Category Archives: Arts funding

“Arts Groups Struggle to Stay Relevant”

Posted on August 20, 2013 by lindaessig

“Arts Groups Struggle to Stay Relevant,” is the title of a recent column by Kerry Lengel, theatre critic for the Arizona Republic.  In it, he summarizes the challenges facing the arts and culture community of the region due to significant … Continue reading →

Posted in Arts funding, arts infrastructure, Arts policy, Technology and arts, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , | 6 Comments

Either/Or or And

Posted on August 11, 2013 by lindaessig

“Opportunity cost” is a basic concept in economics in which one considers the cost of doing one thing as the cost of not-doing something else.  It involves a binary decision: if I do X, I do not do Y.  This … Continue reading →

Posted in Arts funding, Culture and democracy | Tagged , , , , , , | 13 Comments

Follow-up on Nonprofit/Commercial Coexistence

Posted on August 7, 2013 by lindaessig

In a post in June, I suggested that Commercial productions that benefit from nonprofit development pay a certain amount of after-cost profit into a fund, perhaps administered by an organization like Creative Capital or Doris Duke or even an agency … Continue reading →

Posted in Arts funding, arts infrastructure, Arts management | Tagged , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

Trying Not to Feed the Beast

Posted on July 27, 2013 by lindaessig

I started writing this post a couple of days ago about adding an ownership incentive to arts organizations: When I teach my arts entrepreneurship students about different business forms that are available for artists and arts organizations, I explain a … Continue reading →

Posted in Arts funding, arts infrastructure, Culture and democracy | Tagged , , , , | 2 Comments

Enough Already!

Posted on July 23, 2013 by lindaessig

I got one of those emails today in my personal inbox – one of those emails with bad news about arts funding.  The subject line read “House Subcommittee cuts NEA by 49%.”  The political posturing over what amounts to less … Continue reading →

Posted in Arts funding, Arts policy, Culture and democracy | Tagged , , , | 3 Comments

Can the Commercial and Nonprofit Sectors Co-exist?

Posted on June 10, 2013 by lindaessig

Diane Ragsdale didn’t necessarily write her post on the “long tug of war” between commercial and market forces in the nonprofit theatre in reaction to the Tony Awards, but that it was published the morning following is very apt.  Throughout … Continue reading →

Posted in Arts entrepreneurship, Arts funding, arts infrastructure, Higher education | Tagged , , , | 11 Comments

The Culture of Possibility

Posted on June 3, 2013 by lindaessig

I am an optimist.  Not a “glass is half full” kind of optimist, but a “glass is always 100% full” optimist (see illustration for an explanation). It’s all in the way you look at the glass. Arlene Goldbard is an … Continue reading →

Posted in Arts funding, Arts policy, Culture and democracy | Tagged , , , , | 4 Comments

From Reformation to Aggregation

Posted on March 14, 2013 by lindaessig

Two years ago, when Ben Cameron of the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation delivered the keynote address at the Second Biennial Pave Symposium on Entrepreneurship and the Arts, and in his Ted talk of 2010, he spoke of the arts being … Continue reading →

Posted in Arts entrepreneurship, Arts funding, Culture and democracy, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 6 Comments

Michelle Obama’s Bully Pulpit

Posted on February 25, 2013 by lindaessig

“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 →

Posted in Arts education, Arts funding, Culture and democracy, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Diversity, Equality, Bus Lanes, and Arts

Posted on February 19, 2013 by lindaessig

I had the opportunity to hear urban theorist and former mayor of Bogotá Enrique Peñalosa speak this week about his vision for more sustainable and egalitarian cities.  He is a public transportation and urban greenspace evangelist.  One of the basic … Continue reading →

Posted in Arts funding, arts infrastructure, Culture and democracy, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , | 10 Comments