Review by James E. Suelflow of the book Workpapers II:  Arts Boards: Myths, Perspectives and New Approaches [New York, NY: FEDAPT, 1991, 86 p.].

These two volumes (Workpapers I:  Rethinking and Restructuring the Arts Organization; and Workpapers II:  Arts Boards: Myths, Perspectives and New Approaches), the first two in a series of new FEDAPT (the Foundation for the Extension and Development of the American Professional Theatre) publications, are designed to explore pressing issues affecting performing arts organizations and to be used as springboards to advance ideas on particular arts management issues. A key premise in both volumes is that the stereotypical corporate organizational model is no longer the solution to all arts management-related issues. This theme is developed in essays written and compiled by Nello McDaniel, former executive director at FEDAPT, and George Thorn, director of the Graduate Arts Management Program at Virginia Tech. Others have also written or collaborated in writing selected essays.

The first two essays in Working Papers I discuss the framework within which the artistic world functions, an environment that includes not only national and local economic conditions but also institutions that function within the context of diverse cultures, ages, population, and proliferation of debt-ridden organizations, as well as governmental policy. The pont is made that all arts organizations, given the complexity of this environment, are going to have to learn to operate in innovative ways in dealing with debt, marketing techniques, personnel and AIDS, as well as the cultural diversity of talent and audiences.

In the third essay, George Thorn develops the idea that the traditional organizational structure superimposed on artistic endeavors may indeed not serve anyone very well. In describing a process and approach for organizational reconstruction, Thorn takes as a given the environment in which the artist works. Then the interaction between the artists' work and audiences is used to develop a center theory that places acting or reacting factors such as work processes, required jobs and tasks, financial needs and resources and criteria for measurement of success, among others, in concentric circles around a core of personalities, esthetics and organizational philosophy.

In Working Papers II:  Arts Boards: Myths, Perspectives and New Approaches, the editors draw on their several years of experience to examine the strengths and weaknesses of boards in professional organizations. The volume consists of essays describing the structures and functions of boards, pieces by individuals who have had experiences with arts boards, and essays by individuals who were asked to write about their thinking and concerns toward challenges in the development, structuring and directing of such boards.

Review by James E. Suelflow of the book Workpapers II: Arts Boards: Myths, Perspectives and New Approaches [New York, NY: FEDAPT, 1991, 86 p.]. These two volumes (Workpapers I: Rethinking and Restructuring the Arts Organization; and Workpapers II:  Arts Boards: Myths, Perspectives and New Approaches), the first two in a series of new FEDAPT (the Foundation for the Extension and Development of the American Professional Theatre) publications, are designed to explore pressing issues affecting performing arts organizations and to be used as springboards to advance ideas on particular arts management issues.