Rebecca Novick
Artist-Centered Business Models
Posted by May 18, 2011
Rebecca Novick
In the chapter I contributed to 20under40: Reinventing the Arts & Arts Education for the 21st Century, I highlighted a theater company called 13P, a group of 13 playwrights who came together with the intention of producing one play by each of them and then disbanding. In that context, I was celebrating their interest in a mission that could be accomplished in a limited timespan, but they also serve as an astoundingly successful example of an organization centered on artists and driven by the agenda of its founding artists.
The 13P model relies on placing its resources in the hands of each playwright in turn, and hiring administrative and producing help show by show, depending on the needs of a particular project. In Minneapolis, the Workhaus Collective is exploring a similar model while in residence at the Playwrights Center (also a good example of a larger organization offering umbrella services to a smaller one).
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