arts & business council

MetLife National Arts Forums Series

Cultural Alliance of Greater Washington
Washington, District of Columbia

Be a Part of the Art
09/22/2005

Moderator: Anthony A. Lewis, President & CEO, Verizon, Washington, DC; jazz musician; Arts Economic Impact Task Force Co-chair, Greater Washington Board of Trade

Panelists:

• Howard Shalwitz, Co-founder, Artistic Director, actor, Woolly Mammoth Theatre Co.
• Angela Fox, Executive Director, Cultural Tourism DC; Board Chair, Woolly Mammoth Theatre Co.
• Jay Gates, Director, The Phillips Collection
• George Vrandenburg, President & CEO, Vrandenburg Foundation; Board Chair, The Phillips Collection
• Brooke Kidd, Executive Director/Choreographer, Founder World Arts Focus/Joe’s Movement Emporium; Mt. Ranier, MD, City Council Member
• Tom Coffin, Technical Coordinator, National Center for Supercomputing Applications; Board Chair, World Arts Focus; virtual reality artist

Partnerships between businesses and arts organizations have played a major role in the development of the Washington region’s arts and cultural community. To gain a better understanding of how partnerships between businesses and arts organizations are beneficial for the organizations, businesses, and communities, this forum focused on three organizations: Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company, World Arts Focus/Joe’s Movement Emporium, and The Phillips Collection.

The panelists discussed key components to making their partnerships a success. It is important to identify big, clear, shared goals and to articulate them over and over. The board’s goals should be very specific. The structures of arts boards have changed over the last 20 years, and there is much more of a corporate presence now. Business people on boards aren’t always passionate about the organization’s mission, but they can play important roles in fiscal management. Shalwitz learned that it was important to give the business volunteers an opportunity to make real contributions in order for them to feel a sense of accomplishment. Another important factor in a campaign’s success is lots of social interaction; combining social engagements, food, and work keeps meetings fun and productive. Community support is vital. In the case of smaller, edgier companies, both Shalwitz and Coffin found that it was easier and more productive to cultivate relationships with the neighborhood’s smaller businesses than with large corporations.

Businesses benefit from their partnership with arts organizations as well. For example, the alignment of the mission of The Phillips Collection with the mission of AOL, a funder, provided a deep connection between what both entities wanted to accomplish. AOL understood that the success of the company was interrelated with the quality and richness of the community. They were able to use the arts programs at The Phillips Collection as a platform to demonstrate the power of new technologies to extend arts into the schools around the country. It is most important for organizations to cultivate relationships with businesses that they can share a goal with, and work toward the goal together. “We live in an interdependent world, and our community stands on the success of all of the institutions within it,” said George Vrandenberg.  He concluded the forum by advising arts organizations to “be persistent in getting businesses to understand the importance of the arts.”