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Sustainability through innovation: interviews with four Philadelphia theater companies
Thesis   Open access

Sustainability through innovation: interviews with four Philadelphia theater companies

Ileana Fortuño
Master of Science (M.S.), Drexel University
Dec 2021
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.17918/00000916
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Abstract

Arts--Management Theatrical companies Nonprofit Organizations
The nonprofit performing arts sector is troubled by a lack of fiscal resources, public support, cost disease, and other external factors affecting organizational sustainability. Although numerous studies on the ways organizations innovate to overcome these issues, literature specific to innovation in the nonprofit performing arts sector is limited. This study builds upon the existing literature through interviews with six arts administration professionals at four theater companies with varying missions and constituencies in the Philadelphia region. The study found that although the organizations are plagued by the same internal and external challenges, their outlook and viewpoint on what 'innovation' looked like for their respective organizations differed. Interviewees also revealed that each organization had similar ideas on what sustainability looked like for their respective organization, with a fair wage for staff being paramount to all other elements. Further research is suggested with new subjects outside the city of Philadelphia to see if there is a variance among the greater arts administration landscape.

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