Master of Arts, The Ohio State University, 2019, Arts Policy and Administration

Through a case study on the Gahanna Area Arts Council (GAAC), an emerging local arts agency in central Ohio, this research seeks to better understand the challenges and successes faced by a local arts agency in its first public year. Using Wyzsomirski's triple bottom line and Tschirhart and Bielefeld's triangle of organizational foci for balancing as a theoretical framework, this organization is examined with qualitative data acquired through interviews with board members, participant observation, and document review. The study examines the history of local arts agencies within the broader arts funding structure of the United States and the organization within its specific community. Findings reaffirm the need for balance within the organization as well as the need for local arts agencies to understand and adapt to their communities in order to be successful.

Doctor of Philosophy, The Ohio State University, 2007, Art Education

In American Canvas, Delaware's Arts Stabilization Fund, aka ArtCo, received national prominence as an innovate method to increase and leverage public and private dollars to support arts development at the state level. Arts endowment formation is not a new phenomenon, North Dakota and Montana both introduced endowments in the 1970s. Additionally, parallel or companion foundations as endowment strategies also have longstanding presence in public administration. The Indiana Endowment for the Arts, established in 1971, was among the first companion foundations at State Arts Agencies (SAAs) and the companion foundation in Ohio was created in 1995. Within the past twenty years, federal cutbacks, national disaster, and international crisis resulted in more SAAs shifting their foci to their own stabilization and sustainability through public and private arts endowments (PAE) development. This investigation is a collective case study of PAE supporting State Arts Agencies. Three reviews of fund development practices used in Delaware, Ohio, and Indiana identifies three examples of fund implementation approaches that are: Collaborative Management in Delaware; Project Management in Ohio, and Policy Management in Indiana. Similarities in purposes for United Arts Funds and companion foundations have also influenced collaborative endowment arrangements at SAAs with nonprofit arts organizations. Moreover, Arts Education, Artists Services, Professional Development, Leadership Institutions, workforce development, and ethnicity, diversity, and inclusion are issues related to fund development management, policy formation, and donor support. This research also illustrates how social, intellectual, and human capitals influence financial capital in PAE formation. Social Pluralism is introduced as a conceptual frame to further group and individual understanding about how cultural heritage and individualism are synthesized to develop a unique blend of ethnic and socio-economic cultural backg (open full item for complete abstract)

Master of Arts, University of Akron, 2017, Theatre Arts-Arts Administration

While observing at-risk high school students at a Cleveland-area arts education organization, it became evident that stress may act as a barrier to developing confidence in teens. This project contains research to support and methods to creating an original theatre curriculum that reduces stress and increases confidences in late adolescents. The methods include identifying how confidence is measured in adolescents as well as collecting existing theatre curricula with learning objectives that promote confidence. These in combination with identifying existing framework(s) used to reduce stress; all informed the development of a theatre curriculum that could breakdown the barrier of stress in teenagers while building self-esteem.

Master of Arts, University of Akron, 2013, Theatre Arts-Arts Administration

While higher arts education programs may be preparing students to excel at the creation and performance of the arts, evidence suggests that many of these programs are failing to prepare students for the business of being a professional artist. In the United States, Discipline-Based Arts Education (DBAE) remains the prevailing program theory guiding the majority of higher arts education programs. While there is much praise for DBAE throughout higher education, scholarly discourse and evidence suggests a need to adapt DBAE to better address the poor professional outcomes of undergraduate arts students. Evidence indicates that a total of 11.1% of all recent college graduates with undergraduate arts degrees are unemployed (Carnevale, Cheah, & Strohl, Hard Times: College Majors, Unemployment and Earnings, 2012, p. 7). Fifty two percent of arts undergraduate alumni reported being dissatisfied with their institution's ability to advise them about further career or education opportunities (SNAAP, 2012, p. 14). 81% of all arts undergraduate alumni reported having a primary job outside of the arts for reasons of job security (SNAAP, 2012, p. 19). Higher arts education administrators have tried to address these statistics by incorporating the teaching of applicable non-arts (business, entrepreneurship, artist survival) skills into undergraduate arts programs. However, evidence suggests that the limitations of DBAE, lack of contextual consensus on educational goals, and stakeholder pressures and agendas make it difficult for administrators to create adequate curricular room for the teaching and learning of non-arts skills. Furthermore, the National Office of Arts Accreditation (NOAA) classifies non-arts skills as “general studies units”, and only recommends but does not mandate any standards associated with the teaching of general studies units. In response to the call for higher arts education reform, this paper discusses potential causal factors of poor professional (open full item for complete abstract)

Ed.D., Antioch University, 2023, Education

This is a critical-phenomenological qualitative research study in which young people who participated in Social Justice Youth Arts (SJYA) programs during their teenage years engaged in a series of semi-structured arts-based interviews focused on recollecting their lived experiences in those programs and the years since. These interviews investigate the ways in which the principles of Healing-Centered Engagement (Ginwright, 2018) were present within these young people's experiences of those programs, as well as the extent to which those experiences may have encouraged or cultivated a lived praxis of the principles of the contemporary abolitionist movement (Kaba, 2021; Kaepernick, 2021). This study describes how these young people's engagement with SJYA programming encouraged their process of identity formation as artists and activists, and how the durability and evolution of those self-identifications manifested in their broader social and behavioral context over time. This dissertation is available in open access at AURA (https://aura.antioch.edu) and OhioLINK ETD Center (https://etd.ohiolink.edu).

