Arts Organizations Research Articles

Little Amal’s New York Journey: The Big Puppet in the Big Apple

Little Amal’s New York Journey: The Big Puppet in the Big Apple

Визуальный облик города и городская коммуникация средствами паблик-арта: российский опыт

This paper examines the dynamics of public art in Russia, explores the diversity of contemporary art forms beyond exhibition halls, and analyses the impact of public art on the image of “central” and “peripheral” areas, as well as on its role in urban communications between the main groups of interested parties. A review of various Russian studies provides an interdisciplinary look into the subject of public art and its evolution over time from a rather narrow definition to a wide variety of interpretations implying many new issues and concepts. Researchers attribute the increasing popularity of this artistic strategy to a combination of multidirectional factors, including the growing interest among municipal and regional authorities in public art as a driving force of territory development; a rising number of curatorial projects aimed at interacting with space and environment in the context of the festival and biennial movement and art residencies; the emergence of grassroots art organizations and initiatives as modes of making artistic or public statements. Remarkable progress in digital technologies prompted attention to the creative potential of digital forms in public art, which open up new possibilities for interaction at the interface of objective and virtual reality. Some of the conclusions suggest that further development of public art presupposes more attention to its social nature and the ability to create social ties through a polylogue between different groups of city dwellers. To encourage the development of urban art based on the principles of social justice, Russia needs to foster a culture of participation as opposed to social atomization. The creation of professional organizations, legitimization and support of grassroots initiatives and artistic self-organizations may prepare the groundwork for this process.

Twenty years of Kura-Araxes research at Tel Bet Yerah: What we have learned

Tel Bet Yerah has provided us with an opportunity to advance the study of diasporic Kura-Araxes research in multiple ways. Reflecting on what we have learned in twenty years at the site, we summarize the evidence for an assemblage that goes far beyond Khirbet Kerak ceramics, and includes the organization of space, miniature art, stone and metal artifacts, food and fuel acquisition and consumption practices. We also reflect on our evolving understanding of migration and interaction with local cultures and on the role of intentionality in maintaining cultural and political distinction.

Landscape Genre as an Object of Criticism in Soviet Culture at the Turn of the 1920s–1930s

The turn of the 1920s–1930s is one of the most controversial periods in the history of Soviet culture. There are still many gaps in its study. In particular, the problem of transforming creative and ideological programs of many post-revolutionary art associations remains insufficiently analyzed. The article examines the most influential art organization of the post-revolutionary period — the Association of Artists of Revolution (AKhRR) — taking a more radical stance towards the landscape genre. Initially neutral, this position became extremely critical, even intolerable at the turn of the 1920s and 1930s. An analysis of dozens of articles written by the ideologues of AKhRR reveals the ways how new, “revolutionary” criteria for describing and evaluating landscape paintings were developed and how an extensive system of accusations and a set of mandatory requirements for the genre were formed. Landscape was mostly seen as a “reactionary” genre, that made it possible to hide from modern reality, or, on the contrary, to “smuggle” in the Soviet art alien bourgeois values. The changing attitude towards the landscape also makes it possible to trace the transformation of emotional matrix of the era — the refusal to convey complex feelings, that for a long time were perceived as a basic characteristic of Russian landscape painting. The system of denying the landscape, so carefully developed by the members of the Association, was rejected by Soviet culture already in the mid-1930s. However, the events of the turn of the 1920s and 1930s demonstrate how the pictorial genre became a hostage to the movement of culture towards more radical, “leftist” ideological attitudes.

Teacher perspectives on an arts initiative in schools:‘Filling the pail or lighting the fire?’

Arts organisations partnering with schools have gained increased popularity as a means of delivering arts education. In the main, this has meant artists and companies offering pre-determined workshops. Although these involvements have been found to be useful, a gap in how these initiatives can enhance the teaching of arts education still exists. Therefore, this paper explores primary teachers' perspectives, regarding whether an Irish arts initiative - The Creative Schools Initiative-Scoileanna Íldánacha (CS) - impacted their teaching of arts education. A multi-site case study, this research was conducted in a purposive sample of eight Irish primary schools who had participated in the initiative. Using online surveys, both quantitative and qualitative data was collected from 50 primary teachers. Key findings indicated that, although teachers engaged positively with the initiative, it only had a limited impact on teachers’ confidence regarding teaching arts education. Consequently, strong reiterations for professional development were emphasised throughout. Bearing this in mind, this study could contribute to further development of arts initiatives such as the CS, ensuring they have a lasting, sustainable impact on the teaching of arts education in primary schools.

