ArtsLine: Fall 2016
To Perform with a Conviction: An Interview with Square Peg Round Hole
An American in Wiesbaden
Diversity, Equity and Inclusion: An interview with Monica O. Montgomery
Makers Among Us: Spotlight on Mike Tanis
An American in Wiesbaden
Diversity, Equity and Inclusion: An interview with Monica O. Montgomery
Makers Among Us: Spotlight on Mike Tanis
Letter from the Editor
Hello, ArtsLine Readers!
I moved to Philadelphia this September, and I have eagerly sought to become involved in as many areas that make my heart sing as possible. I’m a full-time student on campus in the Arts Administration program working as a Graduate Assistant and diving into my studies; I’ve begun to launch my knitting enterprise and am a vendor at this winter’s Go West Craft Fest; and I’ve rekindled my love of dance by joining a company. I’m tremendously excited to be in Philly and contribute to the arts and culture sector, but I’m wary of biting off more than I can chew.
How do I balance my interests with my responsibilities, especially when they overlap? How can I make time to incorporate self-care into my routine, particularly in this tense political and emotional climate? How do I learn to say “no”? I’m willing to bet I’m not the only one with these questions. With this in mind, I’d like to share the personal mission statement I wrote for Julie Goodman-Hawkins’ Overview of the Arts course this quarter:
To seek balance and joy each day while supporting the many communities I am a part of. I will accomplish this in my professional life by working in the arts and being an active member of the greater arts and cultural community, striving to provide transformative experiences reminiscent of those I have engaged in. These values will also be reflected in my personal life as I consciously carve out space to breathe and stay connected to those around me, all while cultivating personal growth.
As an extension of this mission, I’ve elected to incorporate more artists into the content of ArtsLine. I feel strongly about sustaining my own creative practices, in whatever form that my take on, and I challenge other makers and artisans to stay connected to their crafts. The fall issue of ArtsLine is loosely reflecting on the theme of balance, focusing on the dualities of work & play, artists & administrators, and members of the Drexel family & folks beyond that circle.
I’ll be mulling over these musings and more throughout the year, and I invite you to share your insight. It was wonderful to connect with members of our community at the Cocktails, Culture, & Conversation event and through interviews for this issue. I hope to continue these conversations and include updates about your work and experiences throughout the year, and I welcome you to help shape this year's ArtsLine. Keep an eye out for the upcoming winter and spring issues!
I moved to Philadelphia this September, and I have eagerly sought to become involved in as many areas that make my heart sing as possible. I’m a full-time student on campus in the Arts Administration program working as a Graduate Assistant and diving into my studies; I’ve begun to launch my knitting enterprise and am a vendor at this winter’s Go West Craft Fest; and I’ve rekindled my love of dance by joining a company. I’m tremendously excited to be in Philly and contribute to the arts and culture sector, but I’m wary of biting off more than I can chew.
How do I balance my interests with my responsibilities, especially when they overlap? How can I make time to incorporate self-care into my routine, particularly in this tense political and emotional climate? How do I learn to say “no”? I’m willing to bet I’m not the only one with these questions. With this in mind, I’d like to share the personal mission statement I wrote for Julie Goodman-Hawkins’ Overview of the Arts course this quarter:
To seek balance and joy each day while supporting the many communities I am a part of. I will accomplish this in my professional life by working in the arts and being an active member of the greater arts and cultural community, striving to provide transformative experiences reminiscent of those I have engaged in. These values will also be reflected in my personal life as I consciously carve out space to breathe and stay connected to those around me, all while cultivating personal growth.
As an extension of this mission, I’ve elected to incorporate more artists into the content of ArtsLine. I feel strongly about sustaining my own creative practices, in whatever form that my take on, and I challenge other makers and artisans to stay connected to their crafts. The fall issue of ArtsLine is loosely reflecting on the theme of balance, focusing on the dualities of work & play, artists & administrators, and members of the Drexel family & folks beyond that circle.
I’ll be mulling over these musings and more throughout the year, and I invite you to share your insight. It was wonderful to connect with members of our community at the Cocktails, Culture, & Conversation event and through interviews for this issue. I hope to continue these conversations and include updates about your work and experiences throughout the year, and I welcome you to help shape this year's ArtsLine. Keep an eye out for the upcoming winter and spring issues!
Warmly,
Sarah Braverman
Graduate Assistant
sarahbraves@drexel.edu
Letter from the Program Directors
Jean Brody, Online Program Director
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Julie Hawkins, Campus Program Director
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We are well into our Fall term now, and it’s an exciting year for us in the AADM programs. We have 20+ new students from across the country and around the world, some who quite literally have one foot in each program. Writing this on the day after the Presidential election, we also feel compelled to note that our commitment to all of you, and to the role arts and culture play in the lives of people and communities, remains ever-strong. The need for the healing and community-building powers of the arts will only grow stronger in the coming years.
Those of you who have been reading Artsline for a while know that your AADM faculty have been involved in a program assessment, followed by a curriculum revision that is being implemented this fall. We are especially excited about the debut of a new course, AADM 520 Creative Enterprise and Innovation, which includes concepts drawn from Neville Vakharia’s Arts Entrepreneurship elective. We believe that entrepreneurship, and an understanding of the various and evolving ways in which arts and arts managers organize themselves, are among the key skills needed by 21st century arts leaders.
