Why do the arts matter so much in rural areas? The arts are needed now more than ever to heal the social fabric, grow the population, drive the local economy and, in some cases, replace lost industries. Post-pandemic, a significant portion of the population hungers for hands-on, in-person arts experiences at a human scale. At the same time, rural areas are ripe with innovation, community connections, and an entrepreneurial spirit that fits well with creativity and arts-based community engagement. As rural areas continue to evolve past their previous ties to agriculture, industry, and mining, the arts offer new ways to enrich communities, spark local economies, and create tourist destinations, in tandem with their glorious surroundings. One goal of this book is to help dispel the myth of rural equaling white people. Six of the twelve arts organizations featured in this book are led by people of color and/or serve populations in which people of color are the majority. Eleven of the twelve organizations are led in part or entirely by female-identifying arts leaders. These numbers are happy accidents and not criteria of the selection or search process. It just turns out that, when you start looking for wonderful rural arts organizations, you find diversity. Managing the Arts in Rural Areas explores the challenges facing rural communities today and the positive impacts provided by the arts on economic development, diversity, equity, inclusion and access, fundraising, arts education, and community development. With dynamic case studies on arts organizations in rural areas from Alaska to Alabama and from Montana to Arizona, Managing the Arts in Rural Areas gives readers deep insights into how the arts are helping to define and grow rural areas today.

Things have changed, to say the least. The arts field is resizing, recombining, rethinking. Gone are the days of long term subscribers and reliable audiences. Arts organizations must become more flexible, adaptive, and nimble to survive and thrive in today's world. Arts managers must engage, adapt, and innovate. Great management invites creativity. Vibrant artistry welcomes strong management. Managing Arts Organizations can help. In Managing Arts Organizations, David Andrew Snider provides a playbook for navigating arts management in this new era and seeks to inspire a new generation of arts managers. Each chapter is focused on a specific topic, with principles, stories, exercises, advice, and best practices related to that topic. The appendix includes eight case studies, each illuminating issues in arts management via a real world scenario or organization. These narratives will enhance the reader's understanding of topics including financial management, marketing, programming, Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion efforts, and accessibility across multiple disciplines. An instructor's manual is available for professors who adopt the book as a required textbook.

Things have changed, to say the least. The arts field is resizing, recombining, rethinking. Gone are the days of long term subscribers and reliable audiences. Arts organizations must become more flexible, adaptive, and nimble to survive and thrive in today's world. Arts managers must engage, adapt, and innovate. Great management invites creativity. Vibrant artistry welcomes strong management. Managing Arts Organizations can help. In Managing Arts Organizations, David Andrew Snider provides a playbook for navigating arts management in this new era and seeks to inspire a new generation of arts managers. Each chapter is focused on a specific topic, with principles, stories, exercises, advice, and best practices related to that topic. The appendix includes eight case studies, each illuminating issues in arts management via a real world scenario or organization. These narratives will enhance the reader's understanding of topics including financial management, marketing, programming, Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion efforts, and accessibility across multiple disciplines. An instructor's manual is available for professors who adopt the book as a required textbook.