3-hour comprehensive sessions on a range of topics.
Beyond Audience Development: Innovative Strategies for Performing Arts Sustainability
Speakers: Dana Peacock, senior consultant, Community Wealth Ventures ; Heather Peeler, managing director, Community Wealth Ventures
Earned income is a standard fixture in the performing arts financial structure. Beyond audience development and subscription management, however, very few performing arts organizations are discussing or employing other earned income strategies to sustain their organizations - many rely primarily on philanthropy.
This interactive session will provide participants with an overview of successful earned income innovations and present a methodology for identifying opportunities that you can apply to your own organization. You’ll explore ideas and opportunities that go beyond traditional forms of earned income, establishing
new lines of business that can yield both mission and financial results. You will also engage in honest discussion about the opportunities and barriers to innovative earned income streams. Participants will be encouraged to share their ideas and experience in an effort to explore the impact of these strategies
on their organizations.
The Not-So Distant Horizon: The Near Future and the Performing Arts
Moderator: Doug McLennan, ArtsJournal
Speaker: David McIntosh, futurist
How many times a day do you wish for a crystal ball to see if the risks you’re taking today will pay off tomorrow? Who can tell what trends will shape our lives in the years and decades to come? This session is your crystal ball—a futurist will share insights into current trends and what that means for the coming years. Participants will work together to articulate ways of addressing possible problems and taking advantage of opportunities coming down the road – before they happen.
Taking Art off the Shelf: What Do Today’s Audiences Really Want?
Moderator: Lynne Conner, author of “In and Out of the Dark: A Theory About Audience Behavior From Sophocles to Spoken Word”
Speakers: Jamie Merwin, founding artistic director, olive Dance Theatre; Kevin Noe, artistic director, Pittsburgh New Music Ensemble ; Michael Rohd, artistic director, Sojourn Theatre; Elizabeth Streb, artistic director and choreographer, STREB
The performing arts are quickly losing ground in today's fast-paced, high tech,do-it-yourself world. Caught up in other ways to spend their leisure time, many people are foregoing traditional arts events in favor of entertainment forms that are either inherently participatory or that encourage participation before or after the event. Given these changing cultural expectations, how do we invite our audiences to participate in meaningful arts experiences with us? Four artists from different disciplines and locations share their innovative approaches to the dilemma and invite you to participate in a lively, problem-solving discussion.
The Value of a Seat
Moderators: Charles Isherwood, theatre critic, The New York Times; Joanne Steller, vice president, strategic communications, Target Resource Group
Speakers: Jon Limbacher, vice president and chief operating officer, St. Paul Chamber Orchestra; Phillip Matthews, director of communications, Theatre Communications Group and manager, Free Night of Theater; Ellen Walker, marketing director, Pacific Northwest Ballet
Free is the new black!
Cheap is the new black!
Full price tickets are the new black!
In the world of reduced prices, ticket giveaway offers and season subscription deals, how is a company to know what works best? One side says that free ticket programs introduce new audiences to an art form they wouldn’t otherwise experience. Another side says that free ticket programs devalue the art and create an expectation of more free performances in the future. Yet another
group votes for reducing the price of tickets as the solution to the barriers of audience attendance. Others counter that price is not the only barrier. Critics of discounts declare that full price tickets create demand and excitement around a performance. Their opponents say that ticket prices are too high to fill a house. And so it goes….Who’s right? Who’s wrong? And who’s left with Standing Room Only?
Indispensable: What Does it Mean to be Civically Engaged?
Speakers: Sarah Johnson, director, The Weill Music Institute, Carnegie Hall; Jonathan Katz, executive director, National Assembly of State Arts Agencies; Cookie Ruiz, executive director, Ballet Austin
What are the characteristics of an organization that is considered truly vital to its community? Learn how to identify the relationships, resources and skills needed to effectively convey the civic value of the performing arts at this highly interactive session. And explore how changing demographics and new forms of community and civic partnerships impact your ability to bring the performing arts front and center in civic priorities.
