The Arts in a New Era: The Sector Responds to COVID-19

The Boston University Arts Administration Program is pleased to announce a new summer webinar series examining the current impact of the pandemic and the strategies that the arts sector has been developing to meet this unprecedented challenge. Since the beginning of the lockdown in late March, we have been tracking the sector’s response to the pandemic as reported in the media on our The Arts Respond to COVID-19 webpage. Please join us for a series of four informal roundtable discussions in which our program faculty will examine different aspects of the current crisis and how it is transforming the field. Drawing upon their long-term experience as leading arts professionals in Boston and New York, faculty members will discuss specific financial and human impacts on organizations; short-term strategies for maintaining operations and sustaining connection with audiences; and the long-term implications for transforming the sector’s business models and creative strategies. Our series will be moderated by Doug DeNatale, Program Director, and Lauren K. O’Neal, Senior Lecturer.

Here is the schedule of webinar topics and faculty panelists:

Financial and Legal Impacts and Effective Strategies
Thursday, August, 6 – 7:00 pm – 8:00 pm EDT (UTC-4).

Arts nonprofits have been financially devastated by the pandemic. In Massachusetts alone, a survey by the Massachusetts Cultural Council reveals that the sector has lost $425 million in lost revenue, affecting 17,000 jobs, and will require an additional $117 million to implement recovery strategies. In addition, existing and future legal obligations pose a major challenge. The outcomes for individual organizations will vary widely based on their management practices, fundraising programs, and financial planning. What are the questions and actions that organizations need to consider to survive financially? When is it time to consider merging or restructuring? Are there opportunities for positive change in the midst of this storm? [Doug DeNatale, moderator]

Panelists:

  •  Michele Beasley, Principal, Cleantech Advisors [MET AR 778: Legal Issues in Arts Administration]
  • Mary Doorley-Simboski, Managing Director, Changing Our World [MET AR 711: Capital Campaigns]
  •  Michael Ibrahim, Program Manager, Massachusetts Cultural Council Cultural Investment Portfolio [MET AR 550: Raising Funds and Grant Writing for Nonprofit Organizations]
  • David Orlinoff, Founder/Principal, Concord Financial Organization (CFO). [MET AR 750: Financial Management for Nonprofit Organizations]

Click HERE to register

 

The Role of Arts Leadership in Navigating the Pandemic
Thursday, August 13 – 7:00pm – 8:00 pm EDT (UTC-4).

As never before, effective arts leadership will be essential to organizational survival and future development. In an instant, accepted norms for financial planning, outreach, programming, and organizational management have been overturned. Organizations have been forced to rethink their entire short- and long-term strategies almost overnight. The pandemic has presented an unprecedented test of leadership. What are the characteristics of arts leaders who can rise to the challenge? [Doug DeNatale and Lauren O’Neal, moderators]

Panelists:

  • Janet Bailey, President, Janet Bailey Associates [MET AR 804: Advanced Management and Consulting for Arts Organizations; MET AR 781: Arts Leadership in Times of Crisis]
  • Anita Lauricella, Project Manager, Boston Downtown BID [MET AR 804: Advanced Management and Consulting for Arts Organizations]

Click HERE to register

 

Challenges and Possibilities for the Nonprofit Arts Sector
Thursday, 8/20 – 9:00 am – 10:00 am EDT (UTC-4).

Since March, both visual and performing arts organizations have been shuttered. Organizations have pursued a variety of strategies to remain engaged with their audiences and make up for lost income – from Zoom performances, to virtual exhibitions, to online educational outreach. Performing and visual arts organizations face significantly different challenges to reopening. What strategies have been successful during the pandemic? Will experiments with audience engagement transform the ways in which nonprofit arts organizations operate in the future? [Lauren O’Neal, moderator]

Panelists:

  • Brooke DiGiovanni Evans, Interim Director of Learning, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston [MET AR 722: Educational Programming in Cultural Institutions]
  • Blair Hollis, Head of Corporate Partnerships, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston [MET AR 766: Arts and the Community]
  • Jennifer Ritvo Hughes, Executive Director, Boston Baroque [MET AR 771: Managing Performing Arts Organizations]
  • Nicholas Peterson, Director of Marketing, Central Square Theater [MET AR 720: Marketing and Audience Development for the Arts]

Click HERE to register

 

Challenges and Possibilities for the Commercial Arts Sector
Thursday, 8/27 – 9:00 am – 10:00 am EDT (UTC-4).

The pandemic has brought Broadway to a standstill. At present, commercial theater will not open until January 2021 at the earliest. With rare exceptions touring productions have been suspended worldwide. At the same time, new forms of access to commercial theater have become available through streaming platforms and commercial television. Similarly, within the commercial visual arts sector, the marketplace has been forced to move online in ways that were long thought impossible. How will commercial theater emerge from the pandemic? Will new forms of performance and access forever change the nature of the commercial arts? [Doug DeNatale, moderator]

Panelists:

  • Melissa Caolo, Managing Director, Camp Broadway [MET AR 752: Leadership and Entrepreneurship in the Commercial Arts]
  •  Jason Grossman, Theatrical Producer, Plush Theatricals [MET AR 751: Commercial Production: The Broadway Model]
  •  Susan Lee, CEO, Camp Broadway [MET AR 753: Current Trends in the Performing Arts Industry]
  •  Robert Nederlander, Jr., CEO, Nederlander Worldwide Entertainment [Partner, Performing Arts Enterprise Certificate]

Click HERE to register