Join in an important conversation about how the economic crisis is changing -- and may forever change -- the field of performing arts touring and presenting. How do presenting organizations, driven by the need for earned income, program in this environment? What are the curatorial responsibilities of programmers to audiences? How do agents and managers adapt to a field in which aesthetics, seasons, and practices are changing day by day? In an age of cutbacks and shortfalls, what are the mutual obligations of artists, agents, and presenters? What might a “post-consumerist” American culture mean for artists, agents, and presenters? Come prepared to share your vision for the future.

A Note from John Haynes

I’m very interested in the power that crises have to call into question our assumptions about what our discrete responsibilities are, and to whom. It may be a time to revisit the simple stuff and see how it plays out against a changed environment. For example: Artists have a responsibility to their art. Agents have a responsibility to their companies and their artists. Presenters have a responsibility to their institutions and their communities (audience). But what is the proper balance of those discrete responsibilities when they aren’t aligned? It’s easy to be generous when there’s plenty of food on the table. But what is the nature of our mutual responsibility to ensure the health of the industry when it’s under siege economically? Might it be reasonable for all parties to demand less in the interest of survival? Should we all – artists, agents, and presenters – be more willing to share risk? I would like to pose some provocative questions that will get to the heart of our mutual interest in preserving the business of the performing arts and to surface the kinds of sacrifices that may be required of each of us to do so.

I look forward to hearing from you.