We partner with universities and faculty engaged in some of the world's leading research in
organizational management and leadership. But there are questions that are critical to our sector
that aren't always addressed directly in this research. With the support of national funders
– and with your participation – we undertake research projects, interviews,
convenings, and other activities to fill in the gaps, and share our findings here.
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Articles and interviews
Anatomy of a Leader
NAS President and CEO Russell Willis Taylor interviewed
Peter Gelb for the Fall 2007 issue of Grantmakers
in the Arts Reader. Mr. Gelb, the General
Manager of the Metropolitan Opera in New York City,
discussed his approach to leadership and his ambitions
for the Met. Along the way, Mrs. Taylor, former managing
director of the English National Opera in London,
offers an inspiring glimpse into methods for changing
an organization so it may thrive in the decades ahead.
Written by NAS President and CEO Russell Willis Taylor
in 2006 for the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation,
this paper discusses the tradition, benefits, and
necessity of endowment funds in the arts. Mrs. Taylor
provides a point of view about alternatives to endowment
funding, and poses questions about how endowments
help achieve mission. What is the impact of continued
endowment giving? Read the paper to find out.
We investigated financial management at leading arts organizations to understand how
their practices could be used across the arts sector. With funding from The James Irvine
Foundation, we developed a framework and publication, written by NAS Vice President
Jim Rosenberg, that you can use to assess your own approach.
The question of who will lead our cultural institutions
in the future is being widely discussed in our field.
NAS has launched an experimental, collaborative design
program to provide future leaders with the skills
and opportunities for growth that they need. NAS engaged
current and future leaders on-line and in-person for
conversations about the needs of future leaders from
January through August 2008, leading up to a survey
of the field. The survey produced a small but informative
sample, the results of which are available here.
NAS and the Getty Leadership Institute: Cultural Organizations
and Changing Leisure Trends
In May 2007, the Getty Leadership Institute and National Arts Strategies brought together
leaders from the nonprofit arts, the for-profit sector, and the media to discuss new models
for reaching, engaging, and keeping audiences and customers in the face of new leisure trends.
The discussion explored the effects of trends such as the segmentation of free time into shorter
chunks throughout the day, the layering of activities as people multi-task in leisure time too,
and the living of what were once private aspects of life in public via the internet.
NAS and the Getty Leadership Institute: Managing Creativity
in the Nonprofit and For-Profit Sectors
In June 2004, the Getty Leadership Institute and
National Arts Strategies brought together 23 leaders
from the nonprofit arts and the for-profit creative
sectors to discuss the similarities, differences,
and potential intersections between the sectors. The
discussion was guided by the fundamental question,
"Are there truly two separate creative sectors
in the United States – a nonprofit arts sector
and a for-profit entertainment sector – or is
it more useful to consider one, national creative
sector?" This is an especially compelling question
to consider today, as both for-profit and nonprofit
creative organizations search for ways to create the
"elbow room" needed to take creative risks
that renew both profits and artistic quality.
The Cultural Dynamics Working Group is a collaborative project of the Bolz Center for Arts
Administration, National Arts Strategies, and Cultural Initiatives Silicon Valley. Begun in
2003, this project has undertaken to map the cultural ecosystem to provide insight and provoke
conversation among arts leaders. Read the reports produced by the working group:
