Arts Sector Research Articles

On the public provision of the performing arts

In this paper, we present a model in which the performing arts are modelled as congestible public goods. In accordance with empirical evidence, the production of seat capacity is assumed to be subject to fixed costs. We estimate the parameters of the model's demand and cost functions using German data. Using these estimates in a subsequent social choice analysis, we show that the current situation in the German performing arts sector is best described by a directorship that under the influence of a selfish theater lobby maximizes only the welfare of the spectators. Such an equilibrium, characterized by too low ticket prices and too large capacity, is most likely to establish if citizens have a very positive ex ante notion of the performing arts.

Performing Arts Creative Enterprise

The UK government has recently established the National Council for Graduate Entrepreneurship (NCGE) to promote entrepreneurship in higher education, across all subject disciplines. This article considers the UK government's policy initiative from the perspective of a new project supporting tutors in the performing arts sector, who are working to ‘bridge the gap’ between arts education and professional artistic practice. The article explores, in particular, fundamental issues such as: what is distinctive about cultural entrepreneurship and how can it be taught? It also discusses the role of higher education institutions in developing relationships with the creative industries sector and in developing training and support systems for aspiring professional artists.

Killing the Goose: Conflicts between Pedagogy and Politics in the Delivery of a Creative Education

This article arises out of a research project which looks at the promotion of creativity in pre-degree and undergraduate learners in art and design. The project considers ‘conceptual’ definitions of creativity and its promotion which have been evidenced by research, and ‘operational’ definitions and delivery methods used by lecturers and students in the art & design sector. The theoretical understandings and empirical evidence thus gained reveal the continuing existence of a radical and potentially effective pedagogic idealism within art & design education. However, a comparison between theory, experience and current realities, leads us to the conclusion that the existence of this educational desideratum is threatened by the commodification of education and the over-elaborate monitoring which accompanies it. This is a personal and somewhat polemical view but, we believe, one that is also widely held in the sector. We suggest that a reaffirmation of experiential evidence is essential to counter the impact of an increasingly audit-driven approach to education which focuses on outcomes rather than process and on systems rather than individuals.

Artifact – a subject guide for the arts and creative industries

Artifact, which was officially launched in November 2003, is the arts and creative industries hub of the UK’s Resource Discovery Network. Variously described as a gateway, a hub and a subject guide, Artifact offers an alternative to commercial search engines, principally for those studying, teaching or researching arts, communications and other creative subjects within UK further and higher education, but also freely available to anyone seeking quality-assured resources online. With the support of a wide spectrum of professionals from both the educational and commercial arts sectors, Artifact is now developing into a comprehensive service that can help fulfil a wide array of information needs for potential customers from many spheres.

Putting the “art” back into arts policy making: how arts policy has been “captured” by the economists and the marketers

: This paper explores the current discourse about arts policy and funding and its placement within an economic paradigm. The models of “cultural industry” and “creative industry” are explored and how they affect arts funding discourse. Similarly the impact of the introduction of the language of industry and business to the arts sector is considered. If bottom-line arguments are used by funders, governments and critics to argue the merits or otherwise of arts activity, how does this affect arts practice? In recent times arts funding agencies have been restructured to reflect a market-driven agenda rather than an arts-driven agenda. The impact of all these issues is considered in the context of Australian arts' models in particular, but with reference to examples in the United Kingdom and the United States of America. The paper concludes with suggestions for a reassertion of core cultural values in future discourse.

The Globalized and the Local: Theatre in Australia and Aotearoa/New Zealand Enters the New Millennium

Late in 1999 the Commonwealth of Australia's Department of Communications, Information Technology and the Arts released Securing the Future, the final Report of the Major Performing Arts Enquiry chaired by Helen Nugent (commonly referred to as the Nugent Report). The operations of the committee and the findings of the Report occasioned considerable public debate in the Australian arts world in the late 1990s, as the Enquiry solicited and analysed information and opinion on the financial health and artistic practices of thirty-one national major performing arts companies producing opera, ballet, chamber and orchestral music as well as theatre. The Report saw the financial viability of Australian live performance as deeply affected by the impact of globalization, especially by what elsewhere has been called ‘Baumol's disease’ – escalating technical, administrative and wage costs but fixed revenue – which threaten the subsidized state theatre companies of Brisbane, Adelaide and Perth with their relatively small population bases. The structural implementation recommended a considerable financial commitment by Commonwealth and State Governments to undertake a defined period of stabilizing and repositioning of companies. Early in 2000 both levels of Government committed themselves to this funding – in fact increasing Nugent's requested $52 million to $70 million – and to the principle of a strengthened Australia Council dispensing arms-length subsidy. In an economically philistine political environment, these outcomes are a tribute to Nugent's astute use of economic rhetoric to gain at least a symbolic victory for the performing arts sector. In 2000 New Zealand arts gained a similar major injection of funding, while a commissioned Heart of the Nation report, advocating the dilution of the principle of arm's-length funding through the abolition of the national funding organization Creative New Zealand, was rejected by Prime Minister Helen Clark.

Health and safety in the classical music industry in the UK and Germany

While European health and safety legislation has improved the lot of many employees ‐ much national change in the area of occupational health and safety and improvements to the working environment originate in the European Union ‐ the performing arts sector has not reacted as quickly or as comprehensively to this regulation as other sectors. For instance, working conditions in many Victorian theatres have scarcely changed since the theatres were built. This chapter presents the results of a large‐scale survey carried out among UK and German musicians between November 2000 and April 2001. A comprehensive questionnaire covered many aspects of professional classical musicians’ perceptions of occupational health and safety, the provision of appropriate information, their general working conditions, and their health. The contrasting structures of the profession informed the choice of the UK and Germany for this study. The UK classical music workforce is predominantly freelance, whereas in Germany there are relatively few freelance musicians, and most orchestral musicians have the status of local government employees. This study investigates how such different employment conditions affect musicians’ working lives. One of the main aims of this survey, however, is to bring to the forefront a long overdue discussion of working conditions and to raise awareness of the range of problems that exist. The results of the survey allow the identification of areas that need improvement, in particular regarding environmental conditions. Previous research carried out in other fields has shown how crucial good and informed communication at the workplace is to create a safe and healthy working environment. The present study evaluates the level of communication that exists in the classical musical workplace about health and safety issues, and the flow of information about occupational hazards. A range of alleviating measures exist to ameliorate some of the worst effects of working as a professional orchestral musician; the results of the survey show which measures are the most widely used, and how effective they are. Responses about the incidence and severity of accidents at work and on the way to and from work supplement information on the medical and alternative practitioners consulted for a range of work‐related illnesses. Where appropriate and relevant, comparisons are drawn between the findings in the UK and Germany.

Distribution of the arts: British arts centres as ‘gatekeepers’ in intersecting cultural production systems

Building on work in ‘production of culture’ research, this paper highlights the distributive aspect of the arts and culture, a phase of cultural production relatively under-researched compared with the phases of creation and consumption. The paper examines how programmers make decisions on what artistic products to present at arts centres in the UK. The paper argues that because arts programmers need to book products whose artistic and financial success is difficult to predict, they employ various strategies to routinise programme planning and optimise predictability of outcome. Using personal contact developed with a range of arts professionals is one of the most important strategies. Arts programming thus can be seen as collective action (Becker, 1982) between programmers, promoters and agents, officers of funding bodies and producing arts organisations who are meshed in various networks and circles to share values and opinions on artistic standards. Expanding on Hirsch (1972), the paper explores arts programming at a more institutional level. It argues that since arts centres rely on the supply from external producers, programming operates in a variety of cultural production systems pertaining to different arts sectors in which non-profit and for-profit enterprises, government and other public authorities interact.

Entre centralisme inachevé et pressions fédéralistes : le cheminement difficile des politiques culturelles italiennes

This article presents the evolution of cultural policies in Italy since the fascist period. In analysing either the Heritage and Museums domain or the Theatre and visual art sectors, it highlights the relationship between regulation and programming, which are rather centralized, and their effects throughout the territory, in a context marked by the growing role played by bcal and regional autonomies. Nowadays, this perspective is particularly crucial because of a Cultural Ministry reform consisting in agregating all the sectors traditionnally fragmented. Such a reform tends to give a first answer to the demands of federalism. The analyses concerning the actual situation are anything but definitive : the process of transformation is still at the beginning and it is facing a tradition of public intervention in the cultural sector which is very rigid and whose own roots go back to the History.

Capital Investment in the UK Arts, Sport and Heritage Sectors: An Evaluation of Statistics

This paper critically evaluates currently available statistics on UK capital investment in the arts, sport and heritage. The paper first examines some important questions that need good capital investment statistics if they are to be answered. Particular attention is focused on how far existing data might provide an adequate benchmark for evaluating the effects of the National Lottery on capital investment. The strengths and limitations of these data are then assessed. The paper concludes with some recommendations for improvement. An Appendix presents nearly fifty measures of capital investment in the three sectors.

Non-Profit Arts Sector Called “Elitist”

News| February 01 1998 Non-Profit Arts Sector Called “Elitist” Afterimage (1998) 25 (4): 2. https://doi.org/10.1525/aft.1998.25.4.2 Views Icon Views Article contents Figures & tables Video Audio Supplementary Data Peer Review Share Icon Share Twitter LinkedIn Tools Icon Tools Get Permissions Cite Icon Cite Search Site Citation Non-Profit Arts Sector Called “Elitist”. Afterimage 1 February 1998; 25 (4): 2. doi: https://doi.org/10.1525/aft.1998.25.4.2 Download citation file: Ris (Zotero) Reference Manager EasyBib Bookends Mendeley Papers EndNote RefWorks BibTex toolbar search Search Dropdown Menu toolbar search search input Search input auto suggest filter your search All ContentAfterimage Search This content is only available via PDF. © 1998 by The Regents of the University of California1998 Article PDF first page preview Close Modal You do not currently have access to this content.

The Importance of the Arts Sector: How It Relates to the Public Purpose

The Importance of the Arts Sector: How It Relates to the Public Purpose

Linking tourism and art in Canada's eastern Arctic: the case of Cape Dorset

ABSTRACTThe Inuit of Canada's eastern Arctic are increasingly turning to tourism as a source of much-needed income and employment. The government of the Northwest Territories, in conjunction with local communities, is attempting to develop a ‘sustainable’ form of tourism in the region, with an emphasis on maximizing local economic linkages while minimizing negative socio-cultural and environmental impacts. One key strategy for increasing the ‘downstream’ benefits of visitor expenditure has been an attempt to forge better links between tourism and the region's arts sector. This paper examines some of the key issues and problems that face the implementation of such a strategy in the Baffin Island hamlet of Cape Dorset. It commences with a profile of the community, its arts sector, and its nascent tourism industry. It then presents findings from a household/business survey designed to gauge resident attitudes towards tourism and provide information on the links that exist between the industry and the arts sector. The data reveal that while residents are supportive of further tourism development there is considerable disagreement among different interest groups about the amount of interaction that should occur between tourism and the local arts sector. In conclusion, the paper outlines some approaches that may allow the linkages between these two important components of the local economy to be strengthened.

Perfect reproductions of works of art: Substitutes or heresy?

The paper attempts an empirical investigation into a number of “subjective” determinants used in the evaluation of a work of art. Individuals' decisions to buy works of art seem based predominantly on aesthetic benefits. This is true for original pieces of art as well as for reproductions, i.e. there seems to be some substitutability between both kinds of objects. Major differences in the evaluation of originals and reproductions arise with respect to the secondary characteristics of art objects, not specifically with regard to the work of art itself. With respect to the willingness to pay (wtp) for a reproduction, a major impact seems to be whether or not the original work exists, i.e. a “rationing effect” seems to arise. The wtp for a reproduction also seems to depend on whether or not an individual earns his/her income in the arts sector.

Rhetorical Questions: The Alternative Arts Sector and the Imaginary Public

Essay| January 01 1993 Rhetorical Questions: The Alternative Arts Sector and the Imaginary Public Grant Kester Grant Kester Search for other works by this author on: This Site PubMed Google Scholar Afterimage (1993) 20 (6): 10–16. https://doi.org/10.1525/aft.1993.20.6.10 Views Icon Views Article contents Figures & tables Video Audio Supplementary Data Peer Review Share Icon Share Twitter LinkedIn Tools Icon Tools Get Permissions Cite Icon Cite Search Site Citation Grant Kester; Rhetorical Questions: The Alternative Arts Sector and the Imaginary Public. Afterimage 1 January 1993; 20 (6): 10–16. doi: https://doi.org/10.1525/aft.1993.20.6.10 Download citation file: Ris (Zotero) Reference Manager EasyBib Bookends Mendeley Papers EndNote RefWorks BibTex toolbar search Search Dropdown Menu toolbar search search input Search input auto suggest filter your search All ContentAfterimage Search This content is only available via PDF. © 1993 by The Regents of the University of California1993 Article PDF first page preview Close Modal You do not currently have access to this content.

EC: VAT on Goods and Services Supplied by Craftsmen in the Applied Arts Sector

EC: VAT on Goods and Services Supplied by Craftsmen in the Applied Arts Sector

Growth of the Nonprofit Arts Sector in the GNP

(1983). Growth of the Nonprofit Arts Sector in the GNP. Journal of Arts Management and Law: Vol. 13, No. 1, pp. 207-210.

Art and the National Image: The Conflict over Germany's Participation in the St. Louis Exposition

IN 1902 Germany agreed to take part in the international exposition to be held in St. Louis two years later. She accepted the invitation without much enthusiasm. Her finances were strained, and there had been far too many international fairs, congresses, and trade shows recently; industrialists and government officials spoke ofa general Ausstellungsmudigkeit in the country.1 Nevertheless, like most powers Ger? many eventually gave in to the apparent requirements of international competition and to persistent American pressure. Ofthe many parts of the German exhibition, the art sector proved the most troublesome to organize. German artists, unlike manufacturers or academics, belonged to competing associations, whose differences had become nearly irreconcilable because the emperor favored one side over the other. Wil? liam II had originally proposed that to save money German representa? tion in St. Louis be limited to a show of painting and sculpture instead ofa general exhibition of cultural and material achievement. Even after it was decided to expand the Reich's participation to keep pace with that of the other major powers, the emperor continued to be particu-