This past June, our department hosted the annual conference of the Association of Arts Administration Educators (AAAE). We were thrilled to see so many students and faculty members presenting at and supporting the conference, and to have a chance to show off all of our programs, our college, and many of Philadelphia’s arts leaders. Jane Golden from Mural Arts kicked off the conference, and Thora Jacobson of the Philadelphia Art Alliance offered a Mural Arts tour that closed the conference. Julie Hawkins led a panel reviewing the recent Wallace Foundation study, “Building Arts Audiences” and its use in academic settings.
Last year we also held our first-ever thesis presentations. Adrienne Harding, Brenda Colon, Tanesha Ford, and Hannah Rechtschaffen presented their research and findings on Commencement weekend, kicking off a new tradition for the programs. Stay tuned for an invitation to this year’s presentations which will be held on Saturday, December 10 from 3:30-5pm, location TBD.
Please join us for this year's special events, starting with a December 8 discussion of the new Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). This event, co-presented with the Greater Philadelphia Cultural Alliance, features Arts Administration faculty members John Walp, who has taught our Human Resources for the Arts course for many years, and Sharon Erwin, who originated the Law and the Arts course first for the campus, and later for the online, program. Walp and Erwin will speak about what this law requires, and how local arts organizations are adjusting. RSVP here.
Those of you who have been reading Artsline for a while know that your AADM faculty have been involved in a program assessment, followed by a curriculum revision that is being implemented this fall. We are especially excited about the debut of a new course, AADM 520 Creative Enterprise and Innovation, which includes concepts drawn from Neville Vakharia’s Arts Entrepreneurship elective. We believe that entrepreneurship, and an understanding of the various and evolving ways in which arts and arts managers organize themselves, are among the key skills needed by 21st century arts leaders.
This past June, our department hosted the annual conference of the Association of Arts Administration Educators (AAAE). We were thrilled to see so many students and faculty members presenting at and supporting the conference, and to have a chance to show off all of our programs, our college, and many of Philadelphia’s arts leaders. Jane Golden from Mural Arts kicked off the conference, and Thora Jacobson of the Philadelphia Art Alliance offered a Mural Arts tour that closed the conference. Julie Hawkins led a panel reviewing the recent Wallace Foundation study, “Building Arts Audiences” and its use in academic settings.
Last year we also held our first-ever thesis presentations. Adrienne Harding, Brenda Colon, Tanesha Ford, and Hannah Rechtschaffen presented their research and findings on Commencement weekend, kicking off a new tradition for the programs. Stay tuned for an invitation to this year’s presentations which will be held on Saturday, December 10 from 3:30-5pm, location TBD.
Please join us for this year's special events, starting with a December 8 discussion of the new Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). This event, co-presented with the Greater Philadelphia Cultural Alliance, features Arts Administration faculty members John Walp, who has taught our Human Resources for the Arts course for many years, and Sharon Erwin, who originated the Law and the Arts course first for the campus, and later for the online, program. Walp and Erwin will speak about what this law requires, and how local arts organizations are adjusting. RSVP here.
Faculty Highlights
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We are very pleased to be able to announce some great news about Dr. Andrew Zitcer, including his shift to a tenure-track position in recognition of his excellent academic accomplishments. In addition, he has been working to develop a new interdisciplinary master’s program in Urban Strategy here at Drexel. |
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Neville Vakharia launched MuseumStat (http://museumstat.org/#/), an online GIS-based mapping tool that provides the museum sector with important data on museums and the communities they serve. Neville has also been appointed to the board of directors of the Philadelphia Cultural Fund, and the editorial board of Artivate: A Journal of Entrepreneurship in the Arts. |
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Julie Hawkins was appointed Chair of the Mayor’s Cultural Advisory Council, supporting Philadelphia’s Office of Arts, Culture, and the Creative Economy. |
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Jean Brody organized last year’s very successful conference of the Association of Arts Administration Educators. |
Among our many goals for the coming year will be continuing to build closer ties between current students and our extensive alumni network. Jean will be gathering a group of Texas-based alums at the National Arts Marketing Project conference in Austin in November, and we will be continuing to reach out to our alums in support of AAGA and other activities.
Please join us as often as you can!
Student, Faculty, & Alumni News
- Lindsey Crane recently moved to New York City to pursue a new position as Program Officer, Cultural Investments for the Upper Manhattan Empowerment Zone, a local economic development organization serving the communities of Upper Manhattan including Harlem, East Harlem, Washington Heights, and Inwood.
- Liz McClearn is now the Grants and Corporate Development Manager at Musicopia and Dancing Classrooms Philly.
- Greg Seamon will be the new Programming Manager at the Kimmel Center, beginning December 1, 2016.
- Neville K. Vakharia, Assistant Professor and Research Director, has many recent highlights from his work to share with our community.
- Neville presented his research on an empirical study of a quantitative model of organizational practices in the performing arts and their correlation to performance metrics at the prestigious European Group for Organization Studies management conference in Naples, Italy.
- His article, “Creating Space” was published in the GIA Reader, based on my research into developing a new program model for meeting the space needs of performing artists through excess capacity of historic, sacred places.
- Neville’s research article, “Knowledge-Centric Arts Organizations: Connecting Practice to Performance” was accepted into the International Journal of Arts Management and will be published in an upcoming issue. The article was co-authored with AADM alumna Divya Janardhan (’10).
We’d like all alums to consider ArtsLine a great way to let our community know about your news! Please submit news about new jobs, moves, adventures, and family members to sarahbraves@drexel.edu.
