Changing the Blueprint An Interdisciplinary Framework for Preparing Arts Managers and Leaders of the 21st Century

Sixty-five arts leaders from thirty-five colleges and universities and twenty-five nonprofit arts organizations higher in North Carolina were selected to participate in The Arts and Sustainability Study. Administering questionnaires, combined with traditional research and text analysis, became a focal point for gathering qualitative data.;Participants were asked to respond to questions related to desired leadership skills and dispositions, leadership preparation strategies, and the relationship between leadership and arts sustainability. The notion that a business background alone facilitates the development and sustainability of arts organizations and programs exists.;Findings suggested that the majority of arts leaders in North Carolina are over age 40. The percentage of people age 20-30 that hold an arts leadership position is 7.5%, a consistent figure given the low focus of recruitment and orientation in 90% of the organizations. Aside from the traditional set of required skills such as technology, budget and public relations, communication, suggestions for characteristics of arts leaders was quite slim. Perceptions about the arts management field are not cohesive amongst arts management and leadership professionals.;It is speculated that either participants truly do not understand the accepted dispositions of successful leaders or they view leadership and management skills to be synonymous. This reality supports the reasons why leadership education for aspiring arts managers and leaders is crucial. Participants collectively suggested that an arts manager and leader should be exposed to arts management, but none provided concrete information that would provide insight into possible frameworks for preparing arts managers and leaders. The Arts and Sustainability Study conveyed three primary themes: collaboration, misunderstandings about the field of arts management, and the field is not yet fully developed.;"Changing the Blueprint: An Interdisciplinary Framework for Preparing Arts Managers and Leaders of the 21st Century" is a dissertation that examines the responsibility of higher education and nonprofit arts organizations in preparing future arts managers and leadership. Cultivating a new generation of art management professionals is essential for sustaining arts fields, organizations, and programs within the education, social, and political sectors. Specific knowledge and skills are suggested to prepare arts managers and leaders, given the changing dynamics of society, the arts management field, and economic forces.;Underpinning this study is an interest and concern regarding the need to cultivate and educate a new generation of arts managers and leaders. The research tool involved in the study was a questionnaire, which included perceptions from professionals in the field on the knowledge and skills aspiring arts managers and leaders need to develop in order to work successfully in the field.;Data analyzed support the emergence of an interdisciplinary arts leadership education and training theory, model and curriculum. Failure to consider and enhance the recruitment, education and training of new and aspiring arts managers and leaders will inevitably compromise the sustainability of arts organizations.;Recommendations are made to consider the development of an arts leadership education model for preparing arts managers and leaders of the 21st century. Key Terminology and Concepts include Arts, Arts Leadership, Arts Management, Leadership Education, Leadership Preparation, and Sustainability of Arts Organizations.