Monday, April 11, 2011
Arts groups join forces to survive tough times
Post Gazette: "It's the title of a nonsensical song by The Beatles, but for arts groups in Pittsburgh, it's a concept that's keeping them alive.In recent years, the region has seen a number of front-office collaborations among arts organizations, driven mostly by the financial realities of the poor economy.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
3 comments:
I think it's great that these groups joined together to help the arts community in Pittsburgh. Art is not about competition and trying to raise the most money, so by all of them coming together, they are able to create a greater arts culture. The audience isn't going to a venue and not others to spite the other; it's simply because of what the audience is interested in. So by joining together, they are benefitting from each other and keeping art alive.
Its amazing to me that these two groups have had programming issues. Part of the job of planning a season is to look at what others are doing so as to not double program and over saturate the market.
In addition to correcting that issue, it sounds like these organizations will really benefit form this alliance. Its nice to see organizations working together toward a common goal. Because we are all working toward a common goal: good art and survival. I wonder why they did not join the cultural trust. In Pittsburgh at least, that seems to be the way to survive. But I guess these groups wanted more independence and control. If I had to venture a guess, I think the Pittsburgh Music Alliance will change rapidly over the first year and the groups will become more dependent upon it for additional services.
It is a pleasure to see people talking about the Pittsburgh Music Alliance. Thank you for posting, and for the thoughts. Your observations are very much on the mark for what PMA can do for arts organizations. The alliance works on the simple principle that collaboration benefits all.
PMA differs from the Cultural Trust. PMA is a collaboration, but not a merger -- five organizations working together to raise awareness about an art form. Also, the Trust is geographically based, serving the Cultural District specifically and all arts there, which in turn feeds the entire city of course. PMA, on the other hand, arises from a shared sense of mission to serve a particular art form, music, and performances of it all around the city.
We love the feedback and the support. Thank you very much for the good words.
Regards,
Andrew Swensen
Post a Comment