ARTSblog

Marete Wester

With New York City baking in the east coast heatwave for most of the month of July, it was refreshing to head to the relatively cool, rainy, high mountains of Aspen, CO, in August for the third Americans for the Arts Seminar for Leadership in the Arts, held in collaboration with the Harman-Eisner Program in the Arts. 

This year’s program entitled “The Artful Entrepreneur: Exploring Philanthropic Innovations for Arts and Culture in the 21st Century” attracted 30 arts philanthropists, corporate and foundation leaders, arts administrators, and activists to the Aspen Institute.

Hailing from a wide range of diverging experiences, the participants ranged from individual arts patrons to foundation executives to venture capitalists, from grassroots community leaders to cultural policy experts to board members involved in major cultural capital campaigns. They rolled up their sleeves and spent two days wrestling with the particularly disturbing idea that on top of the arts losing their traditional philanthropic market share, we are also not on the radar screens of the growing number of social entrepreneurs who are sending their venture philanthropy dollars to causes other than the arts. What we can do to collectively change the trend was the question at hand?

We opened the conversation with findings from the National Arts Index, which demonstrate significant changes in philanthropy, consumption, and participation in the arts over a 10-year period. The findings that generated the most concern was the fact that while there has been steady growth in the number of artists and arts businesses for and nonprofit, regardless of economy, the data is clear that arts support tracks with the economy. If the likelihood is that we will remain on a downward trend now and for immediate future, our old business models are not sustainable in the current environment.

There are other paradoxes, too…

There is evidence to suggest that participation begets participation (though everyone seated around the table was skeptical about that finding, given the on-the-ground realities they are facing with their institutions.) Live performances are struggling, though personal creation is showing a slight uptick. While that may bode well for the arts over the long term, the benefit is less clear to the health of our major cultural institutions.  If nothing else, the data indicates that the time for a conversation about new business models and ways of making meaningful connections with new supporters is now.

The data helped surface some common themes and concerns among those around the table. For instance, in a funding environment where silos are breaking down and more strategic alliances are emerging throughout the social sector, often the arts are perceived as clinging to traditional ways of communicating value, i.e. support the arts because it’s the “right thing to do.” Despite evidence to the contrary, there still persists the perception that funding for the arts, is funding for the elite. Too little effort is put into helping supporters understand how we fit into the larger social fabric of the community or the social issue at hand.

How do we bring down the silos? Relationships are key.

The advice from the venture capitalists around the table was to get inside the investors’ head and find the “hot button”. You capture the imagination by finding out what they care about, and selling the message about what you do to the individual. The challenge is doing it in a meaningful, personal way. If you can find the connection, it is easier to build strong personal relationships with stakeholders up and down the support ladder.

There were no illusions among the participants that in this environment, this is easier said than done. Even among those who have strong ties already with movers and shakers, the case is tougher to make with competing social issues, more organizations and fewer dollars.

There was recognition however, that every other sector is in the same boat. Throughout corporate America, the philanthropic world, the independent sector—everyone is rethinking ways of doing business to accomplish what needs to happen. There is no magic bullet, nor right answer.

Therein lies the opportunity. If everyone is being forced to think creatively, strategically and long-term about their organizations and relationships, we have new opportunities to open up a conversation about the solutions we bring to the table. However, in order to tap into larger pools of funding, we have to make the case for what value we bring to the greater cause—or the interest of the investor.  Often this isn’t a stretch, and the evidence is there. Artists and arts groups have transformed neighborhoods and urban environments. They have helped reduce drop-out rates among high school students by igniting their imaginations and giving them a reason to stay in school. We do make communities better, economies healthier, and improve lives.

None of those may be the primary reason we personally support the arts—but they all should be part of what we can talk about when we talk to the people who are wanting to make their community, the nation or the world a better place—and are channeling their dollars elsewhere.

The onus was also placed on the field of philanthropy too. Participants recognized that in order to take advantage of new models of philanthropy, funders needed to support arts groups through training, information and technical assistance. It is one thing to open up strategies like microlending or cause marketing to arts groups, but too often the implementation strategy becomes “ready, set—now change.”

If funders want nonprofit arts groups to be more responsive to thinking through new business models, or funding strategies, they need to be prepared to support these transitions through training and incubator support models, or by supporting intermediaries to help arts groups build the capacity they need to actualize changes. The traditional nonprofit arts model by its nature isn’t designed to be nimble or entrepreneurial—its system of checks and balances serves best to create a governance culture of oversight, not one of innovation.

This is one of many conversations about the changing nature of philanthropy that Americans for the Arts will be having over the coming months. We look forward to hearing about what is happening in your communities—what new ideas are out there and how we can better work together to open new avenues of support for the arts.

Arts Watch is a weekly cultural policy publication of Americans for the Arts that covers news in a variety of categories related to cultural policy including Culture and Communities, Arts Education and the Creative Workforce, Public Investment in Culture and Creativity, and Philanthropy and the Private Sector. The newsletter also features an Arts Watch Spotlight item and Arts Canvas – News from the Field, a short piece written by a different Americans for the Arts staffer each week.

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