Time Out Group plc’s Post

While I work in Scotland's property sector with a focus on science, tech and advanced manufacturing, I'm immensely proud that my two daughters have chosen a different career path. Both are in the Arts - one in Theatre (just graduated from QMU and recently stage manager for the excellent The Spilling Cup) and one at college undertaking an HND in Television. Proud, but concerned that the Arts isn't getting the financial support it needs. UCL stated in a post pandemic report "Although the pandemic has caused significant economic and psychological hardship, particularly for those working in the arts and cultural sector, many people turned to the arts as a vital means of coping with the challenges of the pandemic." And more recently 180,000 people visited the recent record breaking 10 week Banksy exhibition in Glasgow. I thoroughly recommend you spend two minutes reading Fran Hegyi's article below. But with the knowledge Edinburgh has 11 annual festivals. And the core festival organisers (EFI, Fringe, Book, Jazz, Film etc) permenantly employ only c.120 people. In 2022, and according to the recently published BOP/Edinburgh Festival City report, those 120 people generated 3.2m event attendances from an audience of 700,000, GVA in Edinburgh of £407m and 5,850 FTE jobs. BOP note 2022 public sector investment in the Festivals was £11m. For every £1 invested by the public sector in the Edinburgh Festivals, there is a return of c£33 to Scotland. Imagine the impact if we funded our creative industries as we really value them...or alternatively the loss to Edinburgh/Scotland's vibrant landscape and the impact on our collective wellbeing if they disappear! https://lnkd.in/ewbYarCV #edinburgh #edinburghfestivals #artsandculture #artsscotland

What's next for NYC's cultural institutions? Check out Matt Green's latest piece for his insights into how NYC can support the growth of arts organizations and drive economic development.

The National Arts Council launched Our SG Arts Plan (2023 -2027) today. In a lot of ways this feels like a supplement to the first Our SG Arts Plan which was announced in 2018 but was disrupted by the pandemic. Having covered arts policy papers since the much-hyped Renaissance City reports in the early 2000s, I recognise that such papers can make an immense difference to the scene. The reports helped build an administrative framework and infrastructural hardware for the arts and culture sectors and their impacts are still being felt today. In comparison, this latest blueprint reads more tentative, and less visionary. Granted the arts scene has grown exponentially, in size and complexity, which means it is also more challenging to map the scene’s future. The strongest point in the Plan is the acknowledgement that NAC cannot solve all the issues alone and that partnerships need to be built if the scene is to take that next leap. Hopefully the eight initiatives are just the beginning and more public and private sector partners will come on board to support Singapore arts.

It was great to have Will's insights in the first workshop of our new Let's Get Real programme. Our group will be experimenting around aspects of digital and value over the next few months. There's so much rich thinking around this topic, and so many issues to unpick around expectations, practice, capacity, skills, strategy and more. Our challenge now, is how to focus in on the starting points for each of our wonderful cohort organisations. We'll share learning as we go...

What kinds of shows or art would you like to see in the Halifax region? The Halifax Regional Municipality (HRM) is doing a study of its places and galleries and asking people whether anything needs to be added. The Municipality would love to hear the thoughts of newcomers to Nova Scotia. Please consider filling out this survey, which asks about the kind of events you enjoy and the types of arts spaces you wish existed in HRM. https://lnkd.in/eEpBMvR4

𝗜𝗳 𝗻𝗼𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗰𝗵𝗮𝗻𝗴𝗲𝘀, 𝗻𝗼𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗰𝗵𝗮𝗻𝗴𝗲𝘀. Recently, I shared that every $𝟭 𝗶𝗻𝘃𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗱 𝗶𝗻 𝗮𝗿𝘁𝘀 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗰𝘂𝗹𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗲 𝗰𝗿𝗲𝗮𝘁𝗲𝘀 $𝟮𝟭 𝗶𝗻 𝗲𝗰𝗼𝗻𝗼𝗺𝗶𝗰 𝘃𝗮𝗹𝘂𝗲. Josh O'Kane's latest article in The Globe and Mail shows the tough situation our industry is in right now. Government funding is down, donations are down, costs are up, and people aren't attending events like they did before the pandemic. This isn't new to us in the community, but we need to change how we think about our industry. Matt McGeachy is right: we need to push our elected officials to support us like they do other important industries. As supporters, we need to be smart about our giving and learn how to make a bigger impact. We should think of ourselves not just as donors helping struggling artists, but as 𝗶𝗻𝘃𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗿𝘀 helping our community grow. As leaders in the arts industry, we need to adopt successful fundraising models used by hospitals, universities, and other charities and take a stronger focus on planned giving. -------------------------------------- 𝘏𝘦𝘺, 𝘐'𝘮 𝘈𝘥𝘢𝘮. 𝘐 𝘩𝘦𝘭𝘱 𝘣𝘶𝘴𝘪𝘯���𝘴𝘴 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘣𝘢𝘭𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘣𝘶𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘴, 𝘸𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘵𝘩, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘭𝘦𝘨𝘢𝘤𝘺 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘦 𝘮𝘢𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘯 𝘪𝘮𝘱𝘢𝘤𝘵 𝘪𝘯 𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘴, 𝘤𝘶𝘭𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘮𝘶𝘯𝘪𝘵𝘺. 𝘐𝘧 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘧𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘱𝘰𝘴𝘵 𝘪𝘯𝘴𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵𝘧𝘶𝘭, 𝘧𝘰𝘭𝘭𝘰𝘸 𝘮𝘦—𝘐 𝘱𝘰𝘴𝘵 𝘢𝘵 8:45 𝘈𝘔 𝘔𝘰𝘯-𝘍𝘳𝘪. 𝘍𝘦𝘦𝘭 𝘧𝘳𝘦𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘩𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘮𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘣𝘦𝘯𝘦𝘧𝘪𝘵. 𝙄𝙛 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙝𝙖𝙫𝙚 𝙦𝙪𝙚𝙨𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣𝙨 𝙖𝙗𝙤𝙪𝙩 𝙞𝙢𝙥𝙖𝙘𝙩𝙛𝙪𝙡 𝙜𝙞𝙫𝙞𝙣𝙜, 𝙙𝙧𝙤𝙥 𝙢𝙚 𝙖 𝘿𝙈.

