Return to risk

I've heard it around, but never as much as recently. There is a lack of risk going round, and choreography is suffering for it. So what if the political tendency is towards security, lockdown, safety, the thrill of art is that it can show us a different truth.

"It is not just new work that we need; it is work that has genius and resonance. It is up to the people who are in the positions of power to discover the new talents and bring them into a bigger scale and take risks. We need to be more daring, and OK, maybe we fail. Maybe it won't sell. But does everything we have to put on necessarily have to sell?"

So says extraordinary ballet dancer Carlos Acosta in 'Dance must be more daring' in The Telegraph June 23 2007.

Equally, the recent Vancity report The power of the arts in Vancouver: Creating a great city (by Pier Luigi Sacco) alludes to the fact risk is essential for the growth of artists, economies and cities. If we don't risk we lose.

In spite of the popular cultural concerns with fear and terror, all aspects of dance arts require a rigorous return to risk for the ongoing development of the form.

New book plus peripherals: "Engaging Art"

There's a new book out there, coming to a mailbox near me hopefully soon. If anyone has read Engaging Art: The Next Great Transformation of America's Cultural Life (Co-edited by Steven J. Tepper and Bill Ivey), I'm keen to hear your thoughts.

Here's what The Curb Centre for Art, Enterprise and Public Policy has to say about it: click here
Here's what Taylor & Francis books have to say (and they have the best price): click here

The Engaging Art group blog is a discussion based around the idea that the ways in which audiences and artists interact are changing. Twelve bloggers have been lined up to participate in the conversation beginning June 14, 2007 - that's TODAY! Get your fill here http://www.artsjournal.com/league/ See also http://madsilence.wordpress.com/

R

Nonprofit Arts Organizations Face Leadership Crisis

Nonprofit Arts Organizations Face Leadership
Crisis as Baby Boomers Retire

Menlo Park, CA – The world of nonprofit arts organizations must act now to forestall a looming crisis of leadership that will occur as the current baby boom generation of administrators and volunteers starts to retire, according to a newly released report commissioned by The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation.

The sixty-two-page report, “Involving Youth in Nonprofit Arts Organizations: A Call to Action,” was prepared by Barry Hessenius, former Director of the California Arts Council. Hessenius cites a shrinking pool of young people, increased competition for their services and a lack of attention to the issue of generational succession on the part of arts organizations as key reasons for the problem.

“The vast majority of arts organizations have too few young people on their boards of directors or staffs, even fewer young advocates and financial supporters, and no means to track their young audiences,” Hessenius says in the report. “No quarter of the arts community can afford to remain silent or fail to participate in crafting a response to this looming problem.”

Moy Eng, Director of the Performing Arts Program at the Hewlett Foundation, said she decided to commission the study after hearing anecdotal accounts from the arts community about the rising age of their audiences and growing concern from them about attracting a new generation to the arts.

“A generation has passed since the arts have been given their due in the California public schools,” Eng said. “In a sense, a new generation is rising that doesn’t even know what it might be missing. And an increasingly competitive marketplace for fewer young people will only make the arts leadership problem more acute."

The report has three parts: a survey of youth programs among California’s nonprofit arts organizations, case studies of a dozen successful youth engagement programs in the arts, and a comparative analysis of youth programs in the environmental movement, with an in-depth look at the youth programs of two leading organizations. An advisory committee of leaders from all areas of California’s arts community was created to review the survey and recommend arts organizations to include. The survey tried to embrace the broadest possible range of organizations geographically, in size and by discipline. A total of 720 organizations comprised our final master list.

The report recommends that national service organizations for the arts craft a plan to increase young people's involvement in the arts nationwide. Local and regional arts organizations are called upon to budget time and money to involve youth, add young adults to their boards and strengthen ties to high schools and colleges. The report also recommends that funders to support research into young people’s views and behavior regarding the arts.

The full report can be viewed and downloaded here. An executive summary is available here.

Hot research 4 - Society for the Arts in Healthcare

Round the world work...

The Society for the Arts in Healthcare (SAH) is a non-profit... in Washington, DC. Founded in 1991, the Society for the Arts in Healthcare is dedicated to promoting the incorporation of the arts as an integral component of healthcare by:

• Demonstrating the valuable roles the arts can play in enhancing the healing process;
• Advocating for the integration of the arts into the environment and delivery of care within healthcare facilities;
• Assisting in the professional development and management of arts programming for health care populations;
• Providing resources and education to healthcare and arts professionals; and
• Encouraging and supporting research and investigation into the beneficial effects of the arts in healthcare.
  

Hot research 3 - CCAHTE Journal

Here's a source I've happily stumbled upon. I'm subscribing.

The CCAHTE Journal is your creative arts, health, training and education connection. You'll find information about creative arts approaches in staff health and wellness, arts raising awareness about social issues and health, information and resources that will benefit those involved in gerontology and education, nursing education, social work, medical education & health training.

Here you can also subscribe free toThe Canadian Creative Arts in Health, Training and Education CCAHTE Journal which features topical news and stories from professionals across the country involved in cutting edged research and progressive programmes making a difference in health, training and education in Canada and internationally.

www.cmclean.com

Hot research 2 - Arts in health: a review of the medical literature

Arts in health: a review of the medical literature by Dr Rosalia Lelchuk Staricoff

This review of medical literature published between 1990 and 2004 explores the relationship of arts and humanities with healthcare, and the influence and effects of the arts on health. See the full document (90 pages) by clicking here Arts in health: a review of the medical literature. For a bite-sized version click here - it's the executive summary.

Another option is to read Can the arts have a positive effect on health? A review of the medical literature by the same author. It's the promo version.

Hot research 1 - Arts and Culture in Medicine and Health

Arts and Culture in Medicine and Health, by Nancy Cooley, January, 2003.

This is a survey paper on research available in English on the ways that arts and culture promote the health of individuals and communities, contribute to effective medical treatment, and assist doctors, nurses, and other health care workers to cope with the grief, frustration, and other stressful demands of their work.

The paper briefly looks at the current relationships between arts and medicine and then summarizes research from the United Kingdom, United States, Sweden, Australia, Japan and Canada that indicates various aspects of arts and culture make positive contributions to at least seven of Health Canada’s twelve Key Determinants of Health.

This paper is now available in PDF format at Arts and Culture in Medicine and Health: A Survey Research Paper.