colleagues, community members, or other arts administration educators
- to enhance the satisfaction and retention of students.
This session will provide a forum for discussion of student desires and expectations for such organizations, their nature and focus, how they can be initiated and sustained on individual campuses, and how they might be scaled up (through either networking or creation of an umbrella organization) to an international level.
Stream 2:
Processes that support student research and artistic practice in arts administration: An Examination of “Chicharrón…”
Presenter(s): Dr. Christi Camper Moore (Ohio University) and Roberto Di Donato (Ohio University)
Description: This session will begin by framing the educational context and definition of the “artist-administrator” and how one graduate program is working to reimagine processes that merge and encourage students to innovate, practice, and research their art, alongside–and not separate from- their studies in arts administration. Next, we will specifically discuss what this looks like in practice through discussion of the final capstone project, “Chicharrón: a communion with the triple A’s: A reflection on the impact of my intersectionality on my identity as Artist-Administrator. This exemplar graduate paper/project, is an examination of who the student is as an artist-administrator and what it is, was, and will be like to conceive, produce, and tour a solo-autobiographical production centered on his Queer, Latino identity. Finally, this session will reinforce how education, research, and artistic practice do – and should - coexist to inform the next generation of arts administrators.
Stream 3:
Improving Creative Thinking Skills through Project-based Learning in Tertiary Arts Management Education – A case study in Hong Kong
Presenter(s): Dr. Sunnie Yang He (The Education University of Hong Kong)
Description: The potential impact of creative thinking and its contribution to successful arts practice has been argued over the last decade. Meanwhile, creative thinking has also been identified as making valuable contributions to arts and management. Cetinkaya (2014) and Kuo, Chen, and Hwang (2014) indicated that the application of creative thinking to management education is highly recommended, which needs to be developed through the learning process and still is a teaching challenge to date. This study implemented the project-based learning (PBL) approach as a treatment for tertiary arts education students over one academic year to examine its effect on their creative thinking disposition. Given this context, this study aimed to determine the improvement of creative thinking skills of art students through PBL in the arts management discipline. Consequently, the research question addressing the three dimensions is proposed and analyzed as to how they interact: creative thinking, project-based learning, and arts management education. Two theoretical frameworks were applied in this study: 1) the Creative Thinking Skills Development Framework from the Australian Council for Educational Research (ACER, 2020) and 2) the Essential Project Design Elements of PBLWorks (2015). The subjects were 52 art students from the Cultural and Creative Arts department at the Education University of Hong Kong. A qualitative approach was employed, while the data on students' creative thinking skills were obtained from observations, interviews, and reflective journals. The results indicated that the integration of creative thinking and project-based learning could significantly uplift students' learning outcomes in arts management education as they are in a complementary relationship. It provided opportunities for students in art management learning engagement and several areas of thinking skills development in relation to the current curricula objectives.
Stream 4:
Modeling Mental and Social Health: A Holistic Approach to Arts Administration Education
Presenter(s): Joshua Stavros (Southern Utah University)
Description: It has been a rough couple of years. With a pandemic, racial, social, and civil unrest, not to mention threats of war, areas of structural weakness in our approach to arts administration education have been exposed, and the importance of creating a classroom culture that is open, inclusive, and intentional regarding mental health and communication has been laid bare. Humanity is not on pause while we are in grad school.
With these shifts in the sand, our Arts Administration Program has taken specific steps to create a more holistic and “people-centered” approach to graduate school, particularly in the areas of the mental and social health of our students. In moving away from the common cultural hazing of graduate school (It was hard for me, so it should be hard for you) and into the world of safe and brave spaces, we have found that the students need practical long-term tools for stress management for themselves as they navigate their time with us, and that such curricular implementation can model the value and importance of creating the same in their future lives, both as arts administrators and as world citizens.
