Showing papers in "Journal of Arts Management Law and Society in 2015"

Means and Ends: A Theory Framework for Understanding Entrepreneurship in the US Arts and Culture Sector

Abstract: This article provides a framework for the conceptualization of arts entrepreneurship in the US by first examining a range of perspectives on the boundaries of the “arts and culture sector” in the US and then exploring in some depth four theories of entrepreneurship and how such theories may be realized within the arts and culture sector. Theories of firm formation are considered both generally and as potentially applied to the arts and culture sector, with examples of firm formation drawn both from existing literature and the author's direct observation of entrepreneurial activity. Finally, the essay connects these theories in a means and ends framework to provide a context for understanding arts entrepreneurial activity, especially in the US arts and culture sector. The theory that emerges from the examples provided to illustrate the framework is a simple one: artists form firms or otherwise undertake entrepreneurial action toward the end of creating art sustainably and they do so by discovering or creat...

The Synergies of Artistic and Entrepreneurial Action

Abstract: Arts Entrepreneurship education as a field continues to grow, but misperceptions of entrepreneurship seem to cause confusion among arts students, faculty, and administrators regarding the value of entrepreneurial training to higher education arts programs. These misperceptions are explored to determine if entrepreneurship, for artists, is harmful or helpful. By articulating the theoretical essence of entrepreneurship, it is suggested that entrepreneurial action is profoundly synergetic with artistic action and purpose, and that arts faculty and administrators can embrace entrepreneurship education and its value to aspiring professional artists.

From Sponsorship to Partnership in Arts and Business Relations

Abstract: A substantial amount of research has analyzed business benefits that derive from arts sponsorship and philanthropy. However, very little has been investigated about the influence of partnerships with the arts on businesses. This article highlights the particular nature of partnership and compares sponsorship and partnership with respect to business benefits. The quantitative methodology was applied, collecting data from 239 companies that collaborate with arts organizations. The study shows that partnership collaboration with the arts increases creativity and learning, and enhances positive relationships with communities and stakeholders.

Inside a Cultural Agency: Team Ethnography and Knowledge Exchange

Abstract: This article undertakes an auto-critical analysis of the research team's ethnographic study of Cultural Enterprise Office (CEO), a Scottish creative business support agency. We discuss the team's composition and how this relates to other analyses of ethnographic teamwork. Our research is situated in the wider policy context of the “creative-economic” turn in the UK's research funding. This has been accompanied by increased emphasis on “knowledge exchange” and “impact” in the drive for greater accountability in higher education. The team's evolution in the course of undertaking research is illustrated by reference to four “pivotal moments,” which illustrate how we “performed” knowledge exchange.

Diversity Matters: Theoretical Understanding of and Suggestions for the Current Fundraising Practices of Nonprofit Art Museums

Abstract: Using the theory of the commons and social obligation theory of inclusion, this article critically examines current art museum fundraising practices in the United States that rely too much on traditional White, wealthy patrons. This leads museums to emphasize the limited interests of traditional donors, neglecting the needs of and potential support from their broader communities. This results in the tragedy of the anticommons, where museums are underused by diverse publics. The article advocates for more inclusive relationship-based fundraising practices that build relationships with local community members and include their perspectives on fundraising practices through diversifying fundraising leadership, understanding diverse giving patterns, and utilizing innovative fundraising methods while remaining sensitive to cultural differences.

Angola and Kenya Pavilions in the 2013 Venice Biennale: African Contemporary Art and Cultural Diplomacy in the “Olympics of Art”

Abstract: A record six African states were awarded a national pavilion at the 2013 Venice Biennale, the premier venue for showcasing a nation's contemporary art, from which Africa has historically been excluded. While first-time participant Angola won the top prize, Kenya's pavilion was the target of bafflement and ire. Using a cultural diplomacy framework that integrates the insights of leading scholars, this research makes concrete recommendations for practitioners vis-a-vis a comparative case study of the two pavilions. Analysis and recommendations consider the interests of a variety of stakeholders and offer insights relevant to Africa and other emerging regions.

