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24
Cyan Magenta Yellow Black
Turn the art around
Expert advises leadership, innovation
By Adam Coughlin
acoughlin@hippopress.com
The best way for a struggling
arts organization to revitalize itself
is not by cutting programs, according
to the president of the John F.
Kennedy Center for the Performing
Arts in Washington, D.C., but
instead to focus on offering unique
and innovative art because donors
will choose to fund organizations
that are vital and offering more to
the community.
Michael M. Kaiser, as part
of “Arts in Crisis: A Kennedy
Center Initiative,” spoke to a gathering
at the Capitol Center for the
Arts on June 24. Known as “The
Turnaround King,” Keiser has a reputation
of taking arts organizations,
from the Kansas City Ballet to the
Royal Opera House in London, on
the verge of bankruptcy and turning
them into thriving operations.
To do this, Kaiser does not rely on
the patronage of large foundations
but instead believes that individual
donors, which provide 60 percent of
arts funding, are the savior of arts.
“I don’t believe there is one country
or city where you can’t raise
funding,” Kaiser said. “No one
city or state is immune [to] fundraising
but you have to get people
excited.”
That is why Kaiser recommends
a two-pronged promotional strate-
24 Art
Includes listings for gallery events, ongoing exhibits and classes. To get listed,
e-mail arts@hippopress.com.
ART LISTINGS
Art events
• FIRST THURSDAYS The Currier
Museum of Art is open late from 5:30
to 7:30 p.m. first Thursday of each
month with special programs including
live music, lectures and film, at
150 Ash St., Manchester. Call 669-
6144 ext. 108 or see www.currier.org
for tickets.
Gallery openings
and events.
• REMAINS OF THE DAY exhibit
of work by Robin Luciano Beaty will
be on display through Aug. 2 at Three
Graces, 105 Market St., Portsmouth.
Admission is free. Opening reception
Fri., July 2, 5-8 p.m. in conjunction
with Art ’Round Town. Call 436-
1988 or visit www.threegracesgallery.
com.
• SCOTT BULGER Photographies
on display Thurs., July 1, through
Fri., Aug. 27, at the Carolyn Jenkins
Gallery, Kimball-Jenkins Estate, 266
North Main St., Concord. Opening
reception Fri., July 9, 7-11 p.m. Visit
www.kimballjenkins.com or call 225-
3932.
• AN ARTISTS’ CIRCLE James
Aponovich and Elizabeth Johansson
and 13 friends have a seven-week
Hippo | July 1 - 7, 2010 | Page 24
gy. The first is program marketing,
which gets people to buy tickets. He
said the easiest way to do this is by
offering programs that are new. Kaiser
said arts organizations should
lead the public, not follow it. They
shouldn’t focus so much on giving
people what they want but instead
offer things that are illuminating. This
takes imagination, which Kaiser said
has been beaten out of many because
of worries about money. But he said if
leaders in arts organizations are able
to carve out a few hours every week
to plan four or five years down the
road, it will give them time to plan
some special events.
If those involved, especially the
board members, are excited about
the programs it will be easier to get
people excited about the organization.
Organizational marketing is
something Kaiser said can be inexpensive
and have a huge impact on
creating a positive cycle. Kaiser said
many board members fail to involve
their friends, family and colleagues,
which wastes a valuable resource.
Kaiser said when times are tough
— and he would know because
when he began at the Royal Opera
House it had a $30 million deficit
— it is important for the arts organization
to have one voice that delivers
the best message. Kaiser said occasionally
if an arts organization says
it is about to go bankrupt it will get
an emergency donation but those
exhibition at the Sharon Arts Downtown
Exhibition Gallery in Depot
Square, Peterborough, 924-2787,
sharonarts.org. Opening reception on
Fri., July 9, 5-7 p.m., and continues
with a series of educational programs
and events through the closing reception
on Fri., Aug. 27, 5-7 p.m. Both
receptions are free and open to the
public.
• CHRIS MYOTT work will be on
display through Sept. 30 in the New
Hampshire Antique Co-op’s Tower
Gallery, 323 Elm St./Rte. 101A, Milford.
