Mortgages & Property Taxes As Art Projects by Joe Patti

While returning from a grocery shopping trip on Saturday I heard this NPR story about an art project that is calling attention to the disparity in property taxes for black owned homes vs. wh…

SOURCE: Butts In The Seats at 6:33pm on March 30, 2022☆⚑

So You Are Hiring. What Are Your HR Practices? by Joe Patti

It seems the week to discuss Human Resource practices. Drew McManus posted the first in a series about the lack of good resources among orchestras to help address difficulties in the work en…

SOURCE: Butts In The Seats at 12:03pm on March 29, 2022☆⚑

There Is An Ambush In This Violin Concerto! by Joe Patti

Drew McManus reposted a promotional Facebook video for Wichita Symphony Orchestra's (WSO) performance of "The Rose of Sonora" violin concerto.  I thought it was a cool little video depict…

SOURCE: Butts In The Seats at 4:24am on March 25, 2022☆⚑

Into The Arts And Out of 'The Real World' by Joe Patti

Last week Vu Le made a Twitter post alluding to the fact a lot of corporate leaders will shift to leading non-profits, but you basically never hear of a non-profit leader making a career tra…

SOURCE: Butts In The Seats at 3:48pm on March 23, 2022☆⚑

Love All The Songs. Show Is Kinda Boring by Joe Patti

A few months ago I came across a piece by Imogen Crimp which recounts her attempt to pursue a career in opera.  Her story covers some pretty crappy experiences with conservatory instructo…

SOURCE: Butts In The Seats at 3:48pm on March 23, 2022☆⚑

Is Joe Suggesting What I Think He Is Suggesting?!?!!! by Joe Patti

I saw a social media post by Dan Pink today that linked to an NPR story about a program where doctors in Canada can prescribe spending time outdoors and have been provided year long passes t…

SOURCE: Butts In The Seats at 7:33pm on March 17, 2022☆⚑

Museums Are Secretly Controlled By Big White Paint by Joe Patti

On Hyperallergic today, Isabella Segalovich had a piece, 15 Things Museums Do That Piss Me Off . An avowed museum junkie, she lists what areas in which she would like museums to do a better …

SOURCE: Butts In The Seats at 1:03pm on March 16, 2022☆⚑

Grateful For The Recognition, But Recognize More To Be Done by Joe Patti

A month ago Ruth Hartt posted an image she grabbed from my venue's website on Twitter and complimented its presentation on a number of points: Brava on the diverse audience remark & I'd …

SOURCE: Butts In The Seats at 6:42pm on March 15, 2022☆⚑

Kindergarten Art As Social Practice by Joe Patti

You may have heard a short piece on NPR this past week about Peptoc, a hotline where you can hear encouraging words from kindergartners.   Call a new hotline, and you'll get just that " e…

SOURCE: Butts In The Seats at 10:36pm on March 9, 2022☆⚑

Don't Know If I Am Auditioning, But I Am Having Fun by Joe Patti

You may have seen the story on American Theatre about the slew of people who took to TikTok to "audition" for St. Louis theatre, The Muny's production of Legally Blonde.  I use the quote …

SOURCE: Butts In The Seats at 10:12pm on March 8, 2022☆⚑

Once You Have Found Her, Never Let Her Go by Joe Patti

A couple weeks ago violinist Holly Mulcahy made a Facebook post about giving the manager at the Wichita, KS airport Enterprise counter her card which had a BOGO ticket offer printed on the b…

SOURCE: Butts In The Seats at 9:48pm on March 7, 2022☆⚑

Coming To A PBS Station Near You… by Joe Patti

I didn't realize I missed posting yesterday until early this morning. Right now my team and I are really busy preparing for a concert which is being taped for PBS.  This show, A Night of …

SOURCE: Butts In The Seats at 2:18am on March 4, 2022☆⚑

A First Stab At A State Of Performing Arts Survey by Joe Patti

Association of Performing Arts Professionals featured a webinar today reporting on the results of a survey they conducted about the state of the performing arts. Regrettably, I missed it but…

