Douglas DeNatale, PhD

Associate Professor of the Practice; Arts Administration Director

Douglas DeNatale, PhD, (AR 690—The Art World, AR 740—Technology and Arts Administration, AR 749 – Research and Program Evaluation in the Arts, AR 800 – Directed Study, AR 804—Advanced Management and Consulting for Arts Organizations) is the director of the Arts Administration program. Prior to joining the Metropolitan College faculty, he was the president of Community Logic, Inc., an arts consulting firm specializing in research and documentation. He previously served as director of research for the New England Foundation for the Arts (NEFA), where he played an instrumental role in forecasting the emerging creative economy and in developing the web-based research database CultureCount.

Formerly, Doug was director of the oral history and folklife program and director of collections at the University of South Carolina’s McKissick Museum. Trained as an ethnographer, Doug has directed collaborative arts research projects for the Ford Foundation, the Rockefeller Foundation, the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, and the Library of Congress. He conducted oral histories for the Lowell National Historic Park, the Southern Oral History Program, and the J. Alden Weir National Historic Site, and curated exhibitions for the McKissick Museum and the Smithsonian Institution Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage.

As an early adopter of technology, the Open Studios project Doug directed helped many New England cultural institutions establish their first websites. He has also been involved with technology projects for Heritage Preservation, the New England Museum Association, and the Boston Foundation.

His creative economy research is widely cited, with publications that include Documenting the Arts (NEFA) and Passion & Purpose: Raising the Fiscal Fitness Bar for Massachusetts Nonprofits (Boston Foundation, co-author). Doug has a PhD from the University of Pennsylvania, an MA from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and a BA from Wesleyan University.

Doug serves as a member of the board of directors and Treasurer for ENCATC, the European Network for Cultural Management and Policy, where he serves as Treasurer.  He is serves in the role of Secretary for the Executive Board of Social Theory, Politics, and the Arts (STPA), which sponsors the oldest and one of the most influential international academic gatherings of researchers and practitioners in the field of arts management and cultural policy.

“The BU Arts Administration program is uniquely positioned to assist early career arts administrators in achieving their next stage of development. No other program provides such close mentorship by working professionals in the field, provides access to international perspectives and opportunities, and equips students with the technical, analytic, entrepreneurial, and networking skills needed to navigate the dramatically changing cultural landscape.”