IN CONVERSATION
Conventional approaches to supporting the arts no longer keep pace with cultural change.
Art is increasingly presented and experienced beyond established museums and foundations. Scott Stover speaks with artists, collectors, philanthropists, entrepreneurs, and cultural leaders who are setting the pace by establishing new organizations, opening independent spaces, commissioning projects, and forming cross-border partnerships.
What prompted them to break with familiar models? How do these new initiatives operate? What will allow them to last?
GIVING BACK IS DEAD
Created by Scott Stover, the research and conversation platform Giving Back Is Dead began with a provocation: giving is not the only – or always the most useful – way for an individual to participate in cultural life.
What forms of engagement and support are evolving beyond traditional philanthropy? Across recorded conversations, public discussions, and workshops, participants consider how individuals can take a more active role in shaping cultural initiatives, and the financial, governance, and operating decisions required to make those initiatives viable.
WORKSHOPS
Each workshop brings a live question facing a cultural organization to specialists chosen for the issue at hand. Together, they test the options and identify a practical way forward.
The first Giving Back Is Dead nonprofit workshop considered whether AWARE – Archives of Women Artists, Research and Exhibitions should establish a presence in the United States, and which organizational structure could best advance its mission in the Americas. Participants brought expertise in philanthropy, governance, communications, and the cultural sector.