Latest / Arts Unscripted with Monica Holt / CI to Eye | Words of Inspiration To Power 2025

Transcript

CI to Eye | Words of Inspiration To Power 2025 · Arts Unscripted with Monica Holt

0:08
Hello, friends! Dan here. Well, here we are,
0:11
just a few weeks into 2025 and it already feels like we've crammed a year's
0:15
worth of change into the calendar.
0:16
Your post-vacation sense of calm probably lasted just as long as my New Year's
0:20
resolutions, but here's the thing. To move forward effectively,
0:24
we need to pause, ground ourselves, and refocus.
0:27
Today's episode is all about looking back to move forward.
0:30
We're revisiting some of the most powerful insights from last year's amazing
0:33
guests. This isn't just a look back, it's a call to action for the year ahead.
0:38
These conversations,
0:38
they remind us why the arts matter and how we can keep pushing boundaries,
0:43
building connections, and leading with vision.
0:46
Let's dive into some lessons that can inspire all of us as we step boldly into
0:49
the new year.
0:59
One of the biggest lessons from last year was that leadership and marketing
1:02
demand courage and creativity, especially in the arts.
1:05
Our guests reminded us that staying relevant isn't about playing it safe.
1:09
It's about embracing calculated risks and bold ideas.
1:13
Whether it's rethinking organizational strategies or trying daring campaigns,
1:17
they've shown us that real impact comes from having the bravery to challenge the
1:21
status quo. Here's New York City Ballet's artistic director, Jonathan Stafford.
1:26
Be courageous.
1:28
It's so nervy to sit in this chair sometimes
1:32
knowing that people are not going to like what you do,
1:35
knowing that dancers are going to be unhappy with casting,
1:38
knowing that there could be board members who don't like the most recent
1:41
commission you did, knowing that you can't keep everybody happy,
1:46
but you have to have the courage to go for it because especially in
1:50
arts and with what's going on in our world right now,
1:53
we have to put what we believe is beautiful out there.
1:57
We have to put what we believe is interesting, what sends a message,
2:00
what tells a story, what uplifts something or somebody...
2:05
we have to put it out there. We cannot play it.
2:07
Safe performing arts organizations, the minute you become too safe,
2:11
you become irrelevant and you fade away. Prudency,
2:16
thoughtfulness, not being impulsive -- of course. As a leader,
2:19
you have to be really careful with certain things,
2:22
but you can't just play it safe with every decision you make.
2:26
Social superstar Rachel Karten had a similar message.
2:30
I think that there's a feeling like if we show too much,
2:34
then people won't be incentivized to come,
2:37
or if we loosen up too much, the prestige will be gone.
2:42
And I would say that to me,
2:46
and to I am sure a lot of potential customers
2:51
or viewers younger than me,
2:54
that is going to be the thing that makes them want to come.
2:58
Organic social media can be that entry point for a lot of people,
3:02
and approaching those platforms in a way that feels like how people
3:07
want to consume there, I think, is really important.
3:10
Another big topic was the power of representation and inclusivity in the arts.
3:15
Loki Karuna inspired us to ask the tough questions. Who are we serving?
3:19
Whose stories are we telling?
3:20
And how can we make our art more accessible and relevant to the communities
3:24
around us? I would invite people to really, honestly ask themselves,
3:28
who are we serving?
3:29
And once that question is answered and identified in an honest way,
3:35
what follows is doing the work to really fix the problems that are there or to
3:39
enhance the successes that are there. So I think across the board,
3:44
that is what I would ask people to really think about.
3:47
Who are you serving and how can you serve a broader audience or serve the
3:52
audience that you believe that you want to serve?
3:55
And think about who you're engaging in your everyday life.
3:58
We talk a lot about wanting to diversify our spaces. Well,
4:02
what spaces do you already engage that are diverse?
4:06
Is it the grocery store? Is it your local sports team?
4:11
Is your place of worship a diverse space?
4:13
Are the spaces in which you take in culture -- are those spaces diverse?
