Arts Leadership and the Changing Social Contract

In the past, a productive arts organization was understood to contribute to a community’s quality of life and help drive its economy — it was inherently perceived to be a public good. This “social contract” is fraying based on a growing awareness of the very real inequities that exist in the United States... The nonprofit arts sector, including its funders, is increasingly expected to do more for distressed and marginalized communities if it is to merit designation as a public good.

As demonstrated by Mark O’Neill and Susie Medak, many of today’s arts leaders are proactively examining and addressing the complex challenges that confront the sector. At the Hewlett Foundation, we believe that the vitality of the arts is fundamentally dependent on the strength of its leadership. For our field to thrive alongside change, we need to ensure that we are preparing up-and-coming leaders to match the challenges that will come, and not assume that the current leadership transition will take care of itself. I would argue that we need to be investing more in leadership development and preparing people in different ways to ensure emerging arts leaders have what it takes to lead transformations, as the changing social contract implies is needed.