seminar: sustainability in the arts

8/7/2019 Seminar: Sustainability in the arts

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How will your organisation fare?

Presented by Raewyn Whyte, 8 April 2011 for Danz Auckland



` To reflect on current goals, values, models espoused by arts

funding bodies around the world as they relate to

sustainability for arts organisations

` To hear about some recent research findings and initiatives to

do with arts funding, management and sector practices that

can increase sustainability for arts organisations

` To consider some proven alternate models which may be of

relevance and value to NZ arts organisations in their searchfor sustainability



` Sustainability (NZ, Australia, Singapore, UK, US)

` Artistic vitality (NZ)

` Artistic vibrancy (Australia, Singapore, US)

` Excellence, creativity, innovation (Australia, Singapore, US) = Highquality arts, innovative work (NZ)

` Cultural diversity (Singapore) = diverse participation (NZ)` International success (NZ)

` Arts leadership (NZ, Australia, UK, US)

` Sector development approach (NZ)

` Capability-building (NZ, Australia, Singapore, UK, US)

`

Arts development (NZ, Australia, Singapore, UK, US)` Cultural/artistic engagement (Australia, Singapore, UK, US) =

Participation (NZ)

` Relevance (US, UK)



` Artistic vibrancy includes artistic quality/excellence,audience engagement and stimulation, innovation - afresh approach to the preservation/development of the artform, development of artists and relevance to

community [Australia Council for the Arts]` Artistic vitality - how strongly your organisation

supports the creation, presentation or distribution of,or participation in, high-quality New Zealand arts

experiences and the commissioning, development,presentation or re-presentation of distinctive NewZealand work. [CNZ]



a) continuing to do what do now, much in the same way aswe do at present, with similar outcomes and levels of financial viability as at present?

b) continuing to do what we do now, only more effectively forall involved, and with improved financial viability?

c) doing much better than we are doing now, with greatervalue achieved in all outcomes for all involved, and improvedfinancial viability

d) something even better than that plus great art foreveryone?



` In the US, arts analysts have bluntly declared that there are simply toomany "walking dead" non-profit/arts organisations which make verylittle impact and do little more than duplicate what other organisationsare doing.

` The analysts note that growth in the NFP arts sector has meant,almost without exception, growth in organisation size, not growth inartistic complexity or depth of reach.

` And that the art of sustainability now outweighs the quality of theartistic expression such organisations are achieving thatsustainability has come to be measured by the organisation simplyremaining in existence, regardless of the outcomes achieved.

` This has to be turned around , they say - better art is the goal, notincreased organisational survivability

[State of the Art: Innovations and Impediments in Not-for-profit Arts.http://www.artsjournal.com/state/ 2010-11.]



` to act in ways that nurture, and do not deplete or damage, now and in the

future, enabling people to provide for their social, economic and cultural

wellbeing, and health and safety. [ NZ Govt Resource Management Act]

` sustainability is integral to developing respect and care, protection and

restoration of diverse communities of life, and to social and economic

justice, tolerance and peace [--Karen Barbour Sustainable dancemaking]

` To ensure sustainability, not for profit arts and cultural organisations need to keep in

balance three interdependent elements: mission, model and money.

` Peer to peer support and mutual problem solving is key to addressing common

challenges and incubating new knowledge

` ³The unprecedented level of interdependence that now characterises our world

requires us to foster collaboration across every imaginable boundary´ --Peter Senge



` The 7 Pillars of Audience Focus concept has been developed by UKarts consultancy Morris Hargreaves McIntyre in partnership withCreative New Zealand. It and encourages an approach that is:

` vision-led` brand-driven`

outcome-oriented` inter-disciplinary` insight-guided` interactively-engaged` Personalised

` These attributes have been the focus of successive CNZ artsconferences since 2009. The next is during June 2011 in Auckland

creativenz.govt.nz/assets/ckeditor/attachments/69/7_pillars_of_audience_focus.pdf



` Investment, support and advice to help organisations

evolve their business models towards sustainability

` The ability to reduce running costs

` Development of increased financial resilience` The ability to develop and exploit their assets and

develop income-generating products and services

aligned with their mission

` Access to capital assistance for research anddevelopment purposes



` Funding organisations require arts organisations

who apply to them to be incorporated as not-for-

profit entities.

` Here are some alternate models.



` Your organisation must be a trust or an incorporated body (such as anincorporated society or company), and the organisations governing document(for example a Trust Deed or Constitution) must provide for it to carry outartistic activity.

` Your organisation must be non-profit-distributing, which means that it has astructure that ensures that the distribution of funds is transparent and there

are safeguards against self-interested decision-making.` Your organisation must offer a regular or continuous programme of arts

activity.

` Your organisation must be based in New Zealand and be delivering work orservices within New Zealand.