Fantastic Arts Beasts and Where to Find Them. - Can Suffolk Arts survive a 100% cut, and what are the ramifications for the Creative and Cultural Sector. (CCS) The answer to the first question seems to be no, at least not in their current form, leaving a consumer driven, sponsorship model to dissect the remains of this Fantastic Arts Beast. And that raises the key question across the CCS, why does the sector continue to under-performe in the political arena. Given the plethora and robustness of a myriad of global and EU reports that link the CCS to creatively and innovation, all of which name the sector as the key and core supplier of content for digital media content, how has it come to pass that support for the sector can be cut so completely? The evidence clearly supports the economic and social necessity of funding the sector, so why does has the message not gotten through? As a recognised expert in the CCS I belive the core issues are a naissante and incomplete understanding of the sector, has, & continues to play, a significant part in not getting the message out. The CCS itself finds it difficult to clearly populate the connectivity between local theatre and popcorn cinema and even more so between dance and digital media. This is primarily due to a number of key factors; The complexity nature and interconnectedness of the CCS to other sector's. Ring-fence of all sector's in terms of ideation and innovative practices. An oudated understanding of profit or benefit as fiscal only. Work like that conducted by Culture Action Europe recently on the Pro-CCS project addressees some of these issues and the opening chapter, for which I was the core author, goes a long way to connecting the dots. However connecting the dotes for ourselves (CCS) is not the same as doing it for a wider society. Some opportunities may lay in layering the sector over more complex models such as the models for donut of circular economics. However we must also look to gaining a greater and more widespread traction with the public at large and there political representation. The CCs needs to adopt new methods of communication, it needs to talk to and convince the people who remain unconvinced. The CCS needs to let more people know about these Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them.

PUBLICATIONS | Tradition as a resource: Robust and radical interpretations of the operatic tradition in the Italian opera industry, 1989-2011, Research article by Giulia Cancellieri, from the Venice School of Management, gino cattani, NYU Stern School of Business (New York) and Simone Ferriani, Department of Management, University of Bologna (Alma Mater Studiorum – Università di Bologna) and Bayes Business School (London). Published in Strategic Management Journal and recently cited by The Economist in the article “The lessons of woke scrubble: when heritage meets innovation”. Winner of the 17 th #EBS – Best Paper Award in Innovation, Corporate Entrepreneurship and Transformation (second prize). Navigating the delicate balance between #tradition and #innovation is a challenge faced by organizations across diverse sectors like fashion, design, music, performing arts and many others. How can firms rejuvenate themselves without losing their essence? This study combines an observational analysis of nearly 3,000 #Italian opera productions and 15 detailed field interviews with acclaimed artistic directors to explore different #strategies that allow opera houses to innovate while preserving their traditions. The article finds that the key lie in two distinct interpretation strategies. Robust strategies subtly tweak peripheral aspects of an opera—keeping its core, while radical strategies alter its more fundamental elements. Interestingly, audience reactions vary: season-ticket holders are more likely than single-ticket ones to enjoy robust interpretations, whereas single-ticket buyers are more likely than season-ticket holders to favor radical changes. By strategically aligning the interpretation approach with audience preferences, managers can revitalize their offerings while respecting the heterogenous tastes of their audience. The paper is available open access here: https://lnkd.in/dbuzSVny In another article published in MIT Sloan School of Management Review the authors reflect on the strategic implications of their research for a variety of companies struggling to leverage the timeless appeal of a cherished tradition without stifling #innovation and change. The article is available here: https://lnkd.in/ea4XX4-J #bridgingideas #VSM #veniceschoolofmanagement #managementstudies

Here it is: "Governments have no problem throwing billions at other industries." I went to a talk the other day that spoke of the need to transcend the "industrial" mindset of arts leadership. While I sympathize with the impulse, I reject the premise: Canada, the Provinces, and municipalities have *never* treated arts and culture funding like industrial policy, nor have arts and culture institutions spoken of themselves as an industry. We're a "sector." Or worse, a "community." Rather than working to transcend, I'm focused on shifting the mindset towards arts policy as industrial policy. Performing arts is a multi-billion dollar industry, within an even larger multi-billion dollar cultural industry. It's time to start thinking of ourselves this way, and working with government on political and policy projects that treat us like the economic and societal drivers we are. To do less is to shoot ourselves in the collective foot. https://lnkd.in/eMpUepZM

💭 How are the United Nations's Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) relevant to the arts and festivals sector? How can culture and the arts find their place in the upcoming revised SDGs by 2030? During the recent EFA – Pearle* Live Performance Europe webinar on Culture and SDGs, Lucía Vázquez García suggested practical actions the arts and festivals sector can take aiming to pave the way for meaningful contributions to the SDGs. Read the takeaways and watch the recording of the webinar here: https://lnkd.in/e9pH23tA