4:17
Think about how this conversation applies to your very own personal life,
4:21
your everyday lived experience,
4:23
and see how you can make changes in your life that you can apply to your
4:27
environment and your institution. The answers to these questions require not
4:31
just listening, but a commitment to action.
4:34
Take it from Isabelle Ramey and Jenna Magrath at Dance Data Project.
4:38
Let's look beyond what we've always done. I mean,
4:41
we know that we need to break down some of these traditions that aren't serving
4:45
us anymore, especially in the ballet industry.
4:48
If you have the same list of choreographers you always pull from for a mixed rep
4:53
show, let's shake it up and let's take a chance. Because we're in the arts,
4:57
we're trying to make change. This is exactly where change should start,
5:02
but we're lagging behind.
5:04
We love to say that as artists,
5:06
that we're change makers and that we want to change the world and make a better
5:10
place.
5:11
So I think just practicing what we preach and embodying that and taking
5:16
that upon ourselves.
5:17
Survival in the arts requires adaptability and vision.
5:21
The world is changing and the arts must change with it. As Phil Chan said,
5:26
it's not about forgetting the past.
5:28
It's about evolving to meet the needs and values of today's audiences while
5:32
staying true to the art's essence. The arts are alive, dynamic,
5:36
and ever-growing like a garden that needs constant care and nourishment.
5:41
If you want to survive, if you don't want us to be redundant,
5:45
if you want us to stay relevant,
5:47
if you want to make sure we're hitting our ticket sales goals and our donation
5:51
goals and the enrollment in our schools are high,
5:56
and we want there to be an interest and a love that is cultivated for these art
6:00
forms for the future, we need to think much, much bigger.
6:05
That involves seeing each other with more nuance.
6:07
That involves bringing people in who we normally might not think
6:11
belongs here,
6:13
and we need to do that for the sake of keeping our art -- to survive.
6:19
Change is baked into our equation as well.
6:22
I like to think of change in the performing arts as sort of like the difference
6:26
between a museum and a garden.
6:30
I live right down the street from the Brooklyn Botanic Garden and the Brooklyn
6:32
Museum right next to each other. The curator at the museum has a very different
6:37
job than the curator at the Botanic Gardens.
6:40
So the job of the static arts, so film, paintings,
6:45
sculpture, those don't change. You can't change the Mona Lisa, right?
6:49
It captures the zeitgeist of a moment. In order to preserve that,
6:52
you need to make sure that the conditions are controlled.
6:57
That it's not too warm, not too humid. It's out of the sun.
7:01
You really have to protect the art. Whereas with the performing arts,
7:04
it's like a living organic thing. It's like the trees.
7:08
You need fertilizer, you need sun, you need rain, you need pollenators,
7:11
you need bugs, you need pruning.
7:16
And that's very much how I approach the works of the performing arts.
7:20
Change is part of the equation because we, as people change,
7:23
our response to the art also changes, right?
7:26
Old jokes don't land the same way that they used to now.
7:29
Something you might be okay with in the past now comes across as incredibly
7:33
offensive or sexist or racist, whatever. But if there's inherent value in it,
7:38
if there's something beautiful there,
7:39
we need to help the art change to keep it alive. And so that's, I guess,
7:44
our job as creatives in this moment, especially when we're looking to the past,
7:49
to our canon, to our own history and legacy,
7:52
is we need to be open to that change.
7:54
John Orr and Elizabeth Yntema reminded us that representation isn't just about
7:59
optics. It's about building trust, fostering empathy,
8:03
and ensuring the arts reflect the rich diversity of the world we live in.
8:07
And letting the community lead is how we move from good intentions to meaningful
8:11
change.
8:12
You have to be accessible,
8:14
and you should ask your community that's around you how to do it.
8:19
Let them lead. Let them be not just a part of that conversation,
8:22
let them drive that conversation.
8:25
Because otherwise you're not going to get as far as you could.
8:29
It is a reality that development directors sit in on programming meetings,
8:34
and they can very often have an overweighted influence.
8:39
Their job is to curate a small group of
8:44
older, usually more conservative donors,
8:47
and make sure they come through with big gifts. And I've seen it happen,
8:51
and that really alters programming.