` It must not be seeking support to undertake a programme of activity that isthe core business of either a tertiary training institution or an institution (an

art gallery or museum, for example) that is mainly supported by a central orlocal government agency.

` Your organisation must have a successful funding track record with CNZ iehave received at least three grants or investments from Creative New Zealandwithin the last three years. [p10]



` The standard arts non-profit organisation model is the 501(c)3charitable corporation.

` This is a company established with the intention of providing a serviceto the community, rather than with making a profit.

` It has legal status as an incorporated company, with any liability fordamages as the responsibility of the 501(c)3 corporation. Personalpossessions are safe from creditors in case of business failure.

` 501(c)3 corporations are exempt from paying income tax, and donorsalso receive tax exemptions on their donations.

` Such entities must be in operation for three financial years before

applying to government bodies and Foundations for grants.` Many such entities also rely on volunteers from board members

down to office workers..



Non-profit or for profit is not important. Creating and sustaining a revenuestream that makes your mission possible.... Find the best business model for achieving your mission

Standard non-profit company with ownership or shared ownership of a

commercial entity eg a building, a ticketing business, a caterting business, atalent agency, licensed software

Arts commercial company (umbrella) has an embedded arts non-profit company eg providing an array of services at affordable prices . Good example isWorld Café Live [www.worldcafelive.com] multi-venue club witheducational/community programme subsidiary Live Connections [www.liveconnections.org ]

L3C a low-profit limited liability company with a primary charitable mission anda secondary profit concern - designed to attract private investments andphilanthropic capital in ventures designated to provide a social benefit. Anyprofits after taxes can be distributed to owners or investors.[money.cnn.com/2010/02/08/smallbusiness/l3c_low_profit_companies/]



` a Sector Development approach will encourage artsorganisations to adopt a collaborative, sector-wide view of the development of the arts and of the delivery of high-quality arts experiences for New Zealanders.

` Funded organisations are expected to play leadership rolesin their areas of arts practice for example, throughsupporting the creative and professional development of New Zealand arts and artists.[CNZ Arts Leadership Investment Programme July 2010]

An arts and culture sector should be organized to best meet the artisticand cultural needs of its citizens the artistic mission needs to

determine the organisational design. And then theres the question of who provides leadership...



` The Big Idea ± arts employment web site

` The Arts Regional Trust Te Taumata Toi a Iwi (ART) isa joint venture between the former Auckland CityCouncil and Manukau City Council. They established

a series of projects ± one of these was ART Venture, adevelopment acceleration project for 15 creativeentrepreneurs drawn from across all disciplines of thearts, culture and creative industries sectors. Theproject provided specialist mentoring, workshops and

access to investment funding based on the reality of today¶s creative industries.



` ..Collaborative working practices /shared services

can be used more widely in the sector to free up

capacity, enable cost savings and improve delivery

and experience of great art... as well as increasedorganisational and financial resilience...

` There are so many opportunities and so many

things we can do together and so much benefit we

could all get out of it. It is kind of unimaginable and itis too big actually.



` Shared offices: DANZ, Pacific Dance, Tempo and

Atamira

` Shared offices: Q Theatre, Playmarket, MASSIVE

Company` Joint touring ± NZ Ballet with Impulse Dance

Theatre to enable production of Carmina Burana;

NZ Ballet with Te Matarae I Orehu to enable

production of Ihi FrENZy



` Mission: the non-negotiable core purpose of your

organisation

` Models: your legal structure, business model and

organisational capacity` Money: your financial capacity your assets: cash,

working capital, reserves, debtors, fixed assets and

liabilities - short and long term debt.

` These are interdependent - any change in one of thosethree elements inevitably has an impact on the other

two



` Joint Partnership with Affiliated Programming: two or moreorganisations join their operations for programming or delivery of services and their complementary strengths enable thedevelopment of new and/or greatly enhanced services.

` Joint Partnership for Issue Advocacy: collaborators lend leadership

and staff to joint committees as needed, which allows them tomove, communicate and mobilise in unison.

` Joint Partnership with the Birth of a New Formal Organisation : twoor more organisations determine that their joint activities are bestimplemented by forming a separate, independent organisation - a

new structure offers the freedom that is sometimes necessary fornew joint enterprises to flourish. Eg Festivals Edinburgh (12combined with one voice)



` Joint Administrative Office and Back Office Operations:

efficiencies are achieved through shared administrative office

and personnel, including financial and human resources

management and information technology.

` Confederation: an umbrella organisation exists because of theconstituent parts, to which it provides services, co-ordination

and other support. Eg Audiences UK

` Creative Adhocracies: loose, highly organic, flexible

organisational forms that often bring individuals motivated bysuper ordinate goals together in order to progress a specific

project.



