In a Thursday (9/24) blog post on the Partners In Performance website, John McCann writes, “Why do we have so many free-standing, poorly funded national 501c3 service organizations in the arts field? It seems that as each discipline matured, each created its own support entity. Now as a mature sector, with the arts providing almost $200 billion in financial activity annually, we must become much more strategic and more influential on the national stage than the current structure allows. Having a service organization catering to each discipline and sub-discipline is expensive and redundant, while providing little leverage—the exact opposite of what’s needed. Let’s consolidate the numerous national discipline-specific arts service organizations into one robust, influential, and vital American Institute for the Arts. … The arts could and should stand alongside education, energy, health and other national priorities. However the idea of a cabinet level designation for arts and culture is a pipedream without a compelling and unifying message that articulates the ways in which the endeavors of America’s artists and arts organizations can have optimal impact.”
Posted September 28, 2009
