Entrepreneurial Arts and Cultural Leadership

A tactical guide for nonprofit arts leaders, revealing the entrepreneurial traits that turn creative passion into sustainable success.

Entrepreneurial Arts and Cultural Leadership focuses on real-world strategies to developing the entrepreneurial mindset necessary for leading and sustaining nonprofit arts organizations. Bonnie Fogel and Brett Ashley Crawford examine the leadership traits that drive innovation, adaptability and long-term viability in the ever-evolving arts sector.

Through the case study of Imagination Stage, one of the top theatre companies for young people, they highlight how successful nonprofit theater leaders can navigate financial instability, advocate for equity and inclusion and implement sustainable business models in a landscape forever impacted by national and global events. With practical insights, tools and a resource-rich appendix, this book offers arts managers, educators and nonprofit leaders a roadmap for resilience and growth. Whether you are an advanced student, a researcher or an arts executive seeking inspiration, this book provides an essential framework for building the future of nonprofit theatre.

Imagination Stage was founded as BAPA (Bethesda Academy of Performing Arts) in 1979 in response to the urgent need for arts education for young people. The company was renamed Imagination Stage in 2001 in anticipation of its move to its downtown Bethesda theatre arts centre in 2003. Imagination Stage has grown from a handful of children in a single classroom to a full-spectrum theatre arts organization, with theatre productions by professional actors and artists. Unlike most children’s theatre companies, Imagination Stage commissions new works for children every year. These productions have been recognized with awards and productions by other companies around the world.

Bonnie Fogel is the founder and longtime leader of Imagination Stage, one of the top theatres for young audiences in the United States. Brett Ashley Crawford is a teaching professor and faculty chair of the arts & entertainment management programs at Carnegie Mellon University, USA.

Bonnie Fogel is the founder and long-time leader of Imagination Stage, one of the top Theatres for Young Audiences in the U.S., taking an entrepreneurial approach to build and guide the nonprofit over 43 years. As the executive head, Fogel advanced the mission through strategic leadership overseeing all aspects of the organization, deploying an entrepreneurial style she developed from her business background. Fogel succeeded through her vision, business acumen, entrepreneurial spirit, communication skills and 'people first' perspective that empowered others.

Brett Ashley Crawford is an associate teaching professor and faculty chair of the Arts & Entertainment Management programs at Carnegie Mellon University, USA with a background in theatre management and extensive experience in the field. She has earned multiple degrees, including a Ph.D. in Theatre History and Criticism, and her research focuses on audiences, engagement and how technology disrupts the arts and cultural fields. Crawford also had a career in theatre and worked her way up from stage managing to managing director roles in NY, MD, and GA.