The goal of this session is to share what we have learned, what we would have done differently, and what the future of such an approach holds. We will share examples from our Program, Department, College, and University, on how we have moved beyond our comfort zone while defining healthy boundaries. This will inform the next generation of arts administrators as they do the same in their future arts management spaces
Lunch Break: 11:45 - 1:00 pm
1:00 pm - 2:00 pm
Concurrent Sessions 2:
Stream 1
The Braid - Facilitating the Facilitators (Sign up Sheet)
Presenter(s): Adelheid Mers (School of the Art Institute of Chicago)
Description: This session will introduce an arts-based facilitation practice, The Braid, by sharing its artistic and theoretical context along with an example of its application, followed by a 45 minute, hands-on workshop, and feedback conversation. The Braid's organizing principle is reflected in its three areas: Power, Publics, Poiesis, or in another alliteration, Managing, Mediating, Making (see more under the question on relevance). Unlike solution-centered facilitation methods, the Braid focuses on developing an ecological, institutional imagination from within workshop participants’ intersectional, lived experiences. Institutional imagination is a core component of leadership. The Braid facilitation practice can promote and root participatory leadership approaches. It can be useful for arts organizations, groups of administrators, educators, artists, and arts administration students.
Stream 2:
Engaging the Hyphen
Presenter(s): Meghan McCray (The Art Institute of Chicago)
Description: The Doctrine of Discovery, emerging from fifteenth-century papal bulls, provided a theological justification for European powers to "discover" and "conquer" indigenous lands, leading to the establishment of colonies in America. The rise of Bureaucratic theory during this period marked a shift in management and organizational structures, leading to the emergence of bureaucracy, which permeates contemporary organizations today. This paper argues for reconceptualizing prevailing structures by engaging the complex gap between indigene-colonizer relationships through indigenous scholarship, critical inquiry, research methodologies, and Māori research. The paper advocates for a "theoretical kinship" between Indigenous and Western approaches to business and calls for learning from rather than about the Other. The author reflects on personal conversations, thoughts, perspectives, and yearning for positive change from within, influencing their professional work, leadership, and management practices. Enacting these learnings in a position of power within a complex, colonial structure such as the Art Institute of Chicago can realize pedagogy as practice. The paper offers a pathway for change to happen over time.
Stream 3:
Beyond the Acronym: Accessibility through Values-Based Instruction
Presenter(s): Rachel Parker (Southern Utah University) and Dr. Amanda Nelson (Virginia Tech)
Description: The arts sector has expressed a commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) through anti-racism statements and proclamations of allyship. However, there is a need to move beyond the acronym to action and enact values in the arts administration classroom. This session proposes incorporating the elements of the acronym “IDEA” into curriculums, framing DEI through the practice of accessibility. The session draws on concepts from universal design, aesthetic accessibility, radical pricing, and values-based leadership. It offers approaches to leading with and through accessibility in core classes, such as ensuring syllabi and class websites exceed accessibility guidelines and framing course content through an accessibility lens. The session will provide IDEAs that can be adopted and adapted to meet the needs of arts administration programs of all sizes. Presenters will share accessibility approaches their own programs have adopted and provide a forum for discussion of ways to build greater accessibility awareness and practice in students. Through the session, participants will begin the process of conducting an accessibility audit of their own curriculum and course syllabi.
Stream 4:
Audio Description: If Your Eyes Could Speak
Presenter(s): Dr. Joel Snyder
Description: This presentation is not the result of formal research. Rather, it is informed by over 40 years of practice/work as an arts administrator and advocate for greater accessibility to the arts, particularly for people who are blind or partially sighted.
How can a blind person “see” a media event or a theatrical presentation?
This presentation will demonstrate how audio description (AD) provides access to the arts for people who are blind. AD makes visual images accessible for people who are blind or have low vision via a translation of visual images to succinct language. Using words that are vivid and imaginative, describers observe, select, and use language to convey the visual image that is not fully accessible to a segment of the population—the American Foundation for the Blind notes that 31 million Americans are blind or “have difficulty seeing even with correction”.
While literature exists that focuses on guidelines for professional audio describers (United States, U.K., Spain, Australia), little has been done to introduce arts administrators to the importance of including people with disabilities among the audiences for arts events. Specifically, people with vision loss are woefully underrepresented among audiences for the arts--not for lack of interest on the part of this underserved population but rather a lack of awareness of their needs on the part of society at large and in particular, arts managers and administrators.
