Welcome to On Our Minds Twice a month we enjoy sharing what WolfBrown consultants are reading, thinking, and talking about - what's On Our Minds. It's our way of staying in touch with valued friends and colleagues, and passing along some worthwhile ideas.

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What is 'Artistic Vibrancy?'
by: Alan Brown

A few months ago on a speaking trip to Australia, I had the pleasure of meeting with Nick Herd, Director, Research and Strategic Analysis for the Australia Council for the Arts, and several of his colleagues in Sydney.  Among the many topics consuming Nick and his colleagues was the question "What is artistic vibrancy?" A new set of reports by Jackie Bailey, a member of the Australia Council's research team, address the topic in a refreshingly clear and objective way.  Most arts grantmakers attach a lot of weight to 'artistic excellence,' but I've often wondered if anyone really knows what that means.  What does it mean, really, to be artistically vibrant?  Is artistic vitality different than artistic excellence?  What are the underlying processes that support artistic health in a theatre?  In a museum?  Should programming a season be like choosing a new Pope - deliberating behind closed doors, then a puff of white smoke up the chimney?  Given the distressed state of affairs, one might think this to be a subject of considerable interest in our country, but I never hear anyone talking about it.  Are there too many sensitivities around artistic autonomy to lay it out on the table for a good examination?  The Australia Council has dared to look inside the black box that sits at the center of our sector.  Let's see what's inside.

Creative Cultures
by: Tom Wolf

Fred Starr is one of those rare Renaissance men who is a profound thinker on many topics, an active musician, and a man of the world.  Formerly President of Oberlin College and of the Aspen Institute, he gave one of the great speeches to a gathering of the League of American Orchestras some years ago diagnosing the problems of the field. He also chaired the Advisory Committee for the Knight Foundation's ten-year initiative to assist symphony orchestras.  Currently, he is chairman of the Central Asia-Caucasus Institute at Johns Hopkins University's School of Advanced International. Whenever he writes something, I know it will be interesting. One of his latest pieces discusses Central Asia from the 9th to 12th centuries - a period of time in which the region was the focal point of science, art and philosophy. For those who worry about whether the United States of the 21st century can retain its dominance as a center of creativity and innovation, this article is a great read.  No society can expect to hold a dominant position forever, he argues, but, based on the experience of Central Asia, there are many forces that can influence the rise and fall of a creative culture.  In this time of simplistic formulations and prescriptions for fostering a creative workforce, it is refreshing to have the long view.

The Poetry Ark: Built for Deep Water
by: Bill Keens

Show me a system in decline and I'll show you another ready to celebrate its demise, however gamely the former hangs in there.  I'm not speaking of mining or offshore drilling or other gentle pastimes, but of the rough-and-tumble world of literary publishing.  Consider what the system looks like for poetry:

• Poems submitted to a magazine must not have been published previously, no matter how different the audience may be.
• Poems can usually be submitted to one magazine at a time only.
• Submissions likely must arrive when the academic year is in session, in order to take advantage of faculty counsel and student assistance.
• The author may wait as long as four months for a reply, tying up a set of poems for a good chunk of the year.
• All transactions are likely on paper.  When it comes to submissions in particular, it's as though the digital age never arrived.