8:54
And that's across the board. "Oh,
8:58
I can't sell that," or "I don't know how Mrs. So-and-so is going to feel about
9:03
that." That really to me is a dereliction of duty,
9:06
and that is an asymmetric use of power that I think most people
9:11
outside of performing arts organizations or museums, et cetera --
9:16
"I can't sell." That becomes the mantra. "I can sell this.
9:19
I can't sell that." And the assumption is if it's a piece
9:24
done, made, curated, whatever,
9:26
by a rock star filmmaker, choreographer,
9:30
usually white and male, oh,
9:32
I can sell that. And I see that insidious tilting,
9:36
any not-for-profit exists to benefit the community.
9:40
So we are answerable to our constituents,
9:44
who are our taxpayers, or more specifically the communities around us.
9:48
And I think we really do need a reorientation of thought that way.
9:52
Nobody has to go to a performance anymore.
9:55
There are so many more outlets out there that the competition is much
10:00
fiercer. And instead of doubling down on retrograde,
10:03
opening yourself up and doing the tough work of
10:07
introducing yourself to audiences and people you didn't know before,
10:11
which is uncomfortable, but I think that's where the obligation is.
10:16
Wondering how best to engage these new audiences? Well,
10:19
sometimes the most transformative ideas come from stepping outside of our
10:22
comfort zones.
10:23
Holly Mulcahy taught us to reconnect with what it feels like to discover
10:26
something new, to feel the uncertainty our audiences might feel,
10:31
and to let that inspire our work.
10:33
I think as arts administrators and as artists --
10:36
and this goes for everybody on the other side of the stage, not the audience,
10:41
but people who are very familiar with our art -- I think,
10:44
find the most uncomfortable thing that you don't know anything about,
10:48
and go to it. And I'll give you an example.
10:51
When we first moved to Chicago a number of years ago,
10:55
I'd never been to a hockey game. And I thought, this is uncomfortable.
10:59
I am a classical, classically trained musician. I tell you what,
11:03
if you stand up in a hockey game while the puck is in play,
11:06
you'll get chastised. I learned that the hard way.
11:12
There are rules,
11:14
and I think feeling that opens your mind and makes you look into your
11:18
own art and your own experience differently.
11:22
So I would encourage everybody to go to something that they are not comfortable
11:25
with, with open eyes and an open heart and feel that vulnerability,
11:30
feel the shame.
11:31
I'd also encourage everybody to go through their own ticket buying process.
11:35
Know what it's like to buy a ticket.
11:37
Know what it's like to park in the paid parking, not the employee parking,
11:41
but the paid parking.
11:42
Know what it's like to not understand where you're going to sit and
11:47
just feel it in the most vulnerable way.
11:49
And the best way to feel vulnerable is to find something that you're not
11:53
interested in and do it because it really opens your mind very
11:57
fast.
11:58
Another big takeaway?
12:00
Bold transformation is key to laying the foundation for a more sustainable,
12:04
impactful future.
12:06
Monica Holt encouraged us to reimagine how we structure and resource our
12:09
organizations,
12:10
while Aubrey Bergauer challenged us to find creative ways to optimize everything
12:14
around the art to ensure its success.
12:17
Leadership's role is to be taking care of the staff of that
12:21
organization.
12:23
And I think sometimes it's easy to skip that piece and say,
12:27
leadership's role is to make sure that we are presenting the best artists on our
12:31
stages or having the most inclusive spaces in the
12:36
country on our site. That is the organization's goal.
12:40
How is leadership empowering and uplifting the staff that needs
12:44
to deliver on that mission?
12:46
And I think what the reading between the lines there is
12:51
has to do with staffing, resourcing, and compensation.
12:55
And I think that our industry was built in a way that a lot of nonprofits are,
13:00
on the hopes and dreams and beliefs of their youngest staff,
13:05
carrying them through a compensation scheme that was
13:10
never meant to be on equal footing to the corporate world.
