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Weekly Features (scroll down to find them)
​Function of the Week: Gifts & Grants | Framework of the Week: Capital Continuum​
Questions? Ask ArtsManaged

Dear Reader,

All arts endeavors are fueled by gifts – whether the gifts of insight and impulse flowing through the artists, or the gifts of time, talent, and treasure that nurture that work into the living world. Arts Management, therefore, is deeply entangled with the cultivation, care, and consequence of giving and of gifts. That turns out to be one of the greatest joys and most durable challenges of a professional life in the arts.

As Lewis Hyde details in The Gift: How the Creative Spirit Transforms the World, artistic expression lives at a complex intersection:

In any nonprofit arts organization, these two economies are encoded in the operating budget. One category of income is recorded as "earned" – generated through exchange of goods or services. The other category of income is recorded as "contributed" – received as gifts or grants from individuals, foundations, corporations, or governments.

Of course, neither the earned nor the contributed income is purely "market" or "gift." The impulse for ticket or entry fee purchase is often infused with generosity, joy, and community spirit. As Hyde puts it:

And, many (most?) forms of gift or grant income arrive with expectations for positive return – if not in money, then in social, civic, or status outcomes. Any seasoned development professional will tell you that wealth wants things in return for its gift (not always, but often). And our effort to center the donors in creative work, rather than the creative community, gets us in all sorts of trouble.

I often joke that graduate study in Arts Management is equal parts MBA and Master of Divinity. The practice demands a deep understanding of markets and money, of course, but also a durable commitment to the generous, communal, and spiritual core of what we do.

Andrew

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Function of the Week: Gifts & Grants​

Gifts & Grants involve attracting, securing, aligning, and retaining contributed resources (also called fundraising or development).

Framework of the Week: Capital Continuum​

Capital is accumulated wealth that is invested, or available for investment, toward a purpose. In the for-profit world, that purpose is usually more wealth. But capital can also be applied to support artistic, social, civic, or other purposes. The Capital Continuum describes the full array of ways that capital can be applied to achieve a purpose – from private equity investment on one side of the continuum to gift or grant support on the other.

Have a Question? Ask ArtsManaged​

Do you have a puzzle, problem, or persistant concern about Arts Management? Post your question to this online and anonymous form. I’ll select questions to answer in the Field Guide, or in this newsletter, so that we can all learn together about the real-world messes we face.