` Goal to thrive, excel, flourish, be successful and

sustainable in a world of ever-increasing change and

uncertainty

`

A way of doing/being that integrates relevance,resilience and ethical practice that is, adapting to

changing conditions in a life-friendly way to people and

planet in order to maintain the function of making

great work happen



` The degree of pertinence, connection, or applicability of

something to a given matter or purpose

` Assessed on basis of: audience reach, demographic reach,

geographic reach; contribution to arts sector development,ability to respond to identified areas of art form need; quality

of productions or services delivered, contribution to

developing and delivering quality arts experiences for New

Zealanders; financial credibility, and organisational diversity

(CNZ RFO Review report ± Figure 2: Criteria for being an RFO)



` the capacity to be externally aware, responsive, rigorously self criticaland risk positive

` the capacity to respond to/withstand the unexpected , cope withuncertainty and ambiguity

` being passionate and committed in things one gets involved with` accepting oneself, being self-motivated

` seeing problems as opportunities

` being positive and optimistic

` knowing how to evaluate opportunities for collaboration, spot thebarriers to collaboration and tailor collaboration solutions are

prerequisites for building the capacity for resilience

[Mission, Models, Money]



` ability to self-finance development

` arts organisations can develop financial resilience by

spreading their funding across a range of sources, developing

earned income streams with good profit margins, valuing and

realising the value of intellectual property (intangible assets) funders can help by such practices as paying in advance,

giving longer term commitments, allowing margin. A mutual

insurance fund which seeks to share the risks arts and cultural

organisations face across the sector could play a role, ascould venture philanthropy (which provides reserve capital /

equity-like investment).[CAPITAL MATTERS (UK) 2010]



` Renew mission: reflect on the relevance of your mission at thistime and consider whether it needs to be revised or refreshed

` Reconfigure business model: interrogate four key aspects of

your business model/organisational capacity - audiencedevelopment; artform development; value creation; businessmanagement and governance - how might these evolve in orderto become more resilient, relevant and responsible.

` Revise approach to money: fully identify your assets/capitalstructure and strengthen, and where appropriate revise, the

income generating strategy. Include intangible assets in thisreview they too have value.



` ³ the leadership practice of properly assessing when to

collaborate (and when not to) and instilling in people

both the willingness and the ability to collaborate

when required. - Morten Hansen` Detailed analysis and advice about what is needed to ensure fruitful

collaboration, and case studies of successful projects, are available from the

MMM web site - www.missionmodelsmoney.org.uk



` Art itself can be seen as a currency. It is the currency of experience, that coordinates the economy of meaning.

` Art allows us to share the value that accumulates inour individual lives through their living.

` The challenge is to understand the relationshipbetween the economy of money and ...the economy of meaning... to optimise returns in both economies atthe same time ... We need to develop art and

audience together.

[Graham Leicester Making Money and Making Meaning, Jan 2010]



` Much cultural engagement occurs in non-arts spaces such

as the home, places of worship and community venues.

Personal participation levels are high.

` Heritage-based and socially based forms of cultural

engagement attract racially diverse participants.

` The emergence of self-guided arts activities is changing

the landscape of cultural engagement.

` Significant interest in arts learning activities goes unmet.

` Role models are key players in the cultural ecosystem.

[Cultural Engagement in California¶s Inland Regions, James Irvine

Foundation/Wolf Brown 2008]



` Inventive Participation engages the mind, body and spirit in

an act of artistic creation

` Interpretive Participation is a creative act of self-expression

` Curatorial (self-guided) Participation is the creative act

which satisfies ones own artistic sensibility

` Observational Participation encompasses viewing or

watching art created or performed by others

` Ambient Participation encounters that the participant did

not choose



` Family-Based Engagement - in a family social context.

` Faith-Based Engagement - in the context of faith or in

a place of worship.

` Heritage-Based Engagement - to celebrate or sustaina cultural heritage or ethnic identity.

` Engagement in Arts Learning - actively acquiring skills,

either formally or informally.

` Engagement at Arts Venues` Engagement at Community Venues



` Connecting programmes to the cultural ecology

` Offering a variety of ways to engage - inventive, interpretive, self-guided or observational programs, family-based, heritage-based

` Delivering and packaging programmes which appeal appeato abroader and more diverse cross-section and/or to distinct audiences

`

Selecting community venues and settings and/or deliveringprogrammes in peoples homes

` Motivating cultural role models who will involve their friends andfamily in creative and cultural activities

` Partnering with other organizations for increased reach

` Programming more effectively for diverse cultural communities

[Cultural Engagement in California¶s Inland Regions, James IrvineFoundation/Wolf Brown 2008 ,

is available at www.irvine.org ]



Research into the impact of live performance has found

` that the intrinsic impacts derived from attending a live performance arise from the entiretyof the audience experience, and can be measured

` that different types of performances create different sets of impacts

` that an audience member¶s µreadiness-to-receive¶ the art affects the impacts received.Context-setting in advance of the performance can help to build anticipation/impact.

