Blog Posts for Business Spotlight

Thank you to the many people who have been blog contributors to, and readers of ArtsBlog over the years. ArtsBlog has long been a space where we uplifted stories from the field that demonstrated how the arts strengthen our communities socially, educationally, and economically; where trends and issues and controversies were called out; and advocacy tools were provided to help you make the case for more arts funding and favorable arts policies.

As part of Americans for the Arts’ recent Strategic Realignment Process, we were asked to evaluate our storytelling communications platforms and evolve the way we share content. As a result, we launched the Designing Our Destiny portal to explore new ways of telling stories and sharing information, one that is consistent with our longtime practice of, “No numbers without a story, and no stories without a number.”

As we put our energy into developing this platform and reevaluate our communications strategies, we have put ArtsBlog on hold. That is, you can read past blog posts, but we are not posting new ones. You can look to the Designing Our Destiny portal and our news items feed on the Americans for the Arts website for stories you would have seen in ArtsBlog in the past.

ArtsBlog will remain online through this year as we determine the best way to archive this valuable resource and the knowledge you’ve shared here.

As ever, we are grateful for your participation in ArtsBlog and thank you for your work in advancing the arts. It is important, and you are important for doing it.


Dr. David V. Mastran

Business Spotlight: CEO Shares the Language of Music

Posted by Dr. David V. Mastran, Sep 26, 2019 0 comments


Dr. David V. Mastran

I am both a businessperson and an artist, which helps expand my perspective and set my business apart. The challenge, on the business side, is that because profit motive is the driving force, the most creative work often doesn't receive the recognition or appreciation it deserves from businesses. The tendency for most businesses is to stick to a proven, profit-driven formula. I'm not saying that profit-driven formulas are wrong, but we should also be allowing room for creativity, innovation and growth—not just in the arts, but in every aspect of business. Businesses should want to hire creative people, people who can create solutions without predefined answers. We need businesses to understand that the arts can and will help them achieve their objectives—even if those objectives are not always related to the arts. We need to frame the arts in a way that businesses can find value in them as well. Having this business background helps me be a better advocate for the arts.

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Mr. Paul Kinley

Business Spotlight: Architecture Firm Builds on the Arts

Posted by Mr. Paul Kinley, Aug 23, 2019 0 comments


Mr. Paul Kinley

The arts are core to what we do at Opsis and our relationship to, and support of, our local and diverse arts community helps us make connections with members of our local and regional community that we might not otherwise be able to do as effectively. As a result, Opsis is well known in our local arts community as an available supporter, participant, and resource. Opsis is a firm filled with people for whom the arts are as personally and professionally important. Folks come to us because we value the arts as a fundamental priority and integrate the arts into our practice with every opportunity. We partner with arts organizations to help raise money, plan and design facilities (often pro-bono or at cost), and we invite creatives into our office for monthly lunch-hour talks that demonstrate this focus and accelerate the exposure of our staff to other creative people from a wide variety of disciplines.

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