-
1 week 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.
-
2 weeks 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.
-
3 weeks 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.
-
1 month 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.
-
1 month 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.
-
1 month 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. To combat that, we need ideas to advance the truth that charity is necessary in order to deflate the tires of the oncoming rich-stomping-the-poor bus before it runs over everyone in its path.
-
1 month ago | 
artsjournal.com | Alan Harrison
You can change the minds of the armies of pseudo-populists, but only one at a charitable time. Simple satire won't cut it. Over the next few years, your nonprofit arts organization will be tasked with trying to succeed in a local and national environment powered by zero-sum, anti-art, anti-intellectual, pseudo-populists that now hold sway. It is with that in mind that we start the discussion of how to become the most successful your organization can be.
-
1 month ago | 
artsjournal.com | Alan Harrison
The second tip: for a nonprofit organization to work, pandering is off-limits. Take it from a notorious panderer from a family of panderers. When your nonprofit arts organization's tax exemption comes to mind, do you believe that it is a right earned by paying money to a lawyer to file the paperwork, a privilege that requires promise fulfillment to the people of your state, or merely a legal description of the operations of your company?
-
2 months ago | 
artsjournal.com | Alan Harrison
The first tip: for a nonprofit organization to work, everyone has to care about why they're there; otherwise, there's no need for them to stay. Over the next few years, your nonprofit arts organization will be tasked with trying to succeed in a local and national environment not terribly interested in your work. Certainly not your art. It is with that in mind that we start the discussion of how to become the most successful your organization can be.
-
2 months ago | 
artsjournal.com | Alan Harrison
Whippersnappers do not know about "Duck and Cover." Which is why it serves as an option for your company's future. Not a good one, mind you, but I'm sure you're considering it. "Duck and Cover" was a thing. In fact, the Defense Department made a whole movie about it in 1951. This nine-minute flick was shown to millions of American elementary school student all the way into the early 1970s.