Gallery hours are 10 a.m.-5 p.m.
daily. An artist reception will be held
Sat., July 10, 1-3 p.m. Call 673-8499.
In the galleries
• 10 FOR 2010: Ten Emerging Painters
to Watch, features work by alumni
of the NH Institute of Art through
Aug. 31 at the Robert M. Larsen Gallery
at Sulloway & Hollis, 29 School
St., Concord.
• AMBER GRISEL, paintings, at
Apotheca Flowers & Tea Chest, 24
Main St. in Goffstown, 384-3939,
apothecaflowers.com.
• ART IN THE MILL Children’s
works from the Picturing Writing
Project on display through Aug. 20
on the second floor at UNH Manches-
24
are few and far between and carry
a huge cost.
“If things are bad you don’t have
to lie,” Kaiser said. “But point out
the positives.”
A positive for many arts organizations
is joint ventures, which Kaiser
said if used properly can have real
power. Of course, these sorts of
collaborations need to be made by
competent arts managers, and Kaiser
said there has been a real failure
to educate these types of people.
He said billions of dollars are spent
training artists but much less on
training the managers. If an orchestra
is failing, the great oboe player
won’t be heard. This is why Kaiser
started the Kennedy Center Arts
Management Institute to equip artists
and lovers of art with the skills
to thrive in any economy.
“We are no longer a manufacturing
nation,” Kaiser said. “We need
to educate kids to become problemsolvers
and independent thinkers.
The arts is a good place to start.”
With such a reputation, Kaiser has
spoken all over the world. But he
said most countries look to America
for advice on how to independently
raise funds — because America was
founded by Puritans there has been
a separation of art and state, Kaiser
joked. In other countries the government
funds the arts. Now that many
of those governments are cutting
back, other countries are looking
26 Theater
Includes listings, shows, auditions, workshops and more. To get listed, e-mail
arts@hippopress.com
ter, 400 Commercial St., Manchester.
Exhibit is free and open to the public.
Call 641-4101 or visit www.unhm.
unh.edu.
• ART UNDER GLASS The members
of the Hollis Arts Society will be
exhibiting their work in the front windows
of 100 Main St., Nashua from
July 2 through Aug. 31. Visit www.
hollisartssociety.org.
• CAPTURING THE HUMAN
SPIRIT Documentary images of photographer
Jerome Liebling through
Sept. 19 at the Currier Museum of
Art, 150 Ash St., Manchester, www.
currier.org, 669-6144.
• CONCORD ARTS MARKET an
outdoor juried artisan and art market
at Eagle Square in downtown Concord,
along with the city’s farmers
market, which runs from 8 a.m. to
noon on Capitol Street. The Arts Market
will run Saturdays from 9 a.m. to
3 p.m. The market will be closed July
3 but open July 15-17. Visit concordartsmarket.com
or call 229-2157.
• CROSS CURRENTS IN 20TH-
CENTURY ART Prints and ceramics
from the Anne C and Harry Wollman
Collections open to the public through
Sept. 6 at the Currier Museum of Art,
150 Ash St., Manchester, www.currier.org,
669-6144.
• IN DELICATE BALANCE stainless
steel kinetic sculpture by George
Sherwood on display at the Currier
Museum of Art, 150 Ash St., Manchester,
until Sunday, Sept. 19. Visit
www.currier.org, call 669-6144.
• INVITATIONAL SCULPTURE
EXHIBIT 13th annual outdoor
exhibit runs through Oct. 17 at the
Mill Brook Gallery and Sculpture
Gardens, 236 Hopkinton Road, Concord.
Gallery hours are Tues.-Sun., 11
a.m.-5 p.m. and by appointment. Call
226-2046 or visit www.themillbrookgallery.com.
• IF I WERE AN ANIMAL The
Hollis Arts Society presents a show
of animal-themed work in a variety
of media at the Community Council
Gallery, 100 West Pearl St., Nashua.
Contact Pat Hurd, president of the
Hollis Arts Society, at 882-1503.
