Tag Archives: cultural economics
Michelle Obama’s Bully Pulpit
“every day through engagement in the arts, our children learn to open their imaginations to dream just a little bigger and to strive every day to reach those dreams.” The numbers aren’t in yet, but it is estimated that a … Continue reading
Catch 23 in Kansas
Wichita Public Radio did a story this week* about the before-and-after effects of the decimation and then partial restoration of the Kansas Arts Commission, now the Kansas Creative Arts Industries Commission. The change is not just rhetorical. The piece lists … Continue reading
It’s Complicated
Relationships are complicated. Perhaps none are more complicated than the relationship between art and money. What makes the relationship so complicated isn’t “love,” but “value.” Economic theories from Adam Smith to Karl Marx focus on the distinction between value-in-use (a … Continue reading
Reading List in Progress
Many thanks to those of you who responded here or via email to my query, “What to Read?” With just seven sessions, it is especially challenging to decide what to read in a short one-credit course focused on arts policy … Continue reading
Why Arts Entrepreneurship?
After “Hey Where’d Your Creativity Go?,” the questions I get asked most often is, “WHY Arts Entrepreneurship?” It seems fitting that for the 100th posting on Creative Infrastructure, I answer that question. There are many reasons why I decided to … Continue reading
It’s Not the Economy
For years I’ve said that the economic impact argument doesn’t work for the arts and arts advocacy. We keep making it, but it’s not working. A comment by John Shipley on Ian David Moss’s Createquity blog brought into clear focus … Continue reading
There’s Something Happening Here – 1
What it is ain’t exactly clear, but there seems to be a growing questioning of the status quo, or rather the stati quos. Perhaps it’s a response to shrinking arts funding, declining audience numbers, exponentially growing means of distribution, or … Continue reading
Shifting the Level of Analysis
Adrian Ellis wrote a thoughtful and well-reasoned essay for the Grantmakers in the Arts website recently on supply and demand issues in the nonprofit arts sector. His essay provides enough fodder to feed several months of blog posts, and I … Continue reading
Guest post: Jaime’s Love Note to Arizona
*A Love Note for My Home State, On Its Birthday* Dear Arizona, A few days ago I drove to Globe to give a presentation at the Cobre Valley Center for the Arts. I left my Phoenix home around 9 on … Continue reading
