Entrepreneurial Arts and Cultural Leadership

Bonnie Fogel

• 25 juli 2025
• 9781835951224

Samenvatting:

Entrepreneurial Arts and Cultural Leadership is a tactical guide focusing on real-world strategies to developing the entrepreneurial mindset necessary for leading and sustaining nonprofit arts organizations. Bonnie Fogel and Brett Ashley Crawford examine the leadership traits that drive innovation, adaptability and long-term viability in the ever-evolving arts sector.

Through the case study of Imagination Stage, one of the top theatre companies for young people, they highlight how successful nonprofit theatre leaders can navigate financial instability, advocate for equity and inclusion, and implement sustainable business models. With practical insights, tools, and a resource-rich appendix, this book offers arts managers, educators, and nonprofit leaders a roadmap for resilience and growth in a landscape forever impacted by national and global events.

‘This book would have been a good guide for me when I was starting out... It was so interesting to read and took me back to my own days of building a creative community; as I read through the chapters I kept on saying “yep!... yep!” Now, with a deeper understanding of theories and business activities, I know this book talks a lot of sense.’

‘Traits is a toolkit. It works in bite-size chunks. If you’re not wanting to read through a book from beginning to end, but you’re a creative and entrepreneur who is eager to learn, this works well.’

Polly Crockett, senior lecturer in arts management, Bath Spa University, UK (FHEA, FRSA, Cmgr MCMI)

‘For those of us living in the Washington, D.C. area, watching Imagination Stage has been an object lesson in
entrepreneurialism, devotion to mission and effective management. How fortunate that Bonnie Fogel is now sharing her wisdom with everyone interested in cultural leadership.’

Michael M. Kaiser, chair, DeVos Institute of Arts and Nonprofit Management, USA; president emeritus, John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, USA

Bonnie Fogel is the founder and longtime leader of Imagination Stage, one of the top theatres for young audiences in the United States.

Brett Ashley Crawford is a teaching professor and faculty chair of the arts & entertainment management programs at Carnegie Mellon University, USA.

A tactical guide for nonprofit arts leaders, revealing the entrepreneurial traits that turn creative passion into sustainable success.

Entrepreneurial Arts and Cultural Leadership focuses on real-world strategies to developing the entrepreneurial mindset necessary for leading and sustaining nonprofit arts organizations. Bonnie Fogel and Brett Ashley Crawford examine the leadership traits that drive innovation, adaptability and long-term viability in the ever-evolving arts sector.

Through the case study of Imagination Stage, one of the top theatre companies for young people, they highlight how successful nonprofit theater leaders can navigate financial instability, advocate for equity and inclusion and implement sustainable business models in a landscape forever impacted by national and global events. With practical insights, tools and a resource-rich appendix, this book offers arts managers, educators and nonprofit leaders a roadmap for resilience and growth. Whether you are an advanced student, a researcher or an arts executive seeking inspiration, this book provides an essential framework for building the future of nonprofit theatre.

Imagination Stage was founded as BAPA (Bethesda Academy of Performing Arts) in 1979 in response to the urgent need for arts education for young people. The company was renamed Imagination Stage in 2001 in anticipation of its move to its downtown Bethesda theatre arts centre in 2003. Imagination Stage has grown from a handful of children in a single classroom to a full-spectrum theatre arts organization, with theatre productions by professional actors and artists. Unlike most children’s theatre companies, Imagination Stage commissions new works for children every year. These productions have been recognized with awards and productions by other companies around the world.

Bonnie Fogel is the founder and longtime leader of Imagination Stage, one of the top theatres for young audiences in the United States. Brett Ashley Crawford is a teaching professor and faculty chair of the arts & entertainment management programs at Carnegie Mellon University, USA.