In this compelling video, Arlene Goldbard argues the importance of putting artists to work in order to aid the cultural and economic recovery. A provocative independent voice for our times, Arlene Goldbard is a writer, social activist, and consultant who works for justice, compassion and honor in every...

Each day, we make decisions based on conventional wisdom: what makes a good parent, where to spend money, why education is important, how to view politics, which activities lead to happiness and success.  We are unduly influenced by sound bites that dominate the news headlines, and seek simple short-term...

OK… so I changed my mind. I am allowed to right?  I spent almost a year with interns  building The ETA Resource Center for you. I thought given how much time and money it cost me to build — almost $4000.00, a true labor of love– that it was worth the price of admission. Admission...

First, a big thanks to fellow ETA blogger David Cutler for featuring Fifth House Ensemble in his new book, the Savvy Musician, advance copies of which are available on his website prior to the full release in November. If you’ve been reading his posts, you know that David brings an incredible energy...

Bill Moyers interviewed Harvard educator Sarah Lawrence- Lightfoot on May 11th, 2009 on his show Bill Moyers Journal on PBS. Sarah Lawrence-Lightfoot is an American sociologist who examines the culture of schools, the patterns and structures of classroom life, socialization within families and communities,...

A few weeks ago, I had the opportunity to hear Peter Senge speak. This was a real privilege, as one of his books has been instrumental in helping me along my path as an (organizational) entrepreneur in the arts. A few years ago, I had a big “ah-ha” that what I had learned through years...

Together with a colleague, we’re developping a new concept ‘a Spoonful of Sparkles’. It’s a process to make your messages contagious. What kind of message should you spread to make sure that people will hear the message and that they will remember it. A lot of our inspiration...

Ever wonder why some days you feel more creative and imaginative and other days it seems to have disappeared, like flipping a switch? In a book called Return on Imagination: Realizing the Power of ideas, written by innovation expert Tom Wujec and co-author, retail marketing expert Sandra Muscat, I discovered...

Although we all know that the arts are often thought to be closer to the rim of education than to its core, they are, surprisingly, “critically important means for developing complex and subtle aspects of the mind”, argues Elliot Eisner. In this book, he describes how various forms of thinking...

OK, well call me a sucker for punishment or better yet, just addicted- isn’t that what artists are, on some level? I have been feaverishly working away on the beginning of another book with sports psychologist Jason Selk. The book we have agreed to write together is called The Dream Switch. The...

One of the reasons I want to write books is because books, art, poetry and film, as examples, all intrinsically are built to last. Their very form offers easy “spark-creating-experience” access, like a hand full of nourishment going right into our mouth. Love that rush of energy that follows,...

Today I was working with a clarinet customer in the shop. She is a graduate student and next May will be out of school. This talented clarinetists who besides playing well, knits, sews, paints and makes jewelry, was telling me how most of her friends are unhappy and lacking in the know how to be more...

Are you wondering how to take your dream- the one you are writing about for the soon to launch Entrepreneurial Artist Contest- and turn it into reality? You can now fast track your business step by step using Tim Berry and Sabrina Parsons high speed guide to starting a business: 3 Weeks to Start up. So...

How did Edison innovate and what can we, as artists, learn from his best practices? Sarah Miller Caldicott, the great grandniece of Thomas Edison, in this past year has written a wonderful book titled Innovate like Edison, that can teach us his most important principles of innovation. EDISON’S FIVE...

The Bite-Size Arts Ensemble, for those of you following the evolution of this ensemble, had a wonderful first performance and fundraiser, but a few short weeks ago. We raised $2200.00, which given we are a new ensemble without a following just yet, and given the state of the economy, was really a wonderful...

There is a new book out by Jon Gillespie-Brown titled So You Want To Be An Entrepreneur. The book includes a 50 question quiz which was devised to calculate your “entrepreneurial quotient”. If you take the quiz you will find out how entrepreneurial you are feeling and acting today. My...

Written By Jonah Lehrer If you are a scientist you could choose to get nitpicky about whether or not Proust was a neuroscientist, or you could sit back, relax and enjoy the ride as Lehrer weaves together stories about art, science and creative breakthroughs. Lehrer argues that when it comes to discoveries...

Why do some people reach their creative potential and find a vehicle to share it and others struggle and stay stagnant? Do those who excel have a gene that allows them to flourish? It seems to me that if you are open to change and growth and not believing your ideas and capacity for change is limited...

How can 1+1=4? When can you add two parts together and produce far more than their combined total? In Benjamin Zander’s book, The Art of Possibility, he share’s this story: ” A shoe factory send two marketing scouts to a region of Africa to study the prospects for expanding business....

“Success is the point where your most authentic talents, passion, values, and experiences intersect with the chance to contribute to some greater good. ” – Bill Strickland The following is about Bill Stickland- the man and his philosophy. You can find it and more at: Bill Strickland’s...