The pandemic has been a crisis on many levels, but how has it shaped the creative industries?

What started out as a health crisis, Covid made waves throughout the globe, hitting us with massive social and economic implications. With many arts and cultural institutions completely shut down, cultural professionals have been forced to rethink how they work and what role they play in people’s lives.

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In the midst of the loss and unknown, the pandemic has presented us with a great opportunity to reflect on what really matters. In this space, organisations have begun to transform the role they play in their communities, bringing about fundamental change and addressing critical issues such as inequality and social justice.

In this episode, I’m joined by Steven Wolff, Director of AMS Planning & Research, an organisation committed to the value of arts, culture, and entertainment in communities. Steven discusses the importance of cultural ‘anchor institutions’ and how their success should be measured by the quantum of entanglement with their communities.

We explore the role these institutions play in communities and what successful anchor institutions will look like post pandemic. Steven talks about switching the question from focusing on the “what” to the “why” we do what we do, and shares some practical advice for what people in director roles can start doing to make this shift.

We discuss how vital institutions aren’t defined by their scale but by how entangled they are in their communities, what this looks like and what some cultural institutions have been doing to take advantage of the opportunities that this crisis has presented.

This episode is absolutely jam-packed with inspiring, thought-provoking and really vital discussion for the time we are in. We explore the tools, techniques and ideas we can harness to build a thriving arts and culture sector post-pandemic. Who knows, we may even herald in the next renaissance.


Key points

[1:27]: Steven’s role with AMS Planning & Research and how they focus on capital facility development work, strategic planning and organisational development work, helping to create vital organisations

[3:45]: How AMS Analytics focuses on data for operations benchmarking for large performing arts centres 

[5:20]: When Covid first hit, they were concerned about how they could survive a shutdown but saw that it was a great opportunity to focus on the things that really mattered

[6:55]: Steven explains anchor institutions and how they are determined by the way an organisation is integrated into the community

[8:00]: The evolution of the measures of success from quality, outputs, effectiveness to community entanglement, based on the quantum physics law

[9:20]: How cultural organisations are civic anchors and should be included when public and social policy is being made

[10:40]: Steven’s discusses the thoughts behind “The Long Runway” and how he now sees it’s not a linear way back and that the current climate is a real opportunity for transformation

[12:00]: How a lot of organisations were continuing to operate as normal, consuming capital without making revenue and that they would be under-resourced to reopen

[13:20]: 

Producing organisations had content they could convert digitally, but presenters didn’t and were at a loss for what to offer while the theatres and galleries were closed

[13:50]: The critical issues that were there before Covid, such as equity and social justice, are still there and this is a time to focus on those things

[14:20]: Most organisations took years to recover after the GFC so getting back up after Covid will be even longer and it won’t look the same as it did before

[15:40]: With many venues closed down and large venues not operating at full capacity, it’s a great opportunity to rethink how we use our physical assets

[16:30]: Covid was not only a health crisis but an economic and social crisis and arts and cultural organisations can be vehicles for social change and justice

[17:25]: Steven talks about an old museum that resides in a community where there is 70% people of colour and how they are transforming their organisation from top to bottom to become more community engaged

[19:00]: Another large and very new performing arts centre has reinvented itself by launching an outdoor venue to facilitate 500 socially distanced events, partnering with 16 restaurants and local establishments.

[21:18]: How the opportunity presented to us is to change the fundamental question we’re askin. Instead of focusing on what we do, we need to think about why we do it.

[23:50]: Think about what it means to be entangled with the communities you wish to serve, which will bring about fundamental change 

[24:30]: We have to move away from hierarchical organisations to matrix organisations with decentralised partnerships. It’s also an opportunity to shift the way we think about governance and philanthropy and that they are different structures.

[26:50]: Ask yourself, “what is success and how do we measure it?” Then articulate the answer in a very clear way so you know when you are achieving it.

[27:45]: The strategic triangle, where high performing not for profit and non-governmental organisations find success at the intersection of value, capacity and support

[29:40]: What anchor institutions will look like post-pandemic and how they will be more approachable, both physically and operationally 

[31:40]: We will see big brands with live and digital distribution capacity and also grassroots uprisings. 

[32:30]: We will also see an internal evolution where an authentic voice is heard

[33:55]: Anchor institutions will be appropriately resourced in every way to adapt and change without institutional threat

[36:30]: Top takeaways from today’s episode.


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Supported by Creative Victoria, Theory of Creativity Season 2 is focussed on 'Real Change and Renewal'. Tune in on the first Tuesday of the month as Patternmakers Managing Director Tandi Palmer Williams speaks with experts in audience trends, strategic planning, organisational change and resilience.

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