Changing Arts with Tom O'Connor

This month, Tom sits down with Cynthia Fuhrman, TOCG's Vice President of Executive Search and the former Managing Director of Portland Center Stage (PCS). While at PCS, Cynthia was heavily involved in advocating for arts funding at the federal level during the beginning  of the COVID-19 Pandemic and brings a unique perspective on how art organizations and their boards can meaningfully represent their communities, particularly through political advocacy and collaboration with other arts organizations in their communities. 

In the episode, you'll hear Cynthia refer to "SVOG," which stands for the Shuttered Venue Operators Grant, a grant from the Federal Government to help performance venues that had to close due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Tom and Cynthia also discuss the "Save Our Stages Initiative" which was the advocacy group that worked with lawmakers to create these grants on a federal level. For more information on Save Our Stages, visit the website here: https://www.saveourstages.com.  For more on Tom O'Connor Consulting Group, visit www.tomocgroup.com. 

Tom sits down with Sarah Hom of Roundabout Theatre Company and Sarah Kenny of Disney Theatrical Group to talk about the importance of disability inclusion in the arts, from creators to audience members, and their work to make Broadway more inclusive. In this conversation, they go beyond compliance to talk about the ways in which disability inclusion ensures that your artistic product is fully complete, and available to the 25% of the population that identifies as disabled. 

In this episode, Sarah Hom and Sarah Kenny mention several books, resources, and creators. Here are links to more information on these resources: Read more about the survey done by the Ruderman Family Foundation about Disability representation in the media here: https://rudermanfoundation.org/white_papers/the-ruderman-white-paper-on-the-challenge-to-create-more-authentic-disability-casting-and-representation-on-tv/. Learn more about "Disability Visability" by Alice Wong and order a copy of the book here: https://disabilityvisibilityproject.com/. Read more about playwright and actor Neil Marcus here: https://www.nytimes.com/2021/12/28/arts/neil-marcus-dead.html. Learn more about "Alt Text as Poetry Workbook" by Shannon J Finnegan and Bojana Coklyat and order a copy of the book here: https://alt-text-as-poetry.net/. Learn more about content creator, Imani Barbarin, and follow her on social media here: https://crutchesandspice.com/. For more on the Museum, Arts, and Culture Access Consortium, visit https://macaccess.org/. For more on Roundabout Theatre Company, visit https://www.roundabouttheatre.org/. For more on Disney Theatrical Productions, including THE LION KING, visit https://disneyonbroadway.com/. For more on Tom O'Connor Consulting Group, visit www.tomocgroup.com. 

Something very different this month! Tom was recently a guest on Capacity Interactive's podcast, CI to Eye, and spoke about TOCG's views on salary transparency, hiring (and resignation) trends and practices in the arts, and the importance of caring for the people who make the arts work. Now we're bringing this conversation to you, our loyal Changing Arts listeners.  

For more on Capacity Interactive, visit www.capacityinteractive.com, and to hear the original full episode with additional content for arts marketers, visit https://bit.ly/3wVXT5X. For more on Tom O'Connor Consulting Group, visit www.tomocgroup.com. TOCG's recently-published salary transparency policy can be found at www.tomocgroup.com/thoughts/a-message-on-salary-transparency.

Tom talks with Melissa Cowley Wolf, founder of MCW Projects and Director of the Arts Funders Forum, about the expectations and current trends among the next generation of arts funders. They talk about the impact this can and should have on donor engagement, board development, and the role of the 21st century fundraiser.

For more on Melissa's work, visit MCW Projects at www.mcw-projects.com, and for more on the Arts Funders Forum visit www.artsfundersforum.com. For more on Tom O'Connor Consulting Group, visit www.tomocgroup.com.

Tom talks with Holly Bass, teaching artist and National Director of Turnaround Arts at the Kennedy Center, about the power of arts education to deliver culturally responsive experiences that can have a liberatory effect on the lives of students. They talk about Holly's career as a teaching artist and how that shapes her perspective on Turnaround Arts, as well as the ways arts organizations can live in community, and resist the white saviorism mentality that often permeates arts education programs.

Tom quotes an article that Holly wrote, "Teaching Artists as Culture Shift Workers." Read that full article here: https://jonathanbtucker.com/poetrytat-2/holly-bass/. In addition, Holly and Tom refer to Zaretta Hammond's book "Culturally Responsive Teaching & The Brain." For more information and to purchase the book, visit Zaretta Hammond's website: https://crtandthebrain.com/book/. For more on Turnaround Arts, visit: www.turnaroundarts.kennedy-center.org. For more on Tom O'Connor Consulting Group, visit: www.tomocgroup.com.

Tom talks with Lee Bynum, consultant with The Inclusion Firm and the Vice President of Impact for the Minnesota Opera. They talk about what his role entails and his vision for how change happens in organizations as they seek to serve their whole communities, and how the work we do today can ripple out for the long term. They also talk about managing expectations within organizations as we address the systems of exclusion that have been in place over generations, and how to build momentum and continue to grow our circle of true believers as we push forward.

For more the Inclusion Firm, visit www.theinclusionfirm.com. For more on Minnesota Opera, visit www.mnopera.org.  For more on Tom O'Connor Consulting Group, visit www.tomocgroup.com.

Tom talks to Broadway Producer, consultant, podcast producer (and more) Sally Cade Holmes about false choices, blurring lines between business and creativity, and ways to improve training for artists and arts administrators in our current realities. Sally Cade is a member of the Tony Award-winning producing teams behind The Inheritance, Hadestown, and more; and is the Manager of Business Operations for Next Chapter Podcasts, producers of the Play On Podcasts, a collaboration with Play On Shakespeare.

For more on Sally Cade Holmes, visit http://www.sallycadeholmes.com. For more on Tom O'Connor Consulting Group, visit www.tomocgroup.com.

Tom talks to TOCG's Director of Recruitment and Professional Development Jordan Sanford, about working toward diverse and equitable institutions through hiring strategies, opportunities for lasting change, and the barriers to entry in our field. Jordan is the former Director of Artistic Advancement at The Art Effect of the Hudson Valley and former Assistant Director of Undergraduate Admission and Coordinator of Diversity Initiatives at the Maryland Institute College of Art (MICA), where he developed and coordinated post-secondary pathway programs for emerging artists of color. Read Jordan's full bio here.

Tom talks with Sara Villagio, Chief Marketing Officer of New York City's Carnegie Hall, about the company's recent rebrand, virtual programming during the pandemic, and how change is introduced in large, storied institutions. Read more about the Carnegie Hall rebrand on their website here. Carnegie Hall's Weill Music Institute is also referenced several times in this conversation, and more information can be found here.

For more on Tom O'Connor Consulting Group, visit www.tomocgroup.com.

Tom talks to longtime international arts marketer and now TOCG Vice President Rani Haywood about the changing nature of connecting with audiences, ways they both hope the field will evolve on the other side of the pandemic, and the changing nature of what it means to be an "arts marketer." Rani is the former Senior Director of Sales and Marketing at the Metropolitan Opera, former Associate Director of Marketing at Roundabout Theatre Company, and Head of Marketing and Customer Service at Sydney Theatre Company, among many more roles in her 20+ year career. Read Rani's full bio here.