Nonprofit Organizations, Community, and Shared Urgency: Lessons from the Arts and Culture Sector

Abstract: Mainstream arts management and stakeholder research highlights the relationships between nonprofit organizations and community, yet empirical research on how those interactions result in outcomes is limited. This article looks at the stakeholder attribute “urgency” and the impact on and by the stakeholder group “community.” Building on a comparative case study of five cultural organizations and their capital intensive facility projects, our research finds that both new and existing organizations embrace a community-wide process whereby internal and external stakeholders are identified, relationships nurtured, social and emotional bonds strengthened, and shared urgency between community and organization is created towards specific outcomes.

Advancing Knowledge through Grassroots Experiments: Connecting Culture and Sustainability

Abstract: Since 2006, hundreds of communities in Canada have produced Integrated Community Sustainability Plans, based on a four-pillar model of sustainability and developed in consultation with residents and stakeholders These community-based experiments have developed models, knowledge, and insights about the place of culture in local sustainability Both conceptual thinking and planning practices regarding the role of culture in sustainable communities were at an embryonic stage when these initiatives took place The discussions, plans, and implementation processes have advanced both theory and “leading edge” practices with regard to culture and community sustainability, illustrating the importance of a robust relationship between research and practice

An Examination of the Perceptions of Stakeholders on Authentic Leadership in Strategic Planning in Nonprofit Arts Organizations

Abstract: Nonprofit arts organizations are experiencing declines not unlike those experienced by other nonprofits twenty years ago. At that time, key leadership in strategic planning reversed trends of decline. This research explores stakeholder perceptions of authentic leadership in strategic planning in nonprofit arts organizations in metropolitan Detroit. Eight arts organizations were represented in the study. Findings suggest that there is an insufficient application of authentic leadership traits, such as trust and empathy, in the strategic planning process of the sample organizations. Further, findings suggest that an imbalance between arts-based mission and commerce-based business in the strategic planning process hinders effective planning, leading to ineffective outcomes.

Literature from the Periphery of São Paulo at the Buenos Aires International Book Fair

Abstract: This article analyzes the participation of Sao Paulo as guest of honor at the Buenos Aires International Book Fair (2014). We will examine why the event's curators opted to take writers from the saraus, poetry readings on the city's outskirts, to the Fair, as well as the political arrangements that made the participation of those writers possible. We also discuss why participation in Buenos Aires was so different from that promoted by the federal government for other events, like the Frankfurt Book Fair (2013), where curators prioritized authors with greater prestige or international exposure.

Finding Politics in Cinema: The Portuguese Democratic Transition

Abstract: Taking into account the political and social transformations initiated by the 1974 April revolution and the process of democratic transition, this article analyzes the political context and issues registered in documentary films in the period 1974–76. In their own way, documentary films carried a certain cultural praxis and social memory through the variety of symbols, beliefs, values, attitudes, and discourses that lay within these documentaries, allowing us to evaluate the dynamics of both power and legitimacy implicit in political culture. This article will focus on the cultural and political implications of documentary films on political theory in regards to the Portuguese democratic transition.

Countering Critique: Expressing the Value of the Arts through the Artistic Rebuttal Project

Abstract: The Artistic Rebuttal Project asks individuals to express the value of, and to counter negative stereotypes about, the arts through the creation of rebuttals. Since its 2011 inception, 460 rebuttals have been collected. A thematic analysis reveals patterns in the rebuttals' descriptions of the arts' value. The amount of intrinsic expressions far outweighs that of instrumental ones. Themes most frequently expressed are Community Identity, Emotional Health, and Individual Identity. These themes and others are compared to existing frameworks describing the benefits of the arts, to better understand how the rebuttals reflect, advance, and counter existing paradigms in arts advocacy.

“I’ll Huff, and I’ll Puff, and I’ll Blow Your House Down”: Building the Resiliency of Education Departments in Nonprofit Theatre Organizations

Abstract: This study identifies five indicators that reveal the relationships between nonprofit theatres and their education departments. These indicators are: (1) the education department's founding story; (2) the ability of the education director to connect with other departments within the organization; (3) the capability of the education department to find and foster contributions; (4) the capacity of the education programs to earn an income; and (5) the use of data to link the education department with a positive future of the organization. These indicators provide a way to increase educational advocacy within theatre organizations and protect the future of the education departments.

