arts & business council

MetLife Foundation National Arts Forums Series

LA Stage Alliance
Los Angeles, California

Leadership: New Frameworks for the Changing Face of America
09/10/2008

Moderator: Liz Ondaatje, Arts Policy Specialist

Presentation by Harvey Seifter, Founding Director, Creativity Connection, a program of Americans for the Arts

Panelists:
• Sammy Hoi, President, Otis College of Art and Design
• Susan Gray, Cultural Arts Planner, Community Redevelopment Agency of Los Angeles
• Terence McFarland, Executive Director, LA Stage Alliance
• Kevin Cottrell, Executive Director, Southern California Leadership Network and VP of Leadership Programs, LA Area Chamber of Commerce

The purpose of this forum was to bring together the business and arts community in order to motivate and educate them on the benefits of working together. A panel of arts and business leaders from the Los Angeles area presented key steps to advancing arts and business partnerships.

Harvey Seifter, keynote of the forum, spoke on arts based training in the workplace. Harvey, Founding Director of Creativity Connection (a program of Americans for the Arts), works with major corporations on bringing artists into business environments to help teach business people critical thinking skills. He spoke of the “innovation gap” in corporate America. Programs like Creativity Connection provide tools and skills for business people to work across multiple disciplines. More than 400 of the Fortune 500 companies use arts-based training in the workplace.

Panelists continued to give examples of positive arts and business partnerships. For example, Sammy Hoi spoke of Otis College of Art & Design where designers are taught the importance of collaboration with business. He believes that the thinking process in the workforce can be fundamentally changed if businesses bring the arts into their organizations and make the arts part of their DNA.

The panel discussion was followed by a lively Q&A. The audience confirmed the idea of arts and business collaborations having an opportunity to change social issues. Kevin Cottrell noted the performing arts group Culture Clash and its positive effect on the way immigration was viewed by the people of San Diego. The audience and panelists agree that the arts are a way to increase understanding and tolerance on social issues.

As discussed at the previous forum, the creation of an Arts & Business Council Los Angeles is in the works.  A feasibility study was completed with funding by the California Community Foundation. The study for an Arts & Business Council of Los Angeles projected challenges for creation of the council:

• Lack of philanthropic arts base
• Large geographic area
• Existing ecology of arts services
• Creative Economic Sector
• No central business center
• Need to educate and motive the business community

Although there are challenges to be faced in the creation of an Arts & Business Council, the leverage of such an organization will be a driving force in the creation of business and arts partnerships. Following the forum, LA Stage Alliance is moving forward with a committee of arts and business leaders in Los Angeles. The committee is charged with determining the next steps in the developing of an Arts & Business Council of Los Angeles.