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Public Management Program

 

25th Anniversary

Partnership in the Arts Session

Moderator
Bill Meehan, Chairman of the West Coast, McKinsey & Company

Panelists
Mona Duggan, Associate Director and Director of External, Cantor Arts Center at Stanford University
Nancy L. Glaze, Director, Arts Program, The David and Lucile Foundation
Heather Kitchen, Managing Director, American Conservatory Theatre

Student Organizers of the Panel
Peter Laub and Gillian Darlow

Heather Kitchen
Managing Director, American Conservatory Theatre
Foundations want a program to attach things to. Funds are now "marketing funds" not development funds. Corporations are looking to see what they will get for their money.

Trends: Matching gifts are hugely important. Individuals tend to contribute more when they know it will be matched. You need to know who you are and how to go after what you want. Even if you don't get funding. CT has accumulated a deficit. But they have an operating profit, so we're bringing the deficit down. ACT is a non-endowed organization.

We added a staff position to do outreach work. When dealing with the board, introduce the position slowly. There are 10 major outreach programs that we're doing piecemeal. We got a position funded via Bank of America and the San Francisco Foundation.

Tenderloin Project. Kids feel more comfortable in their own environment, so we bring the theater to them.  We rotate this sponsorship. This makes companies see that ACT has a lot of diverse activities.

ACT is focused on deficit reduction. I've done some OMB so that people understand deficit, debt, etc. We had an offer to do matching deficit reduction. We got group buy-in. I show the staff with charts and graphs. The staff has to decide their level of commitment. Employees have to want to do this.

Nancy Glaze
Director, Arts Program, The David and Lucile Foundation
We've been looking at structure. We're trying to diversify in the arts. We're looking outside San Francisco.

Three areas of change I have seen:

Cultural tourism. San Francisco has a dedicated person to do this which enhances art and the community. Planning (cultural). Trying to get people to communicate.

Organize communities: Trying to get interaction around a project. Typically involves the government.

Art institutes as stand-alone institutions: We've lost patience for accumulated deficit thinking. Example: Bruce Copik, St. Louis Symphony. Endowment, great artists, etc. Counted on board and huge donations. But forgot about their community. So they redid the union contract. Now they maintain artistic excellence, but also remember their community.

Mona Duggan
Associate Director and Director of External, Cantor Arts Center at Stanford University
The museum opened in 1894 and is now one of the biggest in the US. After the 1906 earthquake, two thirds of the museum had to be restored. In the 1960's through 1989 it was a museum of some distinction. Then the 1989 earthquake hit and the university asked if it should continue. The museum was given funding and a separate director.

They started rebuilding. It's now a 20,000 object collection. Only one fifth is on exhibit at any given time. We put together a new PR program. We doubled the membership. We were looking at corporate membership. We were trying to coincide with the new opening. Then we decided to wait–and were glad we did.

Corporations: Don't go in with preconceived ideas. We have seen a philanthropic sentiment. But know your limits. Be flexible. Opportunities open up. Ford: $250,000 initial contribution. But they agreed to underwrite a lot more. Reception, education programs, etc. A lot of the relationships came from past relationships.

Contacts are very important. Use them as much as possible. We don't allow sponsors to determine program contact.

Bill Meehan
Chairman of the West Coast, McKinsey & Company
I'm seeing a tension between "church" and "state." The artistic and business visions need to be reconciled. Public television is educational, but is it really fulfilling it's mission?

Arts organizations are falling away from their core point. Structural deficit: Costs increase and tickets increase.

Venture philanthropy: People are focused on what they get. Souls and art should not be for sale. You may destroy the institution.

Questions

Q. Why don't you put a car on the lot?

A.
Cultural tourism: Worried about organizations who were running after cultural tourism. What is going to happen to the little group? Are they sophisticated enough? I have unanswered questions. Grant makers are purists, corporate. They want a return. There's a huge tension between the two. Private foundation: There is not a unified philanthropic voice.

Q. Why are you involved in arts management?

A. from Nancy Glaze:
I got involved in arts management because I was trying to make organization in work. It was a match with my background and interests. I do believe that arts are on the edge.

A. from Heather Kitchen:
I do it for the contact between an actor and his or her audience.

A. from Mona Duggan:
I've raised money and I see what it does. I feel I'm making a difference.

Q. Art met the definition of a private good and should be funded that way. Right in the middle of Mapplethorpe discussion

A. from Bill Meehan:
There's no strict definition on what to fund. Venture philanthropy and who owns the heart and soul are going to increase. If you're going to the private model, then those who are going to find will be more demanding. People are going to want to know what organizations do and how they manage their money. Corporations aren't always examining B/S and I/S.

A. from Heather Kitchen:
I came from Canada where the government supports the arts. The government was hands off. Canadians felt that they had given through their taxes. I believe there are huge advantages and disadvantages to this.

A. from Bill Meehan:
Although the government isn't donating. It really is, because of tax deductions for donations.

Q. What is going to happen to the small organizations?

A. from Bill Meehan:
75% is individual donations. Diversity is a marketing goal. Looking for down the middle yet diverse arts organizations.

A. from Nancy Glaze:
Cultural planning. Community members go to different sites. Work together and curated it together. It's not just corporations but also individuals who want bang for their buck. In Silicon Valley, it's different.

A. from Heather Kitchen:
Looking at art organizations that are increasing their communication. Examples: ACT and Berkeley. Look out for smaller institutions. If we lose them, the actors lose their development areas. We need the major and the minor leagues.