Alan Harrison

Nonprofit Arts Writer and Consultant at Freelance

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Articles

No. Just No.

2 weeks ago | artsjournal.com | Alan Harrison

Americans for the Arts (AFTA) has done it again. On their website, among various and sundry other managed facts and figures culled from hours upon hours of research, they have a special page devoted to their version of public opinion. The cover art on this article is completely invented, but it might as well have been included in this panoply of pith:The first time I saw these, I was stunned by the stupidity of using public opinion as some sort of research vessel.
I'm Not Angry. I'm Batman.

3 weeks ago | artsjournal.com | Alan Harrison

I'm just trying to help save the nonprofit arts industry from its own worst impulses. Where's my utility belt, Alfred?! It always happens. Whenever I am asked to speak to a group or I write an article or a book, there are those that get caught in the invectives. They get angry because they feel attacked rather than advised. And inevitably, these are the people in the crowd doing the right things in leading their nonprofit arts organizations, or at least enough of the right things.
What Was That? Your Arts Organization Needs Funding? Get In Line.

1 month ago | artsjournal.com | Alan Harrison

Massive layoffs. Mass deportations, even of people who are here legally. De-funding Social Security. Enacting enormous tax cuts for the wealthy. Crashing the financial markets (worldwide). Eliminating Medicare. Destroying hope. Raising prices. Legislating inequity. Jettisoning due process. Lawmaking by monarchical decree. Devout sycophants. Fear of reprisal within the same political party. Fear of reprisal within the other political party. Categorical acceptance of falsehoods.
A Guy Walks Into a Room.

1 month ago | artsjournal.com | Alan Harrison

This is not a sermon, nor is it a definitive proclamation. I am not an expert on race relations, ethnic bias, or anything even remotely academic that might even come close to qualifying me as the "go-to" on the subject of privilege. I'm just a guy who writes commentary, mostly about the nonprofit arts sector and how to fix it. A lot of this discussion is useful for that industry, mostly because there are still an overabundance of overpaid, old-timey White guys running things.
"Hope for the Best. Expect the Worst."

1 month ago | artsjournal.com | Alan Harrison

You need to find a way to justify your worth to your community - and at the same time, prepare for bad news, too. The buzz inside your nonprofit arts organization is louder than outside the walls. Much louder. As in, if someone is not completely tuned in to what's going on at your particular arts organization - either your performances or your impact - they're just won't care.
Beware "A Little Knowledge"

1 month ago | artsjournal.com | Alan Harrison

Conclusion I had a friend who had a Ph.D. in Psychobiology. She spent her post-doc work in a lab where, among other experiments, they tested a hypothesis about access to the brain via the olfactory nerve. That particular nerve, one of the key elements of the sense of smell, uses one of the shortest distances from the brain, which is why smell is usually a keen sense.
Advocacy for the Nonprofit Arts Sector is Currently Meaningless

2 months ago | artsjournal.com | Alan Harrison

Lost amid a string of inside-baseball phrases and ideologies, officials have little idea as to why they would possibly fund institutions that serve themselves first. Hey guys? You forgot something. Yes, I know we're supposed to write, call, and send emails to our congresspeople. Yes, I know we're supposed to learn all the economic impact reports. Yes, I know we're supposed to learn about all the people employed. Yes, I know we're supposed to know how much federal funding is happening. Yes, I know.
Forklift Danceworks Uses the Art of Dance to Tell the Stories of Real, Essential Workers

2 months ago | artsjournal.com | Alan Harrison

My favorite book about America is Working by Studs Terkel. In it, Terkel takes months to interview regular working people (and unemployed and retired people) in hundreds of jobs. They discuss what they do and what they get out of it. Their stories are familiar, unfamiliar, surprising, devastating, and hopeful.
Nonprofit Arts Success in a Changing Environment, Tip 6

2 months ago | artsjournal.com | Alan Harrison

In the new/old world order of Trumpian policy, your arts organization faces the real possibility that, in the face of anti-arts, anti-education, and anti-truth political muckraking euphemistically calling itself "populism," it will be shut down. The most intelligent thing your nonprofit arts organization can do right now is concentrate on your community. Act hyper-local. No local nonprofit arts organization can win the day by taking on the national fascist zeitgeist, especially on its own.
Nonprofit Arts Success in a Changing Environment, Tip 5

2 months ago | artsjournal.com | Alan Harrison

In the new/old world order of Trumpian policy, your arts organization faces the real possibility that, in the face of anti-arts, anti-education, and anti-truth political muckraking euphemistically calling itself "populism," it will be shut down.