Arts Leaders Team Up to Address Shared Challenges

At Barr, we believe collaboration is central to arts leadership—and essential to a thriving, equitable arts sector. A culture of collaboration is especially important today, in this moment of division and partisanship, while organizations continue to grapple with the lingering impacts of the pandemic alongside calls to address racism and stand for social justice.

While the sector is rife with superb artistic collaborations, there are too few cases of major players joining forces to take on shared issues that hamper their organizations or affect their communities. In this context, several partners in our ArtsAmplified initiative were enthusiastic about working together to confront topics important to the sector or civic life, and we were pleased to be able to make supplemental funds available to support that work.

These new funds will further fuel progress underway in the ArtsAmplified initiative. The 15 grantee partners in ArtsAmplified are well established in their respective disciplines. These leaders are experimenting to break through challenges—stepping into larger civic roles, sharing decision-making power, embracing new artistic directions, or transforming internal operations. Their inventive efforts, and willingness to assume the risks and rewards of bold action, are inspiring.

ArtsAmplified partners are also invested in learning together. They have built relationships across the dynamic arc of this initiative, beginning in 2018. This connection set the stage for openness and ideation in exploring mutual challenges. Today, four sets of partners are piloting projects with field-wide relevance:

Attracting young adults through digital marketing. Celebrity Series and GrubStreet will test a mobile-first strategy to reach younger audiences. Their approach features a beta app from easy-connect. It provides a shared advertising and ticketing platform to increase engagement, strengthen brand awareness, and track data. Partners will also experiment with joint social events to build a sense of community among these new audience members and to cross-promote programs and performances.

Celebrating influencers to expand audiences. American Repertory Theater and Global Arts Live will test ways to cultivate a network of influencers to amplify marketing efforts and gain new audiences. This strategy aligns with media consumption trends among younger generations and includes involving content creators at influencer events centered around each organization's programming. The project aims to increase the visibility of influencers passionate about arts, including those rooted in BIPOC communities, and improve the quality and reach of content to drive interest in art offerings, expand audiences, and grow revenue.

Boosting climate activism in the museum community. The Institute of Contemporary Art and The Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum will test how small to mid-sized art museums can mitigate environmental impact, including embracing green practices and addressing requirements for reducing greenhouse gas emissions in Boston. Partners will pool resources and expertise to steward research, share findings, and create actionable recommendations that enable smaller and mid-size museums to participate in right-sized climate activism.

Sharing knowledge and resources for community engagement and a stronger sector. ArtsEmerson and The Huntington will test new models for community investment, resource sharing, and knowledge exchange by engaging in radical shared practice to advance community engagement across Boston's arts and culture sector. They will center communities at the heart of their engagement programs and invite peers in the field to help facilitate this work. The partners aim to advance greater opportunities for local artists and strengthen the ecosystem that supports arts in Boston.

These projects seek to bust silos and hurdle barriers, including perceived competition for audiences and funders, that have blocked collaboration in the arts sector. The partners championing this work recognize that doing so demands time, resources, transparency, and vulnerability.

Barr applauds and is excited to support their efforts. Each set of partners receives a grant of $80,000 to $130,000 for research and development of their proposed ideas. TDC, the learning and coaching resource to ArtsAmplified organizations, administers the Collaboration Fund and offers thought partnership to grantees. TDC is also interviewing grantees to document their project ambitions and capture project results and lessons over time. We look forward to learning with these grantee partners and helping shine a light on their experiences and insights.

In and beyond Massachusetts, the arts sector harbors myriad challenges, both long-standing and emergent. We believe investing in organizations hungry to build the instincts and habits of collaboration is worthwhile. When generating new possibilities, multiplying discoveries, and bolstering courageous change, together is better.