The theme of this issue of the National Arts Stabilization Journal is Leading and Managing Change in Arts Organizations. 

The first article is a series of short essays written by leaders from the dance, orchestra, museum, and opera communities, and from a private foundation. Each share experiences and observations about change. Among the topics discussed are:

• examples of art organizations persisting to follow an established course rather than adapting to an evolving environment;
• barriers to change, both good and bad, in art organizations; and 
• the pressures of dealing with new organizational direction, new artistic direction, facilities issues, commercialization, and other market forces.

Other articles address:

• Organizational crisis and recovery.
• The myriad changes that have taken place at the National Arts Stabilization.
• Key concepts for leading and managing change:
  • knowing when change is needed;
  • leadership effectiveness;
  • stakeholder participation;
  • barrier to change;
  • constructive conflict; and
  • organizational commitment to change.
• Why transformation efforts usually fail:
  • not establishing a great enough sense of urgency;
  • not creating a powerful enough guiding coalition;
  • lacking a vision;
  • under-communicating the vision by a factor of ten;
  • not removing obstacles to the new vision;
  • not systematically planning for and creating short-term wins;
  • declaring victory too soon; and
  • not anchoring changes in the corporations culture.

CONTENTS
Conversations About Leading and Managing Change.
Change as Crisis and Recovery.
Change at National Arts Stabilization.
Key Concepts for Leading and Managing Change.
Leading Change: Why Transformation Efforts Fail.
For Further Information.