John Kieffer Masterclass | New Thinking and New Funding
Our wrap from on the 2015 masterclass series featuring UK arts management and funding expert John Kieffer.
In our 2015 masterclasses, John challenged traditional assumptions about the sustainability, resilience and relevance of the arts, exploring new forms of partnerships and asking us to think differently about the future role and funding of the arts.
John asked us to question: Does a cultural economy based on continuous growth make sense in the current climate? Is a competitive approach to funding debilitating and wasteful? What can the arts sector learn from the private sector? And, does anyone out there understand what we’re talking about?
It’s this kind of thinking that has allowed John to drive change in the UK arts sector and could lead to a similar shift here in Australia.
To wrap up the masterclass series, we asked John to zone in on some of the key topics and trends that he observed while he was in Australia: from the need to collaborate to moving out of the 80s mindset – John has a wealth of insights and tips to share.
Watch the full set of videos now.
Further reading and innovators to watch
John also provided us with an awesome list of recommended resources and organisations who are leading the way in creating more innovative ways to operate and find new funding sources.
Further reading:
- A New Direction research into young peoples’ culture
- Recent publication into the UK arts funding system by Robert Hewison, Cultural Capital: The Rise and Fall of Creative Britain
- Julian Meyrick and Tully Barnett arguing against growth for the sake of it
- Recent AHRC report on the Ecology of Culture
- Artsadmin – a good example of back office integration
- Rethinking audiences
- What can crowd funding offer the arts beyond money?
- Change Capital (PDF)
- Fusing Arts, Culture and Social Change: High Impact Strategies for Philanthropy (PDF)
- Social franchising: giving the arts sector’s best programmes a boost
- Understanding Alternative Finance. UK context but useful nonetheless (PDF)
Organisations to watch:
John Kieffer’s recent publications and articles:
- Public Funding – Plan B
- A New Look Arts Council?
- After The Crunch Revisited
- Where Does It Hurt? (PDF)
- Creativity, Money, Love
About John Kieffer
John Kieffer is a writer, cultural critic and consultant who has worked in the arts for 30 years in senior positions with funding bodies and with arts organisations big and small in the UK and internationally. He works almost exclusively in organisational change and development.
