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Taking the Reins
Now that Americans have chosen Barack Obama as their next president, questions of leadership priorities and style are front and center. Arts organizations face their own set of challenges in a changing cultural landscape. Today we ask a trio of experts about what makes a qualified arts leader in the 21st century. Joining us is New York Times music critic Jon Pareles, Manhattan School of Music president and composer Robert Sirota, and Joan Jeffri, director of the Program in Arts Administration at Columbia University's Teachers College.
Soundcheck blog: John Schaefer on what arts leaders can learn from the Obama campaign
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Respect your audience, listen to their wants, respect tradition while appealing to the young and making change for the future. Don't dumb it down -- inspire us!
It would be wonderful if the next President took it as a mission to change the relationship of Government and the arts. At the moment it seems pathetic that the richest country in the world should devote such a minuscule portion of it budget to the promotion of the arts. He might check what percentage of France's budget is alloted to the arts vs. the US. Institutions devoted to the arts such as opera houses & museums depend on shrinking endowments from wealthy private patroms.
The commercial film industry also provides a good parallel model for the complexities of our government. The Director acts as President, with overriding executive power, but also with the necessity to placate the studios, while maintaining a spirit of collaboration with the writers, cinematographers, producers, technicians, and actors. The great directors are not usually the most over-controlling, but rather those who surround themselves with people they can trust to bring their own creative will to the project. As Orson Welles said, the role of a director is to “preside over accidents”.
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