`

Performing arts presenters can create pathways towards new experiences and help todraw the audience into the experience through a combination of education, outreach,marketing and interactions with artists.

` Through µbenefits-based programming¶, presenters act as curators, select ing artists, worksof arts and engagement strategies which will offer specific benefits for their constituents,but also provide the constituency for an arts institution, leading to more collaborativerelationships with artists and their managers .

[Assessing the Intrinsic Impacts of a Live Performance. Wolf Brown 2007 ]



` The crowdfunding model is now being applied to artistic and culturalprojects through the Swedish membership organisation CrowdCulturein partnership with The City of Stockholm

` The crowdfunding website presents cultural ideas and projects seekingfunding these include dance, theater and puppetry, among others.

` Members may submit a project for investment, or become an investor the annual membership fee is SEK 100 per year, and an investmentcontribution is SEK 50 per project of choice

` It is possible to become a member for free, with the opportunity tooffer feedback and development advice to the projects seekinginvestment.

` During CrowdCultures three month beta period nearly 500 peopleparticipated across 28 projects, ultimately leaving 6 fully funded.

` Website: www.crowdculture.se



` Project Paper Trail ± dance development funded

by internet donationsgreatdance.com/thekineticinterface/2009/04/fundraising-model-dance/



` In 2007, the Metropolitan Opera broadcast six Saturdaymatinees to 150 movie theatres in the United States,United Kingdom, Canada and Japan, live from New York.Audiences were treated to high-definition video andsurround sound, excellent sight lines and comfortable

seating, all for a bargain price (around USD 18 for theµdecentralized¶ version, vs. USD 80-375 for the real deal) ±and all shows were sold put well in advance. This let theMet reach cities that don't have their own opera houses,and tap into a wider and potentially younger audience.

` The same concept has since been tried with a wide range

of events -- from exclusive jazz concerts to star-studdedplays with limited runs, and Swan Lake.



` Trysumer s²transient, experienced consumers

who are becoming more daring in what they

consume²are willing to take on a wide range of

new cultural experiences, especially from the

comfort of their local multiplex. One to study if

you're in the live entertainment business!



` Offering a much-needed chance for parents to get out of the house,baby matinees are a great way for movie theatres to fill empty seatsduring the midweek's quiet hours, at negligible extra costs.

` Stars & Strollers is a regular feature at Famous Players movie theatresacross Canada - a baby-friendly cinematic experience. Lights are

dimmed, not turned off, allowing parents to feed their babies or findfallen pacifiers. Changing tables are provided; the movie's volume islowered to avoid damaging or startling infant ears; nursing is welcome;and free stroller parking is offered. To help ensure that babies sleepsoundly, suspense and action films with frantic soundtracks (andshrieking parents) are avoided. From the carer's point of view, perhapsthe most important benefit is not having to face angry glances from

other audience members if their baby starts screaming. Simialprogrammes are found in London, Teexas and new York.



` Music and dance companies often need to retain a group of professionals (e.g.an orchestra) as a fixed cost with little connection between income andexpenditure (tickets sold or grants to develop new work). This drives anincreased need for working capital.

` Theatre and dance companies need to commit significant development capitalto new productions ahead of generating income from them.

` Visual arts are less people intensive and therefore more flexible inexpenditure and might need less working capital.

` Artforms with stronger earned income flows may need greater working capitalto fund product development costs and working capital ahead of payment inarrears.

` Artforms with an artistic programme that relies upon a small number of substantial outputs (e.g. one major production, two large exhibitions etc) will

have highly irregular income flows and need additional working capital tomitigate this issue

[From CAPITAL MATTERS report Mission, Models, Money 2010]



` In Webbed Feats (1997) the dance segments were created from 250 onlinemoves and/or sequences submitted from around the world, edited byStephan Koplowitz. The New York performance was broadcast online to7000 viewers around the world.

` The LXD (the Legion of Extraordinary Dancers) on TEDwww.ted.com/talks/the_lxd_in_the_internet_age_dance_evolves.html

` Dance Move A Day - Sarah Foster slowly builds a lexicon for a new work[ dancemoveaday.blogspot.com/ ]

` Dance Move of the Day ± Andrew Ginever ± learn to jive[ www.andrewginever.com/leroc/2011/04/01/ ]

` Dance 212 ± School of American Ballet Summer School daily videos[ www.youtube.com/watch?v=hZb6H3tcFkw ]

` Move it 2009 London ± dance photo of the day[ www.sansalterego.com/.../dance/moveit09/d1/index.html ]

seminar: sustainability in the arts

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