So, I've mused here and there on this blog about this recession vis a vis the arts. If you subscribe to the artsJournal newsletter, you've read plenty of depressing stories about this or that theater group winking out of existence, or some big visual arts institution delaying its expansion or even any big new blockbuster shows. St. Louis arts groups seem to have hunkered down and decided they are going to survive no matter, what, dammit, and so will likely will be very interested in a lecture the Regional Arts Commission is sponsoring next Tuesday, November 17: Michael Kaiser, president of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, will be in St. Louis to speak on "Arts in Crisis." As this WSJ profile notes, Kaiser is regarded as a bit of a magician when it comes to turning around ailing arts orgs. Under Kaiser, the Kennedy Center has initiated an Arts in Crisis program that supports arts organizations nationwide, and his book, The Art of the Turnaround: Creating and Maintaining Healthy Arts Organizations, is described by WSJ as "a 183-page prescription," for nonprofits on the brink.
Here's the info:
DATE: Tuesday, November 17, 2009
TIME: 9 - 10 a.m. (Registration/Meet and Greet with Michael Kaiser)
10 - 11:30 a.m (Presentation with Q&A
LOCATION: The Sheldon Concert Hall
648 Washington Ave.
St. Louis, MO, 63108
REGISTRATION: Register at www.artsincrisis.eventbrite.com
PARKING: Sheldon parking lot, west of the Emerson Entrance on Washington Blvd.
Scottish Rite parking garage at Grand and Olive
2 Hour metered street parking along Washingtonk, Olive and Spring