I think it is time to call out once and for all what seems to be happening to our arts industry. We spend so much time rehashing the past, both the glory days and the challenges we recently have come up against. Then we focus on this past over and over again.

We also love to talk about what our future is going to look like. Will the arts survive? There are plenty of dooms day articles and books floating around. Of course, some of us are projecting that the arts will be different, but still around.

Now imagine if all this energy rehashing the past and attempting to predict the future went into to dealing with the present. Yes, we can learn from the past and think about the future, but nothing is really going to get done unless we think and act in the present.

I was glad to see the Dance USA assessment of the NEA Reports, which came to a similar conclusion to what I was thinking. Now is the time to do something to build audiences. We only have the now.

Simply put, if we don’t do something now, the future will look vastly different from our hopes and dreams. It takes smart action in the present (learning from the past) in order to build a fantastic future.

Let’s do this!

Cheers to happy and loyal audiences,
Shoshana

Shoshana Fanizza
Chief Audience Builder, ADS