Higher Education and the Real World of Practice: Creating a New Alignment
Moderator: Jane Polin, philanthropic advisor
Speakers: Warrick L. Carter, president, Columbia College (Chicago); Moy Eng, program director, The Hewlett Foundation; Ellen B. Rudolph, program officer for the arts, Surdna Foundation; Scott L. Steele, executive director, U/RTA; Andrew Taylor, director, Bolz Center for Arts Administration, University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Business; James Undercofler, president and CEO, The Philadelphia Orchestra
A professional life in the performing arts now has multiple requirements: artists excel based on a combination of talent, temperament and training, but they are also expected to fulfill duties that extend beyond their traditional roles as performers. While their professional training may have prepared them for their roles as artists, performing artists may have little or no readiness to deal with education and community, administrative, committee, or governance work—all roles in the larger community they may be expected to play.
At the same time, those receiving advanced training in arts administration may have a strong understanding of systems, but a too-limited understanding of the performing arts themselves, the nature of the performing arts careers or the skills necessary for success “behind the scenes” in our performing arts institutions.
This forum will explore the challenges of better aligning the preparation of those who enter the performing arts professions, on and off stage, with the real world. Informed by the latest foundation research, we will also engage in action planning that can help guide our organizations, and help guide the professional
institutions that develop and nurture current and future colleagues.
Nurturing Teaching Artists
Moderator: Eric Booth
Speakers: David O'Fallon, president, MacPhail Center for Music; Daniel Renner, director of education, Denver Center Theatre Company; Barbara Shepherd, director of national partnerships, Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts
Teaching artists are primary service providers at arts organizations; with the educational programming they deliver they are also delivering a message about the institution itself, directly to students, clients and the families of those we serve. Given the evolving challenges in arts education provision—assessment, partnership, differentiated instruction, teaching creativity, arts integration—our expectations of teaching artists are increasing. The success of our programs depends upon their capacities and commitment, which are in turn dependent upon the training and support they receive. In this session, we will discuss nurturing teaching artists from the philosophical and strategic perspectives, addressing:
•The teaching artist’s evolving roles as artist, teacher, mentor, evaluator, assessor, facilitator and professional developer.
•New frontiers for teaching artists working in corporations, social service agencies, senior centers, parks, prisons, etc.
•Pre-service preparation of teaching artists: Are they getting what they need in school?
•Supporting working teaching artists: How do we help them grow and sustain themselves?
•Professional development and collaborating with partner professionals
•Artistic development and connecting education and artistic practices
•Compensation and healthcare
Session leaders will share their perspectives and recent research on each topic; sharing their vision for the field and its impact in 2028. Participants will divide into teams to explore each issue area in-depth, with each team reporting back to the group as a whole. You will leave with practicable ideas and plans for the ongoing development and advancement of teaching artists locally and the field as a whole.
Assessment and Evaluation in Arts Education
Speakers: Robert A. Southworth, founder and director, The SchoolWorks Lab, Inc. ; Lynn Waldorf, principal evaluator, McREL
Explore strategies for student assessment and program evaluation in diverse arts education programs. You will hear about the constructive purposes of assessment and evaluation; explore the costs, advantages and disadvantages of various approaches; and will take away practical strategies and tools with you.
Each participant will develop an approach that will showcase his/her program’s effect on students and identify opportunities for program improvement and learn how to respond effectively to funders’ need for information about the impact of your work.
New Frills or Deep Change? Innovation and the Performing Arts Organization
Moderators: Melissa Dibble, general manager and director of client partnerships, EmcArts; Richard Evans, president, EmcArts; John Shibley, director of organizational learning, EmcArts
Speakers: Anita Angelacci, senior training specialist, human resources, training and development, FedEx Corporation; David Hawkanson; Martha Lavey ; Gaylon Patterson
Innovation is the buzz word of the moment, but it’s a buzz full of questions….. Everybody wants innovation, but what does it really mean? How are organizations that are constant innovators different? How can we design innovation projects so they really work? What institutional muscles should we flex? What are the qualities of a “culture of innovation” for arts organizations?
These are among the questions that this interactive workshop with EmcArts will explore. We will introduce a useful and provocative framework for thinking about innovation, and then explore its practical implications through real projects and programs at your organization. We will look first at lessons EmcArts has learned about incubating innovation projects, and then turn to the question of building your capacity to continually innovate over the long term. You will hear practical examples from innovative leaders in the arts, and there will be plenty of chance for discussion with your colleagues. You will acquire tools to use back home in your organization, and learn about how your Board, staff and artists can develop the capacity to adapt with real purpose — rather than just picking up the latest novelty.