Doctor of Education (Ed.D.) in Leadership Studies, Xavier University, 2020, Leadership Studies and Human Resource Development

This case study explores the factors that contribute to and hinder institutionalizing community engaged arts programs (CEAP) based on a synthesis of various data sources from in-depth interviews with key stakeholders related to CEAP, publicly available documents such as CEAP programs' flyers, social media sites, and website, and the organization's internal income and expense allocation document. The findings reveal an organization that embraces collaborative decision-making—both internally and externally—to create CEAP and develop measures of success. The case organization also incorporated CEAP into its strategic plan, and mission and vision statements. To facilitate CEAP, community partnerships are important, but also is becoming a member of the community. This study provides implications for practices by revealing the necessity of every member of the staff, including artists, contributing to CEAP through presenting ideas and providing connections to the community.

Master of Arts, The Ohio State University, 2019, Arts Policy and Administration

This case study explores the role of partnerships in creating and implementing youth and family arts programming at Project Jericho, an arts organization located in Springfield, OH. Narrative interviews, document analysis, and participant observation are used to examine the relationships between Project Jericho and its partners—Clark State Community College, the Clark County Department of Job and Family Services, and the Clark County Juvenile Court. Included in the study is a discussion of the role partnerships play in increasing the scope and instrumentality of the arts to address larger community change and capacity building. The study also explores Project Jericho as a model of positive youth development, with an emphasis on relationship building and pro-social attitudes toward youth and family programming. Findings suggest that when arts organizations are central in a larger network of pro-social partnerships and community resources, they can be the impetus for great community change. A summary of Project Jericho's success factors is followed by implications for the field and suggestions for future research.

Master of Arts, University of Akron, 2017, Theatre Arts-Arts Administration

Research has long supported the benefits of the arts, specifically to students in grades K-12. Although arts programs have been decreasing over the last decade, nonprofit organizations have created strong programs that enrich students in the arts and create opportunities for collaborations with the community. The Weill Institute of Music at Carnegie Hall developed the Link Up music education outreach program to provide a beneficial means of music education in collaboration with partner host organizations and schools and has proven to be highly effective.

Doctor of Philosophy, The Ohio State University, 2011, Art Education

Issues surrounding the human body are increasingly becoming matters of public, cultural, and educational policy. The No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 has resulted in additional high stakes testing in reading and math, causing many school systems to replace time and funding previously dedicated to physical and health education and with activities focused on increasing academic performance on these standardized exams. While Western culture continues to value thin, beautiful, fit, and young bodies, the education school children receive about daily care of themselves is on the decline. As a kinesthetic, artistic, and holistic practice, dance teaches individuals of all ages about their bodies, engages them in self-reflection and self-growth, and serves as a place for learning. The goal of this study is to investigate the ways in which American elementary students can have more opportunities to learn about and through their bodies during the school day. In this dissertation, I employ a case study methodology to examine the effectiveness of a professional development initiative for general classroom teachers, “The DANCE Project,” on increasing the time, space, and energy for dance in educational settings. I utilize a variety of qualitative methods including autoethnography, participant observation, qualitative interviews, document analysis, narrative analysis, and poetic transcription to present my data. Findings indicate that factors such as administrative support, previous experience with dance, confidence with the material, and relevance to individual needs contribute to teachers' willingness and ability to implement dance in their classrooms. Further, the analysis of pre- and post- measures indicate that workshops centered on The DANCE Project's six-lesson curriculum positively impacted participants in several areas: Teaching skills, classroom management, knowledge/understanding of dance and the ways movement can intersect with other content areas, and implications fo (open full item for complete abstract)

Doctor of Philosophy, The Ohio State University, 2012, Arts Policy and Administration

Since the creation of the NEA in 1965, arts advocates have had an established venue, at the federal level, to advocate for favorable policy incomes, usually in the form of continued or increased public arts funding. Engaging in advocacy as part of a larger policymaking process requires actors inside and outside of government to employ various methods of persuasion. My dissertation explores some of these methods, particularly rhetorical techniques as a way to investigate policy change management. I employ theories from political science, public policy, and rhetoric to analyze advocacy arguments employed by NEA chairs. To conduct the study, I constructed a theoretical lens that provides a foundation, rooted in the policymaking process, that incorporates the importance of ideas and their rhetorical expression. This project explores the ideas used to construct arts-advocacy arguments, their rhetorical evolution, the various ways rhetorical leaders use them, and finally, how those arguments are used to create or manage policy change. Although some previous research discusses advocacy arguments, the role rhetoric plays in the strategic navigation of the policymaking process deserves additional scholarly attention. This is especially true in the specific context of public art funding. To date, research about arts advocacy has not provided a holistic view of the policymaking process, or of the range of advocacy arguments. By addressing both these gaps, though, I do not seek to imply a causal relationship between particular advocacy arguments and financial rewards. Instead, I identify and present themes in past arts-advocacy arguments to assist with the construction and deployment of future arts advocacy.