Light in the contemporary churches of the Ukrainian diaspora

Nowadays, the Ukrainian church building has not yet succeeded in establishing its own modern image/type of church, different from the conventional one. One of the significant reasons for this situation is the long break in the design and construction of churches in Ukraine during the 20th century. The Ukrainian diaspora has accumulated considerable experience in the construction of modern churches, which ensures the continuity of the tradition of the church building. The purpose of the research is to explore the still invaluable experience of designing church buildings and the architectural and artistic organisation of their interior in Ukrainian diaspora churches, which is an important foundation for solving the problem of developing the image/appearance of a modern church. The research used general scientific and special methods. Attention is devoted to the research of current issues of developing a light composition in the sacred space of modern diaspora churches. The research analyses several projects by architects of the Ukrainian diaspora in the field of sacred architecture. The research identifies the specific features of the establishment and development of church architecture in the Ukrainian diaspora in terms of the debate over the conventional and modern forms of church buildings and the spatial organisation of the light composition of their sacred space. The research outlines the influence of the local architectural tradition of the church building in North America – Protestant and Catholic churches – and the modernist design culture of the period of functionalism and neo-modernism in architecture on the architectonics of Ukrainian churches in the diaspora and the organisation of the light environment of their interior space. For the first time, the features and regularities of the organisation of the light environment of the most famous Greek Catholic churches of the Ukrainian diaspora in Canada and the United States, built in the second half of the 20th century, are explored. The influence of natural light on the architectonics of churches and the specific features of visual perception of their internal object environment and on the development of the appropriate mood imbued with mysticism and sacred atmosphere of the interiors of churches is determined. The experience of diaspora architects is explored and analysed, which has not been understudied but will be essential for use in the practice of Ukrainian architects in designing modern churches while preserving national identity and church-building traditions

ARTISTIC UKRAINIAN MOVEMENT AS A PHENOMENON AND FACT OF THE POST-WAR LITERARY PROCESS

The paper deals with the most important events and processes in the history of the Artistic Ukrainian Movement (MUR) as a literary and artistic organization of Ukrainian writers and a phenomenon of Ukrainian literary life in the post-war period. The article focuses upon the content of the artistic, aesthetic and ideological foundations on which the MUR was formed, as well as some organizational aspects of its literary activity. The study deals with the role of the MUR in the literary and artistic life of the post-war Ukrainian emigration is analyzed, in particular, the content of three writer’s congresses (1945, 1947, and 1948) and three conferences (1946) devoted to the problems of the development of literary criticism and drama, and their historical and cultural, and intellectual worldview contexts. The rticle touches upon the issues of continuity of the ideological, creative and organizational principles of the MUR, in particular, the orientation of its creators onto the tradition of VAPLITE; there is a continuation of the MUR’s traditions in the association of Ukrainian writers in exile "Slovo" ("The Word"), which arose later, is noted. The topic of the discussion between the MUR and the idealistic group that separated from MUR, which was called "Svitannia" ("The Dawn"), and soon turned into opposition to it, is revealed. The article argues that the MUR played an important role in restoring Ukrainian literary life in emigration, and the congresses and conferences it held demonstrated the productivity of artistic and literary-critical developments of Ukrainian writers and literary critics, the fruitfulness and diversity of their ideological and aesthetic searches. The analysis involved memoirs, letters, articles of Ukrainian writers and literary critics involved in the creation and activities of the MUR.

Public Art, Representation, and Questions of Revising the Past

Operating from the position of an artist with a mature practice in creating public art, this essay chronicles and contextualises the development of a series of works that consider the history, symbolism, interpretation, and evolving understanding of specific historic public artworks. There is a paradox in my development as a muralist: my significant experience while being affiliated with and working on behalf of a prominent community-based non-profit arts organization, where I repeatedly faced constraints upon the content and attitude of the work being created, earned me the notoriety and reputation that facilitates for-profit work that critiques design-by-committee at best, and malignant censorship at worst. Works in the series deal with the intersections of gender and race in the content of public artworks in tones that range from reverent to harshly critical and – in some cases – suggestive of reparative action.

Role of the arts in the life and mental health of young people that participate in artistic organizations in Colombia: a qualitative study

BackgroundAdolescents and young adults are vulnerable to developing mental distress. However, evidence suggests that more than half of the young people with symptoms of depression and anxiety overcome their distress within a year. However, there is little research on the exact resources that young people use and help them to recover. The aim of this study was to explore how arts activities can support the recovery of young people engaged with arts organizations in Bogota.MethodsWe recruited 38 participants from two arts organizations in Bogotá and conducted six focus groups embedded within artistic workshops. The type of activities in the workshops varied reflecting the different teaching methods of the two organizations. The focus group discussions were recorded and analyzed using thematic analysis.ResultsFive themes explained how arts activities can help young people participating in artistic organizations to overcome mental distress: i) allowing the expression of emotions; ii) helping to manage and transform emotions; iii) distracting from problems; iv) facilitating social support and relationships; and v) contributing to the identity of young people.ConclusionsFor young people who participate in artistic organizations, the arts are a resource for overcoming negative emotions such as anxiety, depression, and sadness. The beneficial role of arts activities includes different process of managing, expressing, and distracting from distress, and it differs depending on whether arts are perceived as a professional vocation or a hobby.

Возникновение Союза художников в Свердловске в 1932 году (к 90-летию образования творческой организации)

2022 marks the 90th anniversary of the founding of the professional Creative Union of Soviet Artists (currently its successor, the Union of Artists of Russia). The study object of this article is the formation of the creative organization of artists in Sverdlovsk. The research task is to examine a set of ideological, social, cultural, and organizational events that accompanied the formation of the union at an early stage, before and after its establishment. Currently there are no historical and art works on the designated topic. The source and information basis for the article is new sources related to the object of research. In 1983, the Sverdlovsk Region State Archive conducted expert evaluation of the document fund of the Sverdlovsk branch of the Union of Soviet Artists in which some of the materials of the fund were destroyed for reasons that are not entirely clear. The inventory was thoroughly revised: the available meeting minutes, accounting reports, and work plans of the creative organization for 1932–1934 were liquidated. Thus, to date, the direct factual sources containing information about the first years of the creative organization of artists in Sverdlovsk are almost completely lost, with the exception of a few documents of 1934. This narrows our current understanding based on authentic historical data and not on assumptions about what was happening in the union and around it in the first year of its existence. Nevertheless, due to the presence of other, additional sources of the 1930s, there is some direct and indirect evidence of the historical course of events around the formation of the Ural artists’ creative organization. The information gleaned from the totality of these materials has formed the basis of the substantive part of this article. The purpose of the article is to reconstruct the course of historical events around the foundation and the first activities of the branch of the Union of Soviet Artists in Sverdlovsk.

Emerging through Fermentation

This year marks the 30th anniversary of Leonardo’s three decades-long partnership with MIT Press. As a tribute, amidst kickoff celebrations, this special, bilingual issue of Leonardo champions the power and promise of the creative spirit to counter the trauma and devastation of a tumultuous time.Created in collaboration with CYLAND Media Arts Lab, the efforts to bring Volume 55, Issue 6 to light required overcoming pressures of dislocation, discrimination, disaster, and war with all the associated anguish, fears, and insecurities. We deeply admire the courage, fortitude, and patient dedication of all those whose contributions made this special issue so special. We are especially grateful to our exceptional editorial colleagues, staff, and partners.Nonetheless, as the events of 2022 unfolded, questions arose regarding Leonardo’s decision to go ahead with this issue and publish work in English and Russian. The following statement reflects our response and our enduring commitment to creative collaboration: We stand for the free and open exchange of culture, ideas, and arts. Our deep partnership with the international arts organization CYLAND Media Arts Lab is an important collaboration that has expanded our international reach and understanding promoting international tolerance and cooperation. In light of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, our colleagues at CYLAND needed to evacuate their offices and homes in St. Petersburg and relocate to safe spaces in Armenia, the US, and Western Europe. As CYLAND no longer had safe access to their festival venue in St. Petersburg, we are privileged to stand by our colleagues and create open space for the exchange of ideas around arts, science, and technology as a statement against censorship and for freedom of expression.In addition to this publication, we have facilitated a satellite of CYLAND’s CYFEST on the theme of Fermentation, taking place at Arizona State University as a companion to the Emerge Festival (November 2022, postponed from March 2020), which Leonardo proudly co-sponsors. Like CYFEST, the Emerge Festival explores the future in evocative ways. This year’s Emerge Festival theme, Eating at the Edges, asks what it means to eat in an increasingly hostile and fragile world of environmental extremes, setting a compelling context for CYFEST’s Fermentation.Both themes resonate with Leonardo as we explore the alchemy of transformation, transmutation, and metamorphosis. Depending on its phase, fermentation can be invisible or unspeakably picturesque, grotesque, putrid, or intoxicating. What might we learn from the process of fermentation and what might emerge from it? Perhaps this is the quest for Leonardo to consider, not only in this special issue, but in the years to come as we find ourselves on the cusp of the next 30 years of provocative inquiry and adventurous publications. Thank you for joining us on this journey.

Tender Light: The bond between photography and narrative

Tender LightThe bond between photography and narrative Emmanuel Iduma (bio) One evening, a mild-mannered pastor returns home from a photography exhibition. He is unsure of what to say to his wife. He goes into their bedroom and finds her asleep. So he decides to take a walk, as far as he can manage in the course of a half hour, at which point he imagines his wife might wake, anxious about his absence. He tries to think of nothing, to empty his mind of what he has seen and where he has been, but this proves impossible. He keeps straight on the road abutting his house. He is grateful for the fragmented chattering of strangers. I'm playing mind games, he thinks, and heads back after covering a mere dozen yards. The pastor is unsure of how to say to his wife: When I saw the photograph, I stopped believing in God. [End Page 46] ________ eight years ago in New York, during my first year of studying for a graduate degree in art criticism, I wrote the preceding passage as the opening to a short story. My idea had been to tell a story in which a photograph served as the immediate catalyst of an irreversible change in my protagonist's life, a kind of parable on the power of images. Although I managed to complete it, I set the story aside. I had grown up in half a dozen Nigerian cities as the son of an itinerant Presbyterian clergyman and then completed an undergraduate degree in law—a course of study I'd pursued mainly out of curiosity and perhaps a desire to seem respectable, but without any real intention of making a living as a lawyer. After university, I published the novel-in-stories I'd written in the final year of my undergraduate degree. I also embarked on two road trips with photographers—from Lagos to Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, and then from Lagos to Libreville, Gabon—arranged by Invisible Borders, the Nigerian-based arts organization for which I had agreed to blog about the minutiae of our journeys. My record of our time on the road began to veer into reflections on the photographs I saw being taken and recollections of the encounters that had precipitated them. In the process, I found myself drawn to the narrative potential of photography: the hidden linkages I sensed between stories and snapshots. A few months later, after I had settled into my academic life in New York, I became even more obsessed by the idea. The program I enrolled in at the School of Visual Arts in New York entailed an eclectic reading list and immersed me in an array of schools of thought—deconstructionism, poststructuralism, phenomenology—none of which had been familiar to me as an undergraduate studying the Nigerian legal system. I found myself desperate to counterbalance all that theory with narrative. In retrospect, I think this came from an anxiety over how to categorize myself, over the fact that I'd spent my adolescence and early twenties imagining myself as a novelist, yet had somehow ended up with a degree that wouldn't guarantee a realization of my ambitions. When I began writing the story about the pastor, I thought, perhaps naively, that a story could simply be a vehicle for an idea. The [End Page 47] idea in this instance was that a photograph could unsettle a viewer to such a degree that they would be led to question everything they'd known, particularly in relation to Christianity. I thought of anecdotes I'd heard of people who wept in front of paintings, or the despair that had led Kevin Carter—the South African photographer who had won a Pulitzer Prize for his photograph of a starving child in Sudan—to commit suicide. I wanted to know the extent to which photography could trouble the waters of lifelong conviction. He reenters the bedroom and sees that his wife is awake. "Are you okay?" she asks, and he hates that she can see through him like that. His mouth is full with the words, yet he is barely able to utter them; language...

Planning for change, long term: The 100-year plan

This article draws on the place-based practice as research work of Associate Professor Anna Francis, to consider an alternative model for developing long-term approaches to creative community development. Francis’s research into the effects of having professional arts practitioners facilitate public-participatory art within community development and urban regeneration initiatives has led to specific types of impact: fostering community development and cohesion in underprivileged areas of Stoke-on-Trent; influencing local government policy; and developing new initiatives and cultures in social arts organisations. A key part of that work has focused on the development of The Portland Inn Project since 2015, a creative artist and community led regeneration initiative, in a deprived area of Stoke-on-Trent, supporting community members to make positive change and development, via an embedded and varied arts development programme. Since 2021, The Portland Inn Project has developed thinking and action around the development of a Community Led 100-year plan for the neighbourhood. The 100-year plan borrows from landscape architecture and design thinking to empower communities, funders and policy makers to resist short-term project-based thinking, and to begin to think more holistically and sustainably, which can have significant benefits, socially, politically and environmentally.

MEMBANGUN INGATAN INSTITUSIONAL: ARSIP KELEMBAGAAN DI DALAM ORGANISASI SENI

Documenting institutional archives in an art institution is rarely the main discussion. So far, institutional archives have only been assessed in terms of an administrative nature, but in fact, this documentation can be a way to build institutional memories. This paper is an overview of a workshop on institutional archiving in an art organization held at the Asia Art Archive, Hong Kong from 23 to 25 May 2019. The workshop was attended by various art organizations in the Asian region. Furthermore, this paper will use an analytical-qualitative approach to describe archives and institutional archives, management, success parameters, and preservation problems faced, especially for the Asian region which is very unfavorable climatically for several archive mediums. In closing, this paper will link with one of the archiving projects carried out in The Aesthetics & The Sciences of Art Research Group (ASARG), Faculty of Art and Design, ITB called CIVAS (Center for Indonesian Visual Art Studies).
 keywords: institutional archiving, institutional memory, art organizations, Indonesian visual art

The compositional and semantic structure of a complex syntactic unity in "Poems in Prose" by I. S. Turgenev

The article describes complex syntactic unities (CSU) as text units that constitute part of the lyrical miniatures "Sparrow" and "Pigeons" from the cycle "Poems in Prose" by I. S. Turgenev. The study employed the structural-semantic and comparative-contrastive analysis in conjunction with the descriptive-analytical method to determine and characterise the compositional and semantic structure of complex syntactic unities and their functional-semantic organisation. Additionally, the research identified lexical, lexico-grammatical, and grammatical means of interphrasal connection within the CSU. The paper concludes that I. S. Turgenev’s "Poems in Prose" are diverse in terms of composition and content. The miniature "Sparrow" consists of two CSUs built according to the classical three-part scheme (beginning, middle part, ending). In the miniature "Pigeons", only the first and the last CSUs have the three-part structure. The paper examines interphrasal means of connection such as common, characteristic of the CSUs in both miniatures, and individual, specific only to some CSUs. Each means of interphrasal connection conforms to the content, general idea, and artistic organisation of Turgenev’s poems.

Maxine Greene: an Approach to Aesthetic Education and a Vision of Social Imagination

Abstract In this article we will introduce the reader to Dr. Maxine Greene and her philosophy of Aesthetic Education developed during her many years of teaching at Columbia University’s Teachers College. Greene saw the arts as “integral to the development of persons – to their cognitive, perceptual, emotional, and imaginative development” (2001, p. 7)+. Her theories about the arts in education were developed into a methodology and practice at the Lincoln Center Institute for the Arts in Education (lci), the educational branch of Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts in New York City. lci was founded in 1975 by Marc Schubart, lci’s Director and Chairman Emeritus, who had the idea to bring together a prominent philosopher of arts and education and a world class arts organization. Schubart and Greene were convinced that the inclusion of and engagement with works of art was vital to student success and would help schools to become authentic spaces for learning. lci was dedicated to developing the possibilities that the arts could offer in educational settings and exploring what Greene’s “Aesthetic Education” might look like in K-12 classrooms. lci was the first arts organization to have an educational philosophy and a “philosopher-in-residence,” a role in which Greene served until the end of her life.

When do arts organizations merge? A window of opportunity for nonprofit mergers

AbstractNegative repercussions of the COVID‐19 pandemic have escalated a continued interest in mergers. Research on the reasons or preconditions for merger implementation remains insufficient, however. This study focused on mergers involving arts organizations (“arts mergers”) and identified a set of conditions that open up a window of opportunity for nonprofit merger implementation. Two arts mergers have been studied using grounded theory. This study finds that nonprofit mergers are implemented when a shared concern for long‐term financial viability is coupled with foreseeable merger benefits and provision of merger support by external sources. Additionally, this study reports new findings on arts mergers and their unique traits. Findings suggest that support for mergers or similar types of interorganizational integration can be an effective means for strengthening the long‐term sustainability of nonprofits and the sector at large.

