July 2010 Newsletter

We just returned from the Americans for the Arts 50th Anniversary Summit in Baltimore, three days full of thought-provoking sessions and seeing colleagues from around the country. Arianna Huffington of The Huffington Post, and Robert Redford kicked off the Summit and our new NEA Chair, Rocco Landesman, gave an address which outlined the efforts he is making toward bringing all our federal agencies into engaging the arts in their work – agriculture, transportation, housing and urban development, to name a few. The tone of the conference was upbeat and energetic and the 1000+ attendees came away re-energized and hopefully refreshed as well. Themes echoed the ideas discussed at the Arts Presenters Conference in January. It is good to see that different segments of the arts community are on the same page! While the messages are tried and true, they are always worth hearing again.

Some take-aways: "It's not about 'stuff', it's about the experience." Everyone's experience – participants, audiences, staff, volunteers. "What kind of transactional gateways do we want to put in front of the arts experience for our audiences?" In other words, look hard at ticket prices. Break down the silos between contributed income, ticket income, concession income etc and look at what your bottom line is and how you can deliver more for less or find new sources of revenue. Who are you communicating with, networking with? All kinds of prospective donors will want to know the answer. It is expected that you will be constantly examining your communications and collaboration activities. Look at international opportunities, environmental opportunities to see how your work relates to the global issues we face. Oh, yes, be fearless and keep true to your mission or change the mission! Easy to say, we know.

We also learned more about a great new initiative, Arts Ready, a service available to all cultural organizations through South Arts, based in Atlanta. Arts Ready is a web-based resource to help organizations be prepared for the unexpected, the unforeseen – from broken pipes to fire and flood. Go to www.artsready.org for more information.

In July we will be at the League of Historic American Theatres Conference (www.lhat.org) in San Antonio. More learning!

Our best wishes for a great summer!