The Great Thing About Art? It Isn’t Just About You

Culture Frees Our Empathic Imagination by Letting Us Step Outside Our Selves

This essay was originally published by The Chronicle of Higher Education on September 15, 2014.

A decade ago, arts leaders faced a crisis in America. National data indicated significant declines in attendance at venues for virtually every art form—classical music, dance, theater, opera, jazz, museums. Bill Ivey, a former chairman of the National Endowment for the Arts, and I offered a counternarrative in 2006: We saw a renaissance in creativity and cultural engagement, made possible, in part, by new technology. Guitar sales had tripled in the course of the decade; 25 percent of …

By Steven J. Tepper | June 22, 2017

Can the Literary Arts Thrive in an Open Book?

A Minneapolis Collaboration Between Three Book-Minded Nonprofits Created a Home for the Arts—and Lots of Other Things

By Jay Gabler | June 22, 2017

When it comes to music or theater, community-building happens right in front of your eyes. Crowds surge forward to see a band, or settle together into rows of seats as …

Marijuana Needs Middlemen to Reach the Mainstream Market

A Cannabis Entrepreneur Wants to Turn an Illicit Ecosystem into an Economic Juggernaut

By Eric Spitz | June 21, 2017

California’s marijuana industry will soon begin its transition from an illicit ecosystem fraught with guns, cash, and cartels into a regulated economic juggernaut.

The stakes of getting it right are …

We’ll Always Have (the) Paris (Accord)

Economic Necessity Gives Hope That the Global Climate Agreement Will Endure

By Jerry Nickelsburg | June 20, 2017

The United States is out of the Paris Agreement on climate change, and the Trump administration says we will burn coal and fossil fuels if we like, and no one …

Historian Kevin Starr Was an Affectionate Connoisseur of California’s Contradictions

The Longtime State Librarian Told the Golden State's Story with a Novelist's Touch

By Scott Timberg | June 16, 2017

California has had many chroniclers—some critics, some boosters, some cheerleaders, some dour polemicists. It’s only natural that a vast state defined by its extremes—political, geological, economic, and otherwise—would rarely be …

For a More Open Society, Keep the Internet Neutral

Metering Traffic or Filtering Speech Would Throttle Democracy and Innovation

By Terry Kramer | June 13, 2017

Why would someone who spent much of his career working for a multinational telecommunications company care so much about preserving “net neutrality?”

That someone would be me. I worked for Vodafone, …

nexus

The Great Thing About Art? It Isn’t Just About You

Culture Frees Our Empathic Imagination by Letting Us Step Outside Our Selves

Can the Literary Arts Thrive in an Open Book?

A Minneapolis Collaboration Between Three Book-Minded Nonprofits Created a Home for the Arts—and Lots of Other Things

Marijuana Needs Middlemen to Reach the Mainstream Market

A Cannabis Entrepreneur Wants to Turn an Illicit Ecosystem into an Economic Juggernaut

We’ll Always Have (the) Paris (Accord)

Economic Necessity Gives Hope That the Global Climate Agreement Will Endure

Historian Kevin Starr Was an Affectionate Connoisseur of California’s Contradictions

The Longtime State Librarian Told the Golden State's Story with a Novelist's Touch

For a More Open Society, Keep the Internet Neutral

Metering Traffic or Filtering Speech Would Throttle Democracy and Innovation

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Can Engaging with Art Turn a Bunch of Selfie-Takers into Citizens?

Changing Audiences Are Making Creators and Institutions Rethink Art Itself

California Can Reconceive the Arts by Offering More Choices and Ways to Participate

Demographic and Technological Shifts Could Let Arts in the Golden State Better Serve Communities

Arts Organizations Need to Teach Their Audiences Self-Defense

Government Arts Funding Is Vital, and Could Be Zeroed Out. The Threat Should Be Part of the Show.

The Arts Can Do for California What Politics and Big Business Can’t

The Cultural Sector Retains Its Credibility, Imagination—and Ability to Bring People Together

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