Author: Schwalbe, Douglas and Baker-Carr, Janet

Publication Year: 1975

Media Type: Report

Summary:

As individual wealth, power, and privilege have given way to new divisions of social responsibility between the individual and the state, the tradition of personal administrative dictatorship and the consent which made it possible have been eroded. Boards of trustees have begun to share responsibility and resources with patrons. However, until recently social and cultural conditions, with their privileged relationships, seemed to be little changed. Today the arts are in the process of seeking new forms of governance, a process which will affect their traditional foundation, purpose and meaning. Inherent in this process is the relocation of authority. The attendant conflict seriously affects the functioning of arts organizations, their purpose, their meaning, and their support. It is in the context of this evolving process that these interviews were made.

Abstract:

As individual wealth, power, and privilege have given way to new divisions of social responsibility between the individual and the state, the tradition of personal administrative dictatorship and the consent which made it possible have been eroded. Boards of trustees have begun to share responsibility and resources with patrons. However, until recently social and cultural conditions, with their privileged relationships, seemed to be little changed. Today the arts are in the process of seeking new forms of governance, a process which will affect their traditional foundation, purpose and meaning. Inherent in this process is the relocation of authority. The attendant conflict seriously affects the functioning of arts organizations, their purpose, their meaning, and their support. It is in the context of this evolving process that these interviews were made.

Represented in this book is a variety of personal views that reveal the tensions, the varying perspectives, the problems, and in some cases the individual solutions that characterize the workings of arts organizations today. The individuals interviewed were chosen because they are articulate and thoughtful spokesmen for the views they represent. While some of the people and some of the organizations are identified, others have been cast in anonymity. The purpose of this was to focus the reader's attention on issues rather than on the distraction of fame or notoriety. Taken together, these interviews mirror the current turmoil in the arts and reflect, in one form or another, views held in almost all arts organizations. They make explicit the implicit uneasiness that people feel. By examining closely these personal statements, one can formulate the questions each individual organization must ask of itself and evaluate answers that some individuals advocate. Ultimately there may emerge from such explorations new solutions to the quandaries of the present time: new forms of governance, new understandings of function, a new sense of direction for the arts and their institutions. (p. 1-2)

CONTENTS
Foreword.
Conflict in the arts: the relocation of authority.
The museum.
Robert Motherwell, artist.
Susan Jackson, development and fund-raising officer.
Jason Edwards, education director.
Hilton Kramer, art critic.
Werner Haas, curator.
Philip Clark, Museum Director.
Barbara Lewis.
David Fisher.
Katherine Kimball, museum director.
Smith Bagley, trustee.
Andre Emmerich, art dealer.

Arts & Intersections:

Categories: Governance