Power through influence : the evolution of arts management in Australia

The purpose of this paper is to frame effective models of arts management for Australia in the nineties and beyond based on an analysis of historical practices. The evolutionary process of government subvention of the arts through non-profit arts organisations provides a clear statement of the role of power and influence. In particular the ascendancy of arts organisations and their management constitute a background against which to study other non-profit corporations

Size does matter : the impact of size on governance in arts organizations

This paper documents governance conformance and performance in small to medium sized arts organizations in Australia, where artistic development, innovation and stakeholder relationships inform the governance activity central to achieving their mission. The key question of this study is whether the governance of large and small arts organizations differs as they balance competing needsin order to achieve their artistic vision. The results of the study provide evidence that size is a critical factor in how boards govern arts organizations. Using material from indepth interviews and surveys, the paper argues that governance conformance and performance are in a state of constant tension with artistic development, and governance processes are dependent on organizational size and resources.<br /

Empowering audiences to measure quality

This paper addresses four indicators of the audience experience in the performing arts: knowledge, risk, authenticity and collective engagement, and argues that these provide a measure of the audience\u27s experience of the quality of a performance. Qualitative interviews with four performing arts companiesdemonstrated a range of strategies for gathering audience feedback. In particular, the paper addresses systems for gathering &quot;deep feedback&quot; by audiences, and argues that these are a means of collecting information about the quality of the audience experience. &quot;Deep feedback&quot; is a critical mechanism by which performing arts organisations can engage in audience development and audiences are empowered to measure quality.<br /

Understanding social creativity amongst event professionals : an action research approach

Live events represent a significant and growing sector of the creative industries but the creative process underlying this sector is little researched in the event management context. Despite the increased consumption of virtual and online media, the live event remains a popular channel of expression for a wide range of creative art forms and commercial messages. Live events use such messages as \u27props\u27 or \u27stages\u27 to produce memorable and emotionally positive moments for audiences. The creative process behind developing a live event is in itself a live event, involving groups of event professionals working in a social context to conceptualise ideas for their audiences. This research fills the gap for event professionals in the creative industries by seeking to understand the creative process intrinsic to live events. This paper suggests that social creativity is used to develop live event concepts. The phenomenon of social creativity identified from the existing literature is explored in the context of its application to event professionals. An Action Research approach is recommended to better understand the key antecedents of social creativity and how they can influence event concept development.<br /

Talking theatre: an audience development programme for regional Queensland and the Northern Territory 2004-2006

Talking Theatre was a three year research project funded by the Australian Research Council, NARPACA, Arts Queensland, Arts Northern Territory, and the Queensland University of Technology. Talking Theatre sought to build new audiences both in the short and long term for the fourteen regional performing arts centres associated with the project. The research endeavoured to develop a profile of non-theatregoers in regional areas, to understand their reasons for non-attendance, and to discover their reactions to live performances, and to the performing arts centres who presented them

Arts governance - marching Western models to Asia

Corporate failures and fraud have turned attention to company governance. While much of the literature is on for-profit governance, there is a steadily increasing non-profit literature arguing for industry specific governance studies, such as this one. Researching arts organisation governance in Asia, where profitability or sustainability are not the only measures for performance, provides a better understanding of theses cultures and economies. Here, a comparative review of arts governance is undertaken in order to inform debate in a discipline and in countries less frequently included in analysis. The Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (SAR) and Singapore are included in this brief review of Asian governance. What constitutes good governance and the unique cultural variables in each region are considered.<br /

Hidden stories : listening to the audience at the live performance

This paper explores how audiences describe and evaluate their experience of a live performance. Much of the arts marketing literature measures audience satisfaction with the entire event, including pre and post show talks, parking, ticket price, seating, merchandise and refreshments. Research undertaken at a range of live performing arts events in 2008 and 2009 revealed &lsquo;hidden stories&rsquo; of audience members&rsquo; responses to performances. These responses are indicative of four aspects of the audience experience &ndash; knowledge, risk, authenticity and collective engagement. The stories, and their indicators, are the audience measure of quality of performance. This paper uses audience research at three contemporary theatre companies, to test and validate the audience experience as a new quality assessment instrument: the Arts Audience Experience Index. <br /