This presentation will review the history of audio description with a focus on the nature of audio description consumers in the arts and how audio description techniques can build and further diversify arts audiences. These techniques (“The Four Fundamentals of Audio Description” developed by Dr. Snyder throughout the 1990s) form the foundation for building an audio description program:
- OBSERVATION: Active Seeing / Visual Literacy -- how to develop skills in concentration and observation
- EDITING: WHAT SHOULD BE DESCRIBED -- the art of "editing" from what you see
- LANGUAGE: WHAT WORDS TO USE – Brevity, Imagination, Objectivity
- VOCAL SKILLS: using the spoken word to make meaning
More Than Giving Grants: Conceptualizing the Potential for SAAS in Aid and Emergency Relief Efforts
Presenter(s): Kate Keeney (College of Charleston)
Description: Despite criticism of public art support at both the federal and state levels, it is this networked and “mixed system” (DiMaggio, 1991) that has supported public art activity in the U.S. since the mid twentieth century. The distribution of artist relief funds provides a unique opportunity for investigation into the model of intergovernmental relationships and policy learning present in the public arts sector. Framed by intergovernmental relations (IGR) theory, this research advances this networked system in the support of arts organizations and artists during times of economic crisis or natural disaster. The COVID pandemic is one of the few times that SAAs have supported national emergency economic relief, thus highlighting an important and expanded role in supporting the arts ecosystem in the future. The goals of this article are: (1) to extend theoretical knowledge of IGR to advance the role of SAAs in artist relief efforts at the subnational level; (2) to describe the policies and programs that SAAs implemented as a result of the CARES Act and COVID-19 crisis in the American South; and (3) to establish a basis for future research related to the role of SAAs as leaders and responders during a global crisis. Specific attention is given to the distribution of emergency funds to SAAs through the 2020 CARES Act and other programmatic and financial support mechanisms implemented by SAAs as a result of the pandemic. This analysis considers the important--and potentially lasting--role of SAAs in the support of economic recovery efforts for artists and arts organizations nationwide. The arts policy field in the U.S. offers a necessary foundation for imagining a renewed role for SAAs in artist relief efforts through the lens of IGR.
2:15 pm - 3:15 pm
Concurrent Sessions 3:
Stream 1:
Rethinking Feedback: An Innovative Approach To Empower Students’ Learning and Sense of Place As Arts Administrators
Presenter(s): Dr. Christi Camper Moore (Ohio University)
Description: In academia, feedback and critique from teachers remain key elements of students’ learning processes and education. As technology continues to expand, it can provide opportunities to rethink the delivery of this feedback, as well as the design and intention. This session explores an innovative approach that provides highly detailed, individual video feedback to every student on their course assignments. The videos are designed to engage and advance student learning, maintain a personal connection, and de-center the overt authority of teacher critique and grading. This session will offer specific examples and evidence of this feedback process through the following: steps and timeline, how various critical thinking strategies are utilized, and ways this process facilitates and offers different perspectives and approaches to working collaboratively with students to build connections. The session will also reflect on course evaluations and student comments, specifically providing insight on how they feel this feedback approach encourages them to reconsider community engagement, expand approaches to measurement and evaluation, and empower them as arts administrators.
Stream 2:
Arts Management and the Purposeful Dérive: A Psychogeography Management Model for the Creative Economy
Presenter(s): Mary Filice (Columbia College Chicago), Clayton Smith, (Columbia College Chicago)
Description: Psychogeography Management for the Creative Economy is a new model for arts managers that places people, process, and power at its core while leveraging the creative focus of psychogeography to assess, reimagine, and redesign work environments into creative, collaborate communities that foster inclusivity and innovation. The goal is to empower people to make meaningful changes that improve the ambiance, richness, and effectiveness space and processes, returning “worth, agency, and excellence” to arts administrators and ensemble members to better navigate and manage the dynamic environment in which creative organizations operate.
A creative practice, psychogeography examines how one’s environment shapes the emotions, behaviors, and thinking of both the individual and the collective that is typically applied to the performing, literary, and visual arts. By investigating the intersection of psychogeography and business, our model expands this practice by merging psychogeography and its primary element the dérive—Guy Debord’s theory of “rapid passage through varied ambiences…(that) involve playful-constructive behavior and awareness of psychogeographical effects” with the intent to transform environments—with existing business models as Management by Wandering Around.
