Arts Motivation

Arts Leadership readers might start to see evidence of a slightly obsessive professional crush on Albert Einstein. He says, "One of the strongest motives that lead men to art and science is escape from everyday life, with its painful crudity and hopeless dreariness, and from the fetters of one's own ever-shifting desires."

In both teaching and performing improvisation, I agree. 

However, this DOES NOT mean to say that when we become involved in an Artistic or Scientific Enterprise as a Leader we should ignore the realistic needs of everyday life and the ever-shifting demands of the public that would support our Enterprise. 

If Leaders ignore the needs of everyday life, we will no longer have the privilege of running sustainable Arts organizations. If Leaders ignore the ever-shifting demands and desires of the public, our work will cease to be relevant to the audience. And then, as an Arts Leader, we will have FAILED at providing that escape for the audience.

Arts Relevance

"With changes in audience behavior and the widening impact of technology, the live performing arts in America are facing unprecedented challenges." - Ben Cameron

Ben Cameron, Director of the Doris Duke Charitable Fund (DDCF) made this statement with a November 2007 announcement of a $15M donation to the Nonprofit Finance Fund. The hopeful objective of the donation, to provide leading Arts organizations with the resources necessary to test ideas for responding and adapting to the world around them and the complicated trends affecting the performing arts.

Are the countless social networking sites like Facebook and MySpace, YouTube, imeem, Google, SuperDeluxe, Flickr, and other online media sites preventing Arts organizations from reaching the next generation of supporters? Does the open source (read: FREE) state of the internet influence potential audiences to feel as if ALL Art should be available at no cost? Has the immediacy of the Information Age affected the longevity and impact of artistic works?

Ben Cameron believes that Arts Leaders must convey, not only the quality of the work produced, but the VALUE that the organization and its work offers to the community. He suggests that every arts organization answer three basic questions:

• Hard: What is the value of having my organization in my community?
  
• Harder: What is the value my group alone offers, or that my group offers better than anyone else? Duplicative or second-rate value will not stand in this economy.
  
• Hardest: How will my community be damaged if we close our doors and move away tomorrow?
  

Answering these questions will certainly help you reflect on sustainability. By considering the community as a potential audience that can exercise CHOICE, you are forced to reflect on your VALUE to that community and to reflect on what works of Art that potential audience might find meaningful and relevant to their lives.