Author Archives: lindaessig

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About lindaessig

Linda Essig is Provost and Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs at Baruch College and principal/owner of Creative Infrastructure. The opinions expressed on Creative Infrastructure are her own and not those of Baruch College

Tenure Note

Posted on February 23, 2012 by lindaessig

Jacob Oakley, editor of Stage Directions magazine, asked me to write a comment about tenure and promotion for the Stage Directions blog.  Here is what I wrote: There has been a lot of discussion recently in higher education administration and … Continue reading →

Posted in Arts education, Higher education, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , | 1 Comment

The Most Important Arts Policy of All

Posted on February 19, 2012 by lindaessig

Arts policy discussions tend to revolve around arts funding, how to articulate the value of the arts, the importance of arts education, building communities through the arts, and the like.  We are so lucky we can be having these conversations.  … Continue reading →

Posted in Arts education, Arts funding, arts infrastructure, Arts policy, Higher education | Tagged , , , , , | 3 Comments

Guest post: Jaime’s Love Note to Arizona

Posted on February 14, 2012 by lindaessig

*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 →

Posted in arts infrastructure, Arts policy, Culture and democracy | Tagged , , , , , | 1 Comment

John Dewey, Audience Development Expert

Posted on February 6, 2012 by lindaessig

While doing some other research, I came across a reference to John Dewey’s 1934 book “Art as Experience.”  I have been somewhat familiar with Dewey’s pragmatist philosophy for a while.  His views on experiential learning influenced my own thinking about … Continue reading →

Posted in Arts education, arts infrastructure, Arts management, Arts policy, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

When Needs Collide

Posted on January 26, 2012 by lindaessig

I’m using my blogspace to work on something I’ve been circling around in my arts entrepreneurship class the last two weeks.  It’s a large group (40 students), the plurality of whom are film majors, but there are also actors, graphic … Continue reading →

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Is There a Problem Problem?

Posted on January 15, 2012 by lindaessig

In a recent posting on artsjournal, Sarah Lutman asserts that the propensity for foundations to ask “What need or problem will be eliminated” leads to a “culture of pathology” that is “especially insidious for the arts.”  Challenging, yes, but not … Continue reading →

Posted in Arts education, Arts entrepreneurship, Arts funding, Higher education, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , | 2 Comments

Kerry’s Question

Posted on January 9, 2012 by lindaessig

Kerry Lengel, theatre critic for the Arizona Republic, recently posed the following question to me: “Is the business model for non-profit arts broken? If so, how can it be fixed – or replaced?”  Our phone conversation was focused primarily on … Continue reading →

Posted in Arts education, Arts entrepreneurship, Arts funding, arts infrastructure | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

Shifting Sands

Posted on January 1, 2012 by lindaessig

Happy New Year!  I started Creative Infrastructure one year ago yesterday to enter an ongoing conversation about the infrastructure for art, the arts, artistic creativity, and arts education.  Public policy is one element of that infrastructure, and an area of … Continue reading →

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How Much Is Too Much?

Posted on December 21, 2011 by lindaessig

The New York Time published an article by Patrick Healy last week about nonprofit theatres mounting commercial productions on Broadway, partnering with commercial producers, or extending runs or remounting hits in order to increase revenue.  Nonprofit theatres have to make … Continue reading →

Posted in Arts funding, arts infrastructure, Arts management, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , | 6 Comments

Data Dump

Posted on November 30, 2011 by lindaessig

An interesting discussion developed last week in the arts/theatre blogosphere around the issue of data.  Do we have enough? Do we use it? Should we spend any time looking for more of it? The last was answered with a resounding … Continue reading →

Posted in Arts education, Arts policy, Higher education, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , | 11 Comments