Our model begins by focusing on people, the key to an organization’s creative, collaborative, communal, and inclusive environment. Yet it is precisely an organization’s people, its human resources, who are often overlooked due to the centralized and hierarchical structures that exist in many arts, cultural, and for-profit—which many nonprofits depend upon for support—institutions that comprise the creative ecosystem.
During this immersive, interactive session, participants will be introduced to the psychogeography concept and our management model; explore the dérive, or “drift,” a primary psychogeography element that resides at the core of our methodology; and, practice the dérive as we individually and collectively explore, assess, and collaborate to restructure our environment. Time permitting we will conclude with a creative a memory environment mapping activity
Stream 3:
Free spot. It was Wallace Presentation / Partner Event
Presenter(s): TBD
Description:
Stream 4:
How Do the Arts Fit Into Web3?
Presenter(s): Erica Bondarev Rapach (American University)
Description: Can you see a future where the web creates new and sustainable value for art? Have you considered how Web3 can create a community for artists and creatives? Are you ready to lean into the opportunities for artistic practice inherent in virtual spaces, artificial intelligence, and cryptocurrency? Are you curious how works of art can be both authenticized and monetized using digital certification and non-fungible tokens (NFTs)?
Let’s hope you answered “yes” to each of these questions. Or at least responded with a healthy “maybe.” And while there may be more questions than answers about the intersection of art and technology and finance, this intersection is becoming increasingly more relevant to creative practice and shouldn't be overlooked.
The Web3 space provides new tools for provenance when it comes to works of art including trackability, profitability and the opportunity to build a relationship between artist and collector. And Web3 is an ecosystem cultivated by people, process, and power.
While Web3 is a new frontier, debating what is art and who is an artist is not. But the debate is enhanced with the introduction of technological and financial assets that can be leveraged to grow community, expand artistic expression, and build better business. Arts administrators play a crucial role in shaping the relationship between Web3 and art. Join this 60-minute interactive session to exchange ideas and knowledge that inform responses to the questions posed above. While stories of lessons learned and success exist in publishing, fashion, and digital art, Web3 is vast and open. Be a part of the contemplation, interrogation, and consideration of how to fit Web3 into artistic practice, arts management curriculum, and arts administration.
3:30 pm - 4:00 pm
Concurrent Sessions 4:
Stream 1:
Empowering Arts Administration Alumni by Building Community
Presenter(s): Lorie Caval (NYC Department of Cultural Affairs), Anastasia Gudko, (Art Students League of New York)
Description:This paper aims to prove the importance of alumni groups for graduate students, particularly those in the arts administration field where professional networks are imperative for career success. In private colleges, alumni groups are typically supported by the university and often touted as powerful lifelong networks providing a key for upward social mobility. At public colleges, alumni networks, especially those targeted towards specific professions may be less robust or even nonexistent; a missed opportunity for alums as well as current students, faculty, and all potential stakeholders. Current students, once graduated, automatically become alumni - it is a constant cycle and pool from which to draw in community-building.
Written by an alumna duo of an Arts Administration Master’s program (2020) at a public CUNY school, this paper describes their journey in establishing a viable alumni network from scratch, driven by a need to build and empower community and create professional opportunities. The authors’ methodology includes research of alumni networks in colleges offering administration graduate programs, located in New York City, both at public and private universities. Anonymous surveys from graduates of arts administration MA programs will provide data about experiences related network-building and access to career opportunities. Research will also provide data about the diverse communities CUNY serves, pointing to pathways alumni groups provide toward increasing DEIA in the field.
For educators of arts administration programs, being advocates for the creation or fortification of existing alumni networks is a worthy cause with far-reaching effects. Investment of university resources towards alumni groups is central to their development, and the more active faculty and staff are in their participation or advocacy efforts, the better the possibilities of establishing strong networks that will serve alumni of arts administration programs and the future of arts administrators.
