Wednesday, February 29, 2012
News / Community Simanga emphasizes importance of generating revenue at NBAF
Posted by Debbie Michaud @DebsMichaud on Wed, Feb 29, 2012 at 1:12 PM
- Courtesy the National Black Arts Festival
- New NBAF CEO Michael Simanga
"There will be less emphasis on the main programming being the festival and more emphasis on producing a number of programs in a variety of disciplines in various communities; a heightened education component to develop audiences to extend the impact of what we're producing; ...and an earned revenue component that will allow us to generate revenue in different areas," he says. "The National Black Arts Festival has spent the last four-plus years transitioning into a new model," a transitional period that he says began 2008 with the 20th anniversary, and the concurrent national economic fallout. Simanga says he intends to transition into a completely new model by 2013 to coincide with NBAF's 25th anniversary.
Specifically, that means transforming the organization into a money-making enterprise. "Artists are essentially entrepreneurs and small business owners — the form that we function in is consistent with any other small business. The problem is that we're good at creating the product but terrible at getting it into the marketplace," he says. "How do we create a space for artists to create that work and take that work through a collective endeavor through the National Black Arts Festival into the marketplace?"
"We need to frame things differently - [there is] very little capturing of the intellectual property or additional products that could be used to create additional revenue. If you sell the potato chip do you also sell the dip? Arts organizations typically don't do that."
On the phone, Simanga sounds confident in his plan but notes that he's one voice in a larger community looking for answers about sustainability. "The arts community has taken a devastating hit and the conversation has to be extended deeply into the community. It may not be what I'm thinking at all, and that's fine, but I want a larger conversation about how we use our resources."
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