Arts Organizations and Branding: Creating a New Joint Brand for Three Arts Organizations

Abstract: This article investigates brand architecture by analyzing stakeholder perceptions of brand images when a new joint brand is created for the existing brands of three arts organizations. The theoretical framework is based on previous literature on brand architecture and brand image. The empirical study is based on a quantitative, 418-respondent survey among stakeholders of these three arts organizations. The study makes two major theoretical contributions. First, the results show that the new joint brand can be endorsed by the existing sub-brands, contrary to brand-architecture literature. Second, even in the case of a new brand, stakeholders perceive the functional attributes as important.

Review of "New Collecting: Exhibiting and Audiences after New Media Art," edited by Beryl Graham

Abstract: New Collecting: Exhibiting and Audiences after New Media Art, edited by Beryl Graham. London: Ashgate, 2014, 254 pages, ISBN 978-1-4724-0643-9, $109.95.“New media art is collected. It's just that i...

The Impact of Independent Directors on Organizational Effectiveness in Monetary and In-Kind Stakeholder Dialogue Museums

Abstract: This study investigates the issue of stakeholder dialogue in the context of art museums. We propose and empirically test the existence of two different kinds of stakeholder dialogue: monetary and in-kind. By relying on a sample of 70 US art museums during the 2007–2010 period, we show that high monetary and high in-kind stakeholder dialogue museums are significantly different. In particular, we test the impact of the number of independent directors on fundraising activity and board monitoring. We find that a higher number of independent directors leads both to better monitoring and to improved fundraising activity, with the effect being stronger for monetary stakeholder dialogue museums.

Review of "Copyfight: The Global Politics of Digital Copyright Reform," by Blayne Haggart

Abstract: Copyfight: The Global Politics of Digital Copyright Reform, by Blayne Haggart Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2014, 370 pages, ISBN 978-144-261-4543 (paperback), $26.57, ISBN 978-144-266-6238...

Review of "Performing Policy: How Contemporary Politics and Cultural Programs Redefined U.S. Artists for the Twenty-First Century," by Paul Bonin-Rodriguez

Abstract: New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2015, 232 pages, ISBN 978-113-735-6499, $90.00Bonin-Rodriguez's Performing Policy carries the reader through two decades of innovative responses to the 1990s culture w...

To Do or To Teach? The Dichotomous Relationship of Cultural Work and Higher Education

Abstract: La culture comme vocation, by Vincent Dubois. Paris: Liber/Collège de France, 2013, 199 pages, ISBN 10:2912107741, $25.58. Cultural Work and Higher Education, by D. Ashton and C. Noonan. London: Palgrave Macmillan, 2013, 288 pages, ISBN 97B-1-137-01393-4, $85.50. Vincent Dubois’s (2013) La culture comme vocation and Daniel Ashton and Caitrona Noonan’s (2013) collected edition, Cultural Work and Higher Education, offer unique—albeit complementary—perspectives on the cultural sector and its relationship with higher education and teaching. In particular, both books draw upon the role education (and the education sector, both as educator and vocation) plays in shaping the professional trajectories of cultural workers. At times, these two sectors have worked in unison to achieve creative, academic, and economic goals; at other times, they have seemingly worked at cross-purposes, arguably setting each other up for failure in terms of establishing unrealistic expectations for graduates hoping to work in the cultural sector and defeatist conjectures for cultural workers looking at the education sector as an alternative work environment. However, to fully appreciate the context of the two books, it is perhaps best to take a step back and view the relationship between the cultural sector and higher education from an historical perspective. There is an old saying popularized by Irish playwright George Bernard Shaw (1903) that says, “He who can, does. He who cannot, teaches.” Inherent in this saying is the notion that only the individuals who possess the innate skills or abilities to perform and succeed in a set profession will do so; those who do not possess the skills to succeed—though maintain an ambition or passion for said profession or its field—will invariably become teachers of that vocation and its craft (Falcone, Ferson, and Hamed 2014, 96). While this saying may be somewhat defeatist in a day and age when the notion that one can do anything one puts own’s mind to is ingrained into the collective conscience of Western society, it nevertheless holds true for most professions,