“It's been interesting to see how arts organizations have responded to the economic crisis-everyone seems clear: Measures must be taken! We need to keep expenses under control and work hard to keep and cultivate our loyal patrons "in these times." But what about the past 30 years? It doesn't seem as though many of us were having night sweats as the audiences gradually turned grayer, and more conservative, and eventually dropped off. Why not? Perhaps because it took 30 years to reach the abyss rather than 30 days?
If you know the story of the boiling frog then you may be familiar with the idea of 'creeping normalcy." Creeping normalcy refers to the way a major change can be accepted as normality if it happens slowly, in unnoticed increments, when it would be regarded as objectionable if it took place in a single step or short period.Some couples wake up years after being madly in love to find that the intimacy that was created in the early days has faded slowly and silently because they stopped noticing and nurturing each other.
Relationships require attention to be sustained. Perhaps, like the couple that wakes up one day to realize "We don't know each other anymore; we have nothing in common," we failed to see that our communities were changing, and that art and artists were changing, and that we, as institutions that exist to broker a relationship between the two were not changing in response. We failed to see the culture change. We lost the plot." Surviving the Culture Change http://tinyurl.com/ybrngru
“Arts for All: Connecting to New Audiences” Wallace Foundation (August 2008) How can arts organizations use marketing, research and new technologies to expand their audiences?
Cultivating Demand for the Arts Arts Learning, Arts Engagement, and State Arts Policy
This is the third in a series of documents describing a multiyear study of the changing roles and missions of state arts agencies (SAAs) by the Rand Corporation
State Arts Policy Trends and Future Prospects Another RAND publication 2008 Projects what the future likely holds for state arts agencies and for state arts policy if current trends and current strategies prevail. (pdf attached below )
Quoted above Diane Ragsdale's talk Surviving the Culture Change is widely published. This is a link http://tinyurl.com/ybrngru . US arts philanthropy expert and Carnegie Mellon scholar, Diane Ragsdale has given this keynote address all over the world. Just google the title and download a copy for yourself.
1 comment:
http://www.kk.org/thetechnium/archives/2008/03/1000_true_fans.php
One solution is to find 1,000 True Fans. While some artists have discovered this path without calling it that, I think it is worth trying to formalize. The gist of 1,000 True Fans can be stated simply:
A creator, such as an artist, musician, photographer, craftsperson, performer, animator, designer, videomaker, or author - in other words, anyone producing works of art - needs to acquire only 1,000 True Fans to make a living.
A True Fan is defined as someone who will purchase anything and everything you produce. They will drive 200 miles to see you sing. They will buy the super deluxe re-issued hi-res box set of your stuff even though they have the low-res version. They have a Google Alert set for your name. They bookmark the eBay page where your out-of-print editions show up. They come to your openings. They have you sign their copies. They buy the t-shirt, and the mug, and the hat. They can't wait till you issue your next work. They are true fans.
Truefans-1
To raise your sales out of the flatline of the long tail you need to connect with your True Fans directly. Another way to state this is, you need to convert a thousand Lesser Fans into a thousand True Fans.
Assume conservatively that your True Fans will each spend one day's wages per year in support of what you do. That "one-day-wage" is an average, because of course your truest fans will spend a lot more than that. Let's peg that per diem each True Fan spends at $100 per year. If you have 1,000 fans that sums up to $100,000 per year, which minus some modest expenses, is a living for most folks.
One thousand is a feasible number. You could count to 1,000. If you added one fan a day, it would take only three years. True Fanship is doable. Pleasing a True Fan is pleasurable, and invigorating. It rewards the artist to remain true, to focus on the unique aspects of their work, the qualities that True Fans appreciate.
A creator, such as an artist, musician, photographer, craftsperson, performer, animator, designer, videomaker, or author - in other words, anyone producing works of art - needs to acquire only 1,000 True Fans to make a living.
A True Fan is defined as someone who will purchase anything and everything you produce. They will drive 200 miles to see you sing. They will buy the super deluxe re-issued hi-res box set of your stuff even though they have the low-res version. They have a Google Alert set for your name. They bookmark the eBay page where your out-of-print editions show up. They come to your openings. They have you sign their copies. They buy the t-shirt, and the mug, and the hat. They can't wait till you issue your next work. They are true fans.
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