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