• MAMAN DISAIT A featured art
exhibit by Rhea Cote Robbins in
the Beliveau Galeria at the Franco-
American Centre, 52 Concord St.,
Manchester, 669-4045, www.francoamericancentrenh.com.
• MERRIMACK RIVER PAINT-
ERS Art exhibit will be held at
Franklin Pierce Law Center, 2 White
St., Concord through Sept. 8. Call
513-5111.
toward America to learn how to fill
the gap.
He said arts like symphonies
and operas are in particular danger
because, whereas a theater can do a
smaller show, if there are 80 members
of an orchestra there are 80
members of an orchestra.
“In the arts we don’t increase
worker productivity very well,”
Kaiser said. “There are the same
number of people in Hamlet as there
were when Shakespeare wrote it.”
Yet, when a 1,300-seat theater is
built there will be 1,300 seats next
year and the year after, so there is a
ARTS
Michael Kaiser (left) and Ric Waldman, director of programming at the
Capitol Center for the Arts. Adam Coughlin photo.
28 Classical
Includes symphony and orchestral performances. To get listed, e-mail
arts@hippopress.com.
• NARCOTT AND SAWAF Hsiu
Norcott and Marilene Sawaf will show
their work in the ReMax building at 2
Ash St., Hollis. Call 465-8800.
• OF NIGHTMARES installations,
sculpture, painting and drawing by
various artists through July 4 at 119
Gallery located at 119 Chelmsford
St., Lowell, Mass.
• OPEN STUDIO NIGHTS third
Thursdays, 6-9 p.m. at Verdigris Artisans,
88 N. Main St., Suite 205, Concord,
www.verdigrisartisans.com.
• OUT & OUT ART exhibition of
photography & digital art by Albert
Wilkinson at Hampshire First Bank,
221 Main St., Nashua. Call 578-
2652.
• PORTRAITS FROM THE PAST
exhibit featuring the Hopkinton Historical
Society’s collection of portraits
through Sept. 4 at 300 Main St.,
Hopkinton. Hours are Thurs. & Fri.
9 a.m.-4 p.m. and Sat. 9 a.m.-1 p.m.
Admission is free. Call 746-3825.
• THE ART AND FUNCTION OF
CROOKED KNIVES exhibit highlights
the blend of utility and artistry
of the carved wooden handles as well
as the many objects created with this
unique tool, on display until Oct. 31
at the Mt. Kearsarge Indian Museum
located at 18 Highlawn Road, War-
fixed potential there. To fill this gap
between rising costs and fixed earning
potential, many organizations
raise ticket prices, which squeezes
a lot of people out.
And there are a lot of people who
want to see good art. Kaiser said
more tickets are sold each year to
art events than to sporting events.
“Seventy percent of tourists in
America come to observe culture,”
Kaiser said. “That is a big economic
sector.”
Now all arts organizations need
to do is figure the best ways to capitalize
on that.
ner.
• THE LIGHT FANTASTIC Artwork
from more than 85 artists is
on display at Art 3 Gallery (44 West
Brook St., Manchester, 668-6650,
www.art3gallery.com) through July
9 during regular gallery hours Monday–Friday
9 a.m. – 4 p.m.; weekends
and evenings by appointment.
• THE OLE BALL GAME A history
of baseball in Laconia on display
through August at the Laconia Public
Library, 695 Main St., Laconia. Call
527-1278 or visit www.laconiahistorical.org.
• U.F.O.s ARE COMING Unframed
originals from local artists will be on
sale through Aug. 4 at White Birch
Fine Art, 8 Mohawk Dr., Londonderry.
Call 434-0399 or visit www.whitebirchfineart.com.
• UNLEASHED Multi-artist exhibit
at the McGowan Fine Art, 10 Hills
Ave., Concord through July 30. Hours
are Tuesday to Friday, 10 a.m. to 6
p.m.; Saturday 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. or by
appointment. Call 225-2515 or visit
www.mcgowanfineart.com.
• WALKING WITH US Honoring
the Northeast Native American
Heritage. The exhibit is rich with
contemporary and traditional fine
arts and crafts by sixteen artists and