Rural Space Aesthetics and Rural Construction Paths from the Perspective of the Montage: The Cases of Seven Villages in Guangdong, China

In the rural areas of China, construction is growing vigorously, and the question of how to realize the creative inheritance and development of these areas in the regional context, as well as the exploration of new construction methods and paths, are important problems. Nowadays, there are two developing trends in terms of research methods. Firstly, the boundaries between various disciplines are becoming increasingly blurred, and interdisciplinary theoretical reference has become an effective means of realizing innovation in this field. The other trend relates to the great development of digital technology, such as parameterization and spatial information technology. This technological innovation sheds new light on rural image construction. This study aims to draw on the montage art concept and organization techniques and to integrate the new technical language into the construction of new aesthetic orientations and context-related inheritance paths of rural historical places in China. Based on the aesthetic relevance of montage aesthetics to rural regional characteristics, the aesthetic cognition of the rural area in Guangdong is analyzed and demonstrated. Then, the strategies and methods used for the construction of rural area are established based on four layers, i.e., the narrative clues, base site pattern, spatial interfaces and monomer construction. The present research expands on the perspectives and methods of rural reconstruction, provides new ideas for the current rural practice, and is conducive to promoting the systematic study of rural construction theory.

Lifting lockdown: Renewed access to arts and cultural activities

BackgroundThe effects of COVID-19 on mental health are profound. While there is a growing body of evidence on arts supporting mental health, the re-engagement with in-person arts and cultural activity has remained slow following the lifting of restrictions.MethodsInterviews with 14 representatives, including providers and practitioners, from 12 arts and cultural organisations within the Liverpool City Region (LCR) were conducted. The aim was to examine the impact of COVID-19 restrictions easing on arts and cultural provision in the LCR, and on the mental health and wellbeing of those whom arts and cultural organisations serve, including those who would usually access arts through formal healthcare routes (e.g., those usually served via arts organisations’ partnership with health or social care providers). Data were analysed using framework analysis.ResultsThree overarching themes were identified: The new normal: ‘Out of crisis comes innovation’; Complexities of operating ‘in the new COVID world’; and Reimagining arts in mental healthcare.ConclusionAs engagement in community and cultural activities plays a public health role, a hybrid delivery of arts and culture – ensuring continued online access alongside in-person provision – will be vital for people’s recovery. Alongside efforts to reimagine arts in mental healthcare in the wake of the crisis caused by the pandemic, the role of arts and culture in providing stigma-free environments to reconnect the vulnerable and isolated is more critical than ever. Recommendations on the role of arts and culture in sustaining the mental health and wellbeing of the population and embedding the arts within clinical care and public health prevention schemes are provided.

Improving arts management/marketing efficiency: optimizing utilization of scarce resources to produce artistic outputs

PurposeThis longitudinal research examines US symphony orchestra sector organizations to determine individual efficiencies in allocating resources (donations, governmental/private funding, etc.) for desirable outputs (concerts, educational programs, community outreach). It provides researchers and managers with a tool for identifying, assessing and mitigating organizational inefficiencies.Design/methodology/approachThis study assesses relative efficiencies in performing arts organizations using Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA), a widely-used nonparametric data-intensive benchmarking technique that determines an optimal “production frontier” of best-practice organizations among their peers and assesses their abilities to turn multivariate inputs into multivariate desired outputs.FindingsThis analysis highlights efficiency differences in a wide range of orchestras in converting available resources into performance-related outputs. It provides individual arts organizations with useful results for developing practical benchmarks to achieve organizational efficiency improvement.Research limitations/implicationsThis study provides constructive benchmarking guidance for improving efficiencies of relatively-inefficient organizations. Future analysis can expand the scope to utilize a two-stage DEA model to provide more specific guidance to arts organizations.Practical implicationsThis pragmatic analysis enables arts/culture institutions to assess their organizational efficiencies and identify opportunities to optimize resources in producing social outputs for their target markets.Social implicationsEfficiency improvements enable performing arts organizations to provide additional artistic/social services, with fewer resources, to larger audiences.Originality/valueThis research demonstrates the abilities of DEA analysis to assess both a sector and its individual organizations to determine efficiencies, identify sources of inefficiencies and assess longitudinal efficiency trends.