Research

Last update: 3/24/25

Given my position as a dean (2018-2021) and now a provost, my research output has slowed, but I still remain connected and engaged with my research program at the intersection of arts, entrepreneurship, cultural policy, and, separately, lighting design, each across the dimensions of theory, practice, and pedagogy.

Current Projects:

At the invitation of colleagues from the University of Indiana, I revisited my 2014 typology of arts incubators to address two questions: Are arts incubators still important for fostering cultural entrepreneurship in the US? Which of 43 organizations included in the 2014 typology are still operating, and what does their longevity or lack thereof say about the ways in which arts incubators do indeed foster cultural entrepreneurship? The resulting article, “Arts Incubators as Tools of Cultural Entrepreneurship: Ten Years On,” will be published soon in a special issue of Foundations and Trends in Entrepreneurship devoted to cultural entrepreneurship.

Based on this work, I was invited by Aårhus University (Denmark) to keynote a conference called “Creative Infrastructures in the Spotlight: Futures of Arts Entrepreneurship.” I will providing an overview of arts incubation practices and sharing those recent updates.

Recent Publications:

Creative Infrastructures: Artists, Money, and Entrepreneurial Action is a book of essays, recently published by Intellect Books, distributed in the US by University of Chicago Press.

Previous Publications:

“Value Creation of and Evaluation in Arts Incubators,” a qualitative cross-case analysis funded in part by a project grant from the Herberger Institute for Design and the Arts. International Journal of Arts Management.

“Same or Different? The Development of ‘Arts Entrepreneurship’ Constructs in the US as Compared to ‘Cultural Entrepreneurship’ in Europe,”  Cultural Trends.

“Networking and Entrepreneurial Success: A Review of Literature” This brief review of literature examines the question “What is the relationship between networking and entrepreneurial success generally and for artists in particular?” The review also exposes a lacuna in the literature on artist professional development and career sustainability: while there is some small attention paid to networking and artist careers in the gray literature, there is very little empirical research on the relationship between networking and the career success of artists.Sponsored by the Emily Hall Tremaine Foundation.

“Artist Professional Development Needs: Findings and Recommendations from a Survey of Artists and Organizations” This research seeks to uncover the professional development needs of working artists to create a body of knowledge from which resources can be developed for their use. Sponsored by the Emily Hall Tremaine Foundation.

“Means and Ends: A Theory Framework for Understanding Entrepreneurship in the U.S. Arts and Culture Sector,” Journal of Arts Management, Law and Society.

“Should We Build It? Will They Come?” A review of Building for the Arts by Peter Frumkin and Ana Kolendo. Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory

“Lowering Barriers: Lessons Learned from US Arts Incubation Practices,” keynote presentation for the First Annual Creative Initiatives Conference, Tbilisi Georgia.

“How It’s Being Done: Arts Business Training in the U.S.,” a report coauthored with Mollie Flanagan, sponsored by the Emily Hall Tremaine Foundation.

The Arizona Arts Entrepreneur Toolkit, sponsored by Arizona Commission on the Arts and the Women & Philanthropy program of the ASU Foundation.

“Designing and managing effective theatre internships,” panel presentation for USITT annual conference.

“Arts Incubators: A Typology,” Journal of Arts Management, Law, and Society

“Failure is a Necessary Condition: Goals and Evaluation Metrics of University-based Arts Venture Incubators,” Entrepreneurship Research Journal

“Frameworks for Educating the Artist of the Future: Habits of Mind for Arts Entrepreneurship,” Artivate: A Journal of Entrepreneurship in the Arts

Lighting and the Design Idea, 3rd edition, co-authored with Jennifer Setlow.

“Slow and Fast Learning in the Digital Age,” Symposium Magazine