Innovation and Resilience in a New Era for the Arts

Posted by Michael Barsanti | June 25, 2012

An image from the Wooster Group's Video Dailies Project Profile video, ArtsFWD.

The Philadelphia Cultural Management Initiative recently invited Richard Evans of EMCArts to give a presentation and lead a workshop titled "Innovation and Resilience in a New Era for the Arts." Evans’ work takes as its premise that arts organizations are operating in a new environment that will reward adaptability, engagement with constituents, and organizational flexibility. While a lot of these environmental changes are visible now, most of us are reacting to them incrementally. Our organizations are still structured to work best under the old system, which prioritized organizational stability and growth.

Evans’ work provides a clear framework for creating change—“adaptive change”—that will help organizations succeed in the new environment. The first step is to identify your core, underlying assumptions about your business, and to hold them up to the light and see if they are still true. It’s much harder to identify core assumptions than we think, and harder still to be able to line them up against the realities of our businesses.

Labels: artsfwd cultural management emcarts management philadelphia cultural management initiative presentation professional development richard evans

Survey of Intrinsic Impact Event Yields Positive Results

Posted by Jordan Shue | May 2, 2012

The Pew Center for Arts & Heritage and the Theatre Alliance of Greater Philadelphia co-hosted a March 23 presentation of research that measures the “intrinsic impact” of theater performances on audiences. Alan Brown of WolfBrown and Clayton Lord of Theatre Bay Area presented the findings, which are published in a book called Counting New Beans: Intrinsic Impact and the Value of Art. After the event, The Center wanted to learn how useful the research findings were to the attendees, and whether or not the presentation had encouraged them to revisit their current strategies for measuring intrinsic impact on their audiences.

We sent a survey to the 123 professionals who attended the event, and we received 82 responses—a very healthy, nearly 67% response rate.

The responses from theater professionals, at 30, was the highest number, but the survey showed that attendees came from a variety of disciplines, including 8 from the dance field, 7 from music, 10 museum and visual arts professionals, and 5 history and humanities attendees. These were encouraging numbers, because although the research focused on theaters, the findings are relevant to all disciplines in the artistic sector. The event also attracted 13 multidisciplinary professionals, as well as a handful of attendees from other fields, including data collection, sound design, and opera.

Labels: alan brown arden theatre clayton lord intrinsic impact new beans pcmi pcmi from the field philadelphia cultural management initiative philadelphia theatre initiative pti research survey theatre alliance of greater philadelphia theatre bay area wolfbrown

Exploring Gamification at the Inaugural Philadelphia Grassroots Game Conference

Posted by Jordan Shue | April 16, 2012

The increasing popularity of video games, which have infiltrated the realms of management and aesthetics, has increased the view of them as more than just a pastime. Video games can now be used to increase productivity and engage audiences, among other things. The old, rather narrow definition of video games is one that has shifted dramatically in recent years, with the advent of games that stretch beyond the reach of a stereotypical audience. Games are now so ubiquitous that the New York Times has begun reviewing them in its Arts section.

The democratization that gaming has unleashed on the world has wrought a subsection of creation that is continually manifesting itself in increasingly intelligent iterations that are both practical and aesthetically pleasing. "Gamers" can no longer be pigeonholed into formulaic identities like "geek," "millennial," or "social outcast." Gamers are the generators of an entirely new social sphere, which continues to branch out into other layers of social and demographic strata as businesses, individuals, and organizations discover the power of games in spurring efficiency, engagement, and healthy growth. Artists have embraced the power of games and the internet as inspiration for a new aesthetic ideal, both borrowing from and using the web as a medium for contemporary works, which often serve the dual role as social commentary and public platform for discussion, interpretation and invention.

Labels: games games & gamification for non-profits gamification management pcmi pcmi professional development philadelphia cultural management initiative philadelphia game lab philly tech week video games

From the Field: Arts professionals respond to research on Measuring Intrinsic Impact, Part 2

Posted by Jordan Shue | April 13, 2012

The Pew Center for Arts & Heritage and the Theatre Alliance of Greater Philadelphia co-hosted a March 23 presentation of research that measured the “intrinsic impact” of theater performances on audiences. Alan Brown of WolfBrown and Clayton Lord of Theatre Bay Area presented the findings, which were published in a book called Counting New Beans: Intrinsic Impact and the Value of Art. After this event, we asked several of the arts professionals who attended to write about their responses to the research.

This post is the second in a series in which attendees from many cultural disciplines weigh in on the benefits and highlights of the intrinsic impact measurement tools. In this edition, after the jump, we hear from Kate Tejada of 1812 Productions; Lee Price of the Conservation Center for Art & Historic Artifacts; and Grace Grillet of People’s Light & Theatre Company.

Labels: 1812 productions alan brown clayton lord conservation center for art & historic artifacts counting new beans grace grillet intrinsic impact kate tejada lee price new beans pcmi pcmi from the field people’s light & theatre company philadelphia cultural management initiative philadelphia theatre alliance philadelphia theatre initiative pti report research theater theatre bay area wolfbrown

From the Field: Arts professionals respond to research on Measuring Intrinsic Impact

Posted by Jordan Shue | April 5, 2012

The Pew Center for Arts & Heritage and the Theatre Alliance of Greater Philadelphia co-hosted a March 23 presentation of research that measured the “intrinsic impact” of theater performances on audiences. Alan Brown of WolfBrown and Clayton Lord of Theatre Bay Area presented the findings, which were published in a book called Counting New Beans: Intrinsic Impact and the Value of Art. After this event, we asked several of the arts professionals who attended to write about their responses to the research.

This post will be the first in a series in which attendees from many cultural disciplines weigh in on the benefits and highlights of the intrinsic impact measurement tools. In the first edition of this series, after the jump, we hear from Lois Welk, Director of Dance/USA Philadelphia; Matt Braun, Executive Director of the Fleisher Art Memorial; and Arin Sullivan of the Cultural Data Project.

Labels: alan brown arin sullivan clayton lord counting new beans cultural data project danceusa philadelphia fleisher art memorial intrinsic impact lois welk matt braun new beans pcmi pcmi from the field philadelphia cultural management initiative philadelphia theatre alliance philadelphia theatre initiative pti report research theater theatre bay area wolfbrown

The Pew Center for Arts & Heritage

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