In Friday’s (11/9) Charlotte Observer (North Carolina), Steven Brown writes, “When 600-plus arts leaders from across the United States converge on Charlotte this weekend, they’ll have a lot of stories and ideas to share. There’s no doubt some will resonate here—such as the case of the museum that was almost a goner. … The Santa Cruz museum’s director will be among dozens of speakers when the cultural leaders settle in at the Westin Charlotte hotel,” for the National Arts Marketing Project, sponsored by Americans for the Arts. “They’ll spend the weekend exploring how to connect the arts with the public in the age of social media, disruptive innovation and audiences who crave interaction. That’s especially urgent in Charlotte. The [Charlotte Museum of History] is dormant. The Charlotte Symphony, hoping to overcome a decade of financial woes, is striving to attract listeners and donors. … With so much competition from other ways people can spend their time, cultural groups have to innovate, says Scott Provancher, president of Charlotte’s Arts & Science Council. The Charlotte Symphony’s KnightSounds concerts—hourlong performances, casual in tone, with pre-concert socializing and food—are an example of the experimentation that has to become more common. … Because experimentation usually takes money, [Provancher] adds, the ASC has to set up a framework for helping—the same way businesses need capital for research and development.”
Posted November 9, 2012