SOURCE: Butts In The Seats at 1:37am on March 2, 2022☆⚑

Is Your Talent Being Hoarded? by Joe Patti

The Marginal Revolution blog linked to a really interesting study on talent hoarding a practice in which managers prevent productive workers from seeking promotions. The study author, Ingrid…

SOURCE: Butts In The Seats at 1:12am on March 1, 2022☆⚑

Curiosity Satisfied By A Strange Answer by Joe Patti

I am not sure how I came across the article, but this Fall I came across an interview on The First Peoples Fund website with master traditional folk artist Kevin Locke. In the course of the …

SOURCE: Butts In The Seats at 11:24pm on February 23, 2022☆⚑

Come For A Haircut, See A Van Gogh by Joe Patti

It will probably come as no surprise to anyone running an arts venue that many attendees are over the mask wearing thing. At my venue, we actually had a more conservative mandatory policy fo…

SOURCE: Butts In The Seats at 10:54pm on February 22, 2022☆⚑

Haven't Seen You Around Recently by Joe Patti

I'm happy to say that things are starting to get back to a place where I feel like I can start blogging again. Hopefully it will stay that way. I really underestimated how difficult things w…

SOURCE: Butts In The Seats at 4:42am on February 22, 2022☆⚑

On Hiatus by Joe Patti

Apologies to my readers. The departure of some staff and absence of others has placed me in a situation where I can no longer post regularly. Hopefully this will resolve itself soon and I ca…

SOURCE: Butts In The Seats at 3:12am on November 30, 2021☆⚑

Do You Need To Feel Transcendent Or Sleep Better Right Now? by Joe Patti

Ruth Hartt got a bit of a kick from the post I made last week where I termed her use of stock video footage and other clips to create an video marketing piece as a "Franken-Ad." She tagged m…

SOURCE: Butts In The Seats at 5:06pm on November 18, 2021☆⚑

Yes, But When She Said It, It Sounded Brilliant by Joe Patti

Vu Le posted this week about a well-observed phenomenon he termed "Outsider Efficiency Bias."  He defined this as basically having an outsider like a consultant come in and be lauded for …

SOURCE: Butts In The Seats at 10:18pm on November 16, 2021☆⚑

The Medium As Important As The Message When Asking For Help by Joe Patti

Dan Pink shared a link to a study that was conducted on perceptions of the most effective way to ask others for help comparing face-to-face, audio/phone, video (ie Zoom), and text (SMS, Emai…

SOURCE: Butts In The Seats at 4:06am on November 16, 2021☆⚑

What's Been Learned So Far About Offering Virtual Theatre by Joe Patti

American Theatre released results of a survey about virtual theatre offerings during Covid this week. Respondents represent 64 organizations from 25 states. As you might already imagine, the…

SOURCE: Butts In The Seats at 8:06am on November 11, 2021☆⚑

Focus On Product vs Process by Joe Patti

On Museum 2.0 Seema Rao asks why museum educators are so undervalued in the context of a question she was asked about the difference between a Sip and Paint session and a class on marbling t…

SOURCE: Butts In The Seats at 7:48am on November 10, 2021☆⚑

Does This Franken-Ad Have More Emotional Resonance With Audiences Than The Highly Produced One You Are Using? by Joe Patti

Last month, Trevor O'Donnell directed his readers to a post by Ruth Hartt discussing how to market the arts in a way that focuses on solving the "problems" people have rather than focusing o…

SOURCE: Butts In The Seats at 1:24am on November 9, 2021☆⚑

Looking To Public Art To Revitalize Cities Post-Covid by Joe Patti

Somewhat in line with my post yesterday about the growing number of basic guarantee income programs for artists, Artsjournal.com had an interview with the mayor of Toronto, John Tory, about …

SOURCE: Butts In The Seats at 11:48am on November 4, 2021☆⚑