Stream 2:
Connecting The Last Mile -- A Study: Health Resources For Classical Pianists On Performance-Related Injuries
Presenter(s): Ellen Churui Li (Hemsing Associates)
Description: Working with classical musicians closely gives you backstage access to a world seldom seen under the limelight: 84% of musicians reported performance-related injuries, and 12% of professional classical musicians have to give up their profession permanently due to these injuries. What most people might not realize is: classical musicians are just like athletes. Their incredibly long hours of practice from an early age and challenging touring and performing lifestyle make them highly vulnerable to all kinds of performance-related injuries, both physical and psychological.
As an arts administrator, researcher, and friend, I’m desperately trying to find out what I can do for these musicians and future artists entering the stage. I researched the health-related resources available for classical musicians on and off campus for students in piano performance programs in New York City. I also combed through the curriculum of New York City’s piano performance programs to look for any classes focusing on performance-related health concerns and prevention.
There are, in fact, various resources locally and internationally for musicians’ health, including health maintenance tips, therapies, diet tips, referrals to specialists, financial support, etc. These resources, however, seem disconnected from students and potential students, as research showed little mention of topics about health for musicians on the school website or curriculums. Several schools offer classes on Alexander Technique, which is known and proven beneficial for musicians. Still, these classes rarely get advertised on the website or the curriculums and are either elective or only offered if suggested by the professors. As a result of the research, there is still space for improvement in the awareness of these resources as well as health topics.
Stream 3: Authentic Representation in Gaming
Presenter(s): Dr. Daniel T. Green (Carnegie Mellon University), Matthew Fiacco (Carnegie Mellon University, Siya Khanse (Carnegie Mellon University)
Description: Despite video games being used as a classroom tool for years, there is still resistance to embracing their positive aspects. Research does show that gaming audiences are more diverse than ever. This presentation is part of an on-going academic study related to on-line harassment, abuse, or doxing that people of color and female gamers often experience. A recent Meta study found that “underrepresented gamers would be more likely to feel excluded and less likely to engage” (Toh, 2022). Gaming companies may not fully embrace these minority groups as they believe all gamers as a monolith group. This fact raises questions about who is actually playing games, and if gaming enthusiasts are being effectively targeted in gaming marketing. In the team’s survey, only 35% of respondents saw gaming characters that represented them. The focus of this project will be to provide an approach on how the gaming industry can be more inclusive when building strategies around audiences. The presenters will share the results of the study which evaluated diversity and inclusion marketing approaches aimed at minority groups.
Stream 4: Why Is It Important That We Continue? Some Nonprofit Arts Organizations Rethink Their Value in Challenging Times
Presenter(s): Francie Ostrower (University of Texas at Austin)
Description: This paper examines how leaders and staff at one group of large, nonprofit performing arts organizations are thinking about (and re-thinking) the rationales for their organization’s importance and sustainability in a changing environment. The study found a surprisingly high portion of leaders questioning the adequacy of their traditional rationales. Instead, they felt change in the direction of greater organizational engagement with their wider communities was necessary to legitimate their continued importance. The paper analyzes these views, factors that promote and inhibit such change, and implications for arts management. The findings are considered in relation to questions and challenges (of audience engagement, value, and relevance) facing large, nonprofit arts organizations. Data are drawn from in-depth interviews conducted as part of a larger, multi-year, multi-method study of audience-building activities among arts organizations in The Wallace Foundations Building Audiences for Sustainability Initiative. The study was commissioned and funded by The Wallace Foundation. The author is the study’s Principal Investigator.
4:15 pm – 5:15 pm Keynote Talk by Mara Isaacs, a Tony® and Grammy® Award winning producer and founder of Octopus Theatricals.
6:30 PM - Closing Reception (Weeksville Heritage Center TBC)
Prize Winners Announcement & Closing Remarks
SPONSORS
Presenting
Claremont Graduate University
Gold
American University
Drexel University
Tremaine Foundation
The Sphinx Organization
Silver
Seattle University
Bronze
American Journal of Arts Management
George Mason University
National Coalition for Arts' Preparedness and Emergency Response / Performing Arts Readiness Project
HERE is our full 2023 Sponsorship Prospectus. Please feel free to reach out to Danielle Wyatt, at [email protected], if you’re interested in joining as a sponsor.