13:15
And I think we're going to see more and more over time that grace and
13:19
belief in mission, vision,
13:21
values isn't going to overcome the need for resources.
13:26
Our product, our artistic product, is our greatest, greatest strength,
13:31
and we have that in our corner.
13:33
So many organizations and industries want a strong product, but we have it.
13:37
And we've worked literally hundreds of years to get to that point,
13:40
and we should be so proud of that.
13:42
So the work before us then is to optimize those
13:46
things surrounding that excellent product. And when we start doing that,
13:51
I feel like it blows the doors wide open for us.
13:55
Above all, our guests reminded us why we do this work.
13:59
The arts connect us to creativity, beauty, and each other. They inspire,
14:03
challenge, and heal. Take it from CI's President Priya Iyer Doshi.
14:08
I really do believe that part of why the arts are so
14:13
powerful is because they offer the
14:17
opportunity to see new, different,
14:20
diverse stories show up in front of us.
14:22
And as we listen more,
14:25
we build empathy and openness to what that
14:30
then can allow us to do and can allow future leaders to do.
14:35
Our work is not always easy, but as Rachel Hagemeier so beautifully reminded us,
14:39
it's worth it.
14:41
We are very lucky that we get to witness amazing creators all the time
14:46
and to remind ourselves that when it is really hard, when we look at the field,
14:49
that we're like, "Funding is going away,
14:53
all of the grants, we don't even qualify for them anymore.
14:58
All the United Arts funds are disappearing.
15:00
What are we going to do?" Art is resilient, and we are resilient,
15:05
and we will come up with ways to navigate this if we remind ourselves and
15:10
celebrate each other and lift each other up.
15:13
Because the more we celebrate publicly and say things out loud,
15:17
the more communities are going to want to be a part of that celebration.
15:22
Let's bring it home with Chris Brown of Orlando Family Stage,
15:25
who spoke to us about fighting for the future of the cultural sector in Florida
15:29
and beyond. His words continue to resonate with arts leaders across the country.
15:34
Keep going. Find peers to connect with,
15:38
because those connections can give you perspective.
15:42
And don't back down. Let's fix this.
15:45
This is not a problem with central Florida.
15:49
It's exacerbated in central Florida,
15:52
but it is around the nation,
15:55
and I don't like seeing theaters close all over the
16:00
place. We need to really understand the value
16:05
and what these skills and these experiences can
16:10
truly do for our future.
16:14
More empathy is needed in the world. We teach kids -- so the mission is,
16:19
we empower kids to be brave and empathetic.
16:23
We need empathy in the world right now. We need to be caring for our neighbor,
16:27
and we need to be brave enough and confident enough to speak up when we know we
16:31
need to. So keep chugging out there, executives.
16:36
I'm with you and I'm rooting for you.
16:38
And if you need to get away from your snow, just come on down to Orlando.
16:45
Together we have the power to shape the future of the arts and create
16:48
connections that truly matter.
16:51
This work is important and you're not alone in it.
16:54
Here's to a new year of supporting each other, making bold choices,
16:58
and creating transformative art that leaves a lasting impact.
17:14
Thank you for listening to CI To Eye.
17:16
This episode was edited and produced by Karen McConarty and co-written by Karen
17:20
McConarty and myself, Dan Titmuss.
17:22
Stephanie Medina and Jess Berube are CI to Eye's designers and video editors,
17:27
and all work together to create CI's digital content.
17:30
Our music is by whoisuzo. If you enjoyed today's episode,
17:34
please take a moment to rate us or leave a review.
17:37
A nice comment goes a long way in helping other people discover CI to Eye and
17:41
hear from experts in the arts and beyond. If you didn't enjoy today's episode,
17:46
pass it on to all of your enemies. Don't forget to follow us on Facebook,
17:49
Instagram, LinkedIn, YouTube,
17:51
and TikTok for regular content to help you market smarter.
17:56
You can also sign up for our newsletter at capacityinteractive.com so you never
17:59
miss an update. And if you haven't already,
18:02
please click the subscribe button wherever you get your podcasts.
18:05
Until next time, stay nerdy.