Revisiting Recent and Old

A little revisiting of former topics to check on how things are going.

Back in May I covered the troubled times the Honolulu Symphony was having. I had actually started out exploring what appeared to be an attempt at a new organizational structure. However, that just ended up being a preamble to developing tensions.

Recent reports show the orchestra is starting on the way back. Donations and ticket revenue are up though attendance is down and their is still a $370,000 deficit.

The good news is that this is down from a near $2 million deficit a few years ago. There are new people on their board of directors and the organization is taking steps to improve their service to the community. The symphony is looking at revisiting their pricing structure for the seats.

And they are pursuing that elusive question of how to make the symphony interesting for regular folks.

Which brings us to the second retrospective, the ever popular, “But Do You Really Think It is Good For You” By way of Artsjournal.com is this book review in the Washington Post. What Good Are the Arts? is a book that examines, according to reviewer Michael Dirda “an intensely argued polemic against the intellectually supercilious, the snooty rich and the worship of high culture as a secular religion for the spiritually refined and socially heartless. Anyone seriously interested in the arts should read it.”

Many of the concepts Dirda quotes sound a lot like those suggested by Joli Jensen in “Is Art Good For Us?” Five years ago I probably wouldn’t have thought long upon it, but in days where non-fiction is peppered with fiction and plagiarism, I have to say I found myself wondering if her work (or those she cites) are in his bibliography.

Alas, my life has been busy and I haven’t gotten too far into Jensen’s book. Hope to soon. Keep watching this space 😉

About Joe Patti

I have been writing Butts in the Seats (BitS) on topics of arts and cultural administration since 2004 (yikes!). Given the ever evolving concerns facing the sector, I have yet to exhaust the available subject matter. In addition to BitS, I am a founding contributor to the ArtsHacker (artshacker.com) website where I focus on topics related to boards, law, governance, policy and practice.

I am also an evangelist for the effort to Build Public Will For Arts and Culture being helmed by Arts Midwest and the Metropolitan Group. (http://www.creatingconnection.org/about/)

My most recent role was as Executive Director of the Grand Opera House in Macon, GA.

Among the things I am most proud are having produced an opera in the Hawaiian language and a dance drama about Hawaii's snow goddess Poli'ahu while working as a Theater Manager in Hawaii. Though there are many more highlights than there is space here to list.

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