Unplanned Use of Space Can Improve The Space by Joe Patti

Fast Company had a piece on how public use of spaces has changed the spaces and art for the better. The bottom line is basically, design spaces to facilitate flexible use and don't try to re…

SOURCE: Butts In The Seats at 1:06am on April 1, 2026☆⚑

Dang It, Grandma's Parkouring Again by Joe Patti

I always enjoy receiving ArtsMidwest's newsletters. They often feature great ideas to stea..erm…adapt for use in other communities. Recently they posted a call for pitches from residents o…

SOURCE: Butts In The Seats at 12:42am on March 31, 2026☆⚑

Siloing Can Restrict Staff Professional Development by Joe Patti

Apparently there is a growing concern in the museum world about the reluctance of younger generations to assume leadership roles given the challenges museum leaders face. This has been somet…

SOURCE: Butts In The Seats at 10:42pm on March 25, 2026☆⚑

If You're Bored, You Might Enjoy This Article On Boredom by Joe Patti

Back in January there was an article on Nautilus about boredom and the trend of people trying to endure forced boredom. There are "Do Nothing Challenges" and "Rawdogging" where people intent…

SOURCE: Butts In The Seats at 10:02pm on March 23, 2026☆⚑

They've Been Slicing And Dicing Classical Music For Awhile Now by Joe Patti

Recently in The Guardian, Tom Service suggested the classical music exponents stop trying to misrepresent the nature of the genre. He feels it does the music a disservice to try to create ap…

SOURCE: Butts In The Seats at 1:54am on March 18, 2026☆⚑

Solo Numbers Are Growing by Joe Patti

NPR had a story earlier this month about theaters' efforts to appeal to solo attendees. Apparently the Broadway League has noted that solo attendance during 2024-2025 season was double previ…

SOURCE: Butts In The Seats at 1:32am on March 17, 2026☆⚑

Securing Music Rights Is The Toughest Part Of Olympic Athletes' Routines by Joe Patti

Entertainment lawyer Gordon Firemark and Tamera Bennett recently did a podcast episode addressing some intellectual property and copyright issues which had been in the news. One of the probl…

SOURCE: Butts In The Seats at 11:42pm on March 11, 2026☆⚑

Who Owns The Photo You Composed In A Video Game? by Joe Patti

The Conversation recently had an article tangentially related to the concept of AI art. In this case, it is players of video games creating art out of the virtual landscapes in which they pl…

SOURCE: Butts In The Seats at 10:54pm on March 9, 2026☆⚑

Look But Don't Trust by Joe Patti

As I am wont to do, once again I am going to state that Colleen Dilenschneider and the folks at IMPACTS have provided some interesting data insights. Back in the middle of February they rele…

SOURCE: Butts In The Seats at 2:31am on March 4, 2026☆⚑

Don't Want To Ask Too Many Questions, I Might Jinx It by Joe Patti

Early last month Seth Godin made a post about precision and accuracy. The more I have thought about it, the more convinced I am that he hasn't fully considered his argument. Either that, or …

SOURCE: Butts In The Seats at 2:06am on March 3, 2026☆⚑

Knowing What You Are Not Trying To Be by Joe Patti

This week Kyle Bowen at Museum as Progress made a lengthy post about why they design their gatherings the way they do. What was interesting to me was how clear they are about what they are t…

SOURCE: Butts In The Seats at 12:06am on February 26, 2026☆⚑

Roots Of Ireland's Basic Income For Artists Was 1981 by Joe Patti

In the last couple weeks there have been articles about Ireland making their basic income for artists program permanent. What that means is that around 2000 artists will be randomly chosen b…

SOURCE: Butts In The Seats at 11:48pm on February 24, 2026☆⚑

What Will We Do? The Paintings Aren't Working! by Joe Patti

Via Artsjournal.com is a piece on The Critic addressing the trend in thinking art has curative abilities. I have long written about the problem with measuring the value of art in prescriptiv…

SOURCE: Butts In The Seats at 11:24pm on February 23, 2026☆⚑

Elements of Your Business Model That Can Derail Change by Joe Patti

Ruth Hartt made an insightful post on LinkedIn a few weeks ago which caught my attention. She also mirrored it on her own website. She talked about how boards and staffs of arts organization…

SOURCE: Butts In The Seats at 3:31am on February 18, 2026☆⚑

Stimulating MN Arts Impacted By ICE by Joe Patti

Last week, Springboard for the Arts, based in St. Paul, MN posted on LinkedIn about different funds they and others had created and contributed to in order to mitigate the impact of federal …

SOURCE: Butts In The Seats at 3:06am on February 17, 2026☆⚑

Who You Think It Is For by Joe Patti

A decade ago when Nina Simon mentioned in a talk she did that not all the programming at a museum was necessarily for everyone, and that is alright, it was an eye opening moment for me. It h…

SOURCE: Butts In The Seats at 1:06am on February 12, 2026☆⚑

It IS The Little Things That Matter by Joe Patti

Reimagining The Civic Commons (RCC) made a post on Medium about the contribution of even brief passing nods and greetings on the street have in establishing our sense of belonging. They cite…

SOURCE: Butts In The Seats at 12:48am on February 11, 2026☆⚑

Price Of Disruption by Joe Patti

Seth Godin had an interesting take on pricing and market disruption. He noted that books, records, and other products often have uniform pricing that doesn't really reflect the demand. You m…

SOURCE: Butts In The Seats at 12:24am on February 10, 2026☆⚑

Digital Ticketing Has Resulted In Broader Fraud by Joe Patti

Last month Fast Company had a piece about how digital ticketing hasn't really stopped fraud as well as people expected. The article talks about how prior to the NFL going to digital ticketin…

SOURCE: Butts In The Seats at 4:31am on February 4, 2026☆⚑

The Joy Art Is Bringing May Not Be Reflected On The Face by Joe Patti

This weekend a newsletter from the Master of Management in International Arts Management program caught my eye with a research piece titled Predicting Museum Visitors' Intention Through Nonv…

SOURCE: Butts In The Seats at 4:02am on February 3, 2026☆⚑

Philly Art Museum Firing Provides Insight Into Large Cultural Boards by Joe Patti

You may have heard about the abrupt and somewhat controversial firing of Philadelphia Art Museum director and CEO Sasha Suda back in November. Recently Philadelphia Magazine published a long…

SOURCE: Butts In The Seats at 2:06am on January 29, 2026☆⚑

Different Ways Of Measuring Impact by Joe Patti

I am always keeping an eye open for different ways arts organizations can employ meaningful measures of impact. AEA Consulting listed different impact evaluation tools and criteria being use…

SOURCE: Butts In The Seats at 1:42am on January 28, 2026☆⚑

Cultural Sector Re-Sorting Rather Than In Retreat by Joe Patti

Colleen Dilenschneider and the folks at IMPACTS Experience have been dependable as always and recently provided a market outlook for arts and cultural organizations for 2026 & 2027 based…

SOURCE: Butts In The Seats at 1:24am on January 27, 2026☆⚑

Permission To Be Creative by Joe Patti

h/t to Anne Smith who posted this video on Linkedin of Ethan Hawke talking about giving yourself permission to be creative. For me the big impactful statement he makes is that everyone think…

SOURCE: Butts In The Seats at 11:36am on January 22, 2026☆⚑

AI Coming For ESPN Commentators by Joe Patti

There's a kinda meme image circulating where a person says they had imagined a future where AI made her work easier so that she had more time for creative leisure. Instead, AI is being used …

SOURCE: Butts In The Seats at 5:02am on January 21, 2026☆⚑