Emerging Arts Leaders

This region has a long, rich history of innovation in every sector – from the arts, to green building, to technology – and as we continue to experience rapid growth, Young Professional groups like Emerging Arts Leaders are becoming more important than ever. The fact that this region has so many active leadership-building groups is a sign that we are a world-class community continuing to look forward. It’s also a sign that every sector is recognizing the benefit of coalition-building and collaboration across traditional boundaries to achieve long-term success. In that spirit, I’d like to ask the question: what can arts leaders (and leadership developers in general) learn from the successes of the green development movement?

In the best scenario, leadership development isn’t an after-thought. When it comes to stewarding the regional arts scene, the difference between “tack-on” leadership development and integrated leadership development is like the difference between constructing a building that just meets code or choosing to construct a building that will be LEED Platinum-certified. Integrating leadership development into daily business practices may not seem efficient in the short-term when all noses are to the grind-stone. Why then take the extra steps to integrate future leadership into the problem-solving activities of today? Unlike any generation in the past, we are being faced with issues that force us into the heady space of geologic time, and this is changing the way we make decisions as well as expanding our concept of “efficiency.” It’s true, too much time thinking in the future can mean lost opportunities in the present. However, as the past century has shown us, action without consideration of long-term environmental and social impacts can yield devastating results. All sectors need to continue to develop innovative social mechanisms for balancing and maximizing future consideration with present action.

In the case of green building development, LEED certification isn’t just a statement, it’s an opportunity to lead by example and influence practice by building a critical mass of “green successes” that will in turn influence the development of future public policies. When it comes to holistic urban development, LEED is to our natural environment as –what?– is to our local arts ecology? How do the needs of real estate developers, local governments and arts infrastracture builders intersect? On Wednesday, let’s explore this question in the context of our successes and one of our most pressing concerns: the future of arts spaces in the Puget Sound Region. “Creative/Adaptive Space and Facility Models,” Part III of the Emerging Arts Leaders Creative Conversation series, is an opportunity for emerging leaders to engage with peers and professionals who are shaping the future of arts facility development. At the Emerging Arts Leaders Creative Conversations, established leaders and emerging leaders have the chance to step back together and look at big-picture issues – as well as opportunities for action – with the benefit of each other’s perspective and unique skills. Please join in! The event is free and open to the public. (See July 1 post for event details.)