Takeaways: Arts Administration Educators Conference
Submitted by Steve on June 3, 2012
Linda Essig, director of the Arizona State University arts entrepreneurship program, posts to her blog Creative Infrastructure:
I attended the annual conference of the Association of Arts Administration Educators for the first time, having now taught arts entrepreneurship for three semesters and seeing a course in arts management and another on arts policy on the not-too-distant horizon. This was not only an opportunity for me to share the work we’ve been doing on arts entrepreneurship in the Pave Program, but a far larger opportunity to learn what colleagues across the country (and some internationally) think about what is important to teach, learn, and research in arts management and administration and cultural policy. Here are some highlights from the formal programming.
At the first of three plenary sessions, Janet Brown of Grantmakers in the Arts discussed the organizational need for operating reserves and the implications for funders to provide enough general operating support to enable organizations to build that reserve. She reminded us to remind our students to:
- Take a long view on budgeting
- Don’t underestimate overhead and fixed costs
- There’s no guarantee that if you build a building people will come to it
- Boards are not saviors
- And finally, “Strong balance sheets make for artistic freedom”