Doctor of Organization Development & Change (D.O.D.C.), Bowling Green State University, 2024, Organization Development

Research has established a case for the importance of diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) in arts organizations. Achievements in DEI "…will allow arts organizations to engage their entire communities on multiple levels. Arts organizations will benefit from utilizing new perspectives on chronic challenges that have plagued the arts." (Cuyler, 2013) Additionally, we know that there is a relationship between racial and ethnic diversity and better financial performance. "Companies in the top quartile for racial and ethnic diversity are 35 percent more likely to have financial returns above their respective national industry medians." (Hunt et al., 2015). While there is some research on the effectiveness of DEI initiatives, there is little research on how commitments to DEI have impacted the artistic programming choices of artistic directors in arts organizations. With over ten years of experience in artistic programming, I am invested in examining how DEI is presented in artistic programming decisions. This grounded theory study explores the artistic programming decision-making process of artistic directors at nonprofit arts organizations in New York City. Through research, I sought to understand DEI's role in the decision-making process of artistic directors and if artistic programming can be used to examine an organization's commitment to DEI. Based on the findings in this study, the Artistic Programming Decision-making Model is presented to explain the role DEI plays in the artistic programming decisions of artistic directors. The emergent model proposes that DEI influences the artistic director's values and experiences, artistic programming philosophies, and leadership role, and these factors impact the artistic programming decision-making process.

Doctor of Philosophy, The Ohio State University, 2023, Arts Administration, Education and Policy

Arts administrators labor to bring arts, artists, and audiences together. They develop policies and implement them as practice as they navigate, follow, and disrupt professional norms. This research is grounded in concerns for arts administrator well-being, weary of paying a passion tax, committed to creative ideologies. While worker well-being has become more central to occupational discourse with COVID-19 and social justice movements, more research is needed to understand how well-being is understood and addressed in arts administration. Additionally, as a creative field we know little about how practitioners use creativity in their work, and how it is supported. I argue that attention to bodies, minds, and generally accepted, broad benefits of creativity can improve the practices, policies, pedagogies, and profession of arts administration. The two main research questions of this inquiry seek new knowledge about the embodied experiences of arts administrators and the role of creativity in their lives. It also asks what queer theory might teach us about arts administration and the political stakes of connecting corporeal and systemic bodies in nonprofit arts administration. To begin answering these questions I employ an arts-based inquiry, utilizing creative approaches to study design (arts-based, queer, emergent), data collection (walking, making art, embodied), analysis (narrative, artful, discourse), and presentation of findings (visual, auditory, literary). A queer theoretical framework performs a queer study of bodies in a heteronormative field and researcher reflexivity as well as applying queer theory to rethink power, norms, failure, and joy in the field. This inquiry involves 23 participant collaborators who identify as full-time, nonprofit arts administrators working in the United States. They responded to snowball sampling recruitment strategies for an online call for art/ifacts or iterative interviews soliciting interest in being reflexive and c (open full item for complete abstract)

PHD, Kent State University, 2022, College of Education, Health and Human Services / School of Foundations, Leadership and Administration

This phenomenological study examined how students at a large, urban community college experienced being an artist, before and during the COVID-19 pandemic. It also investigated the ways these students made meaning of their arts experiences. The research design was based upon the model outlined in Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (J.A. Smith et al., 2009). Data were drawn from interviews with a purposively selected sample of five students who had public performance or exhibiting experience in visual art, dance, music, or theater. The participants experienced emotions of happiness and joy in their arts practices, as well as a strong sense of satisfaction in their creative work. All of the students described elements of the psychological state of flow as a part of their artmaking. The participants' arts experiences during the pandemic were varied, and were influenced by the unique circumstances of their lives. They made various practical adaptations to continue their creative practices. The pandemic provided a reflective space, in which the participants considered their personal and artistic priorities. They reported a keen sense of loss over their isolation from others during the pandemic. However, fundamental aspects of their arts experiences remained unchanged during this time. The participants found meaning in their art as a form of expression, in its capacity to connect them with others, and in their love for their creative work. These findings yield implications for strengthening connections between two- and four-year arts programs, utilizing the arts' capacity for building community, and considering new approaches to collegiate arts education.

DNP, Kent State University, 2019, College of Nursing

Abstract Background and Review of literature: Arts-based interventions have been studied in the cancer care setting and shown to have positive effects on pain, anxiety, depression, and various quality of life indicators. Participants of group art-based experiences often experience a deep sense of connectedness to one another, and self-awareness. Purpose: This project was designed to elicit the perceptions of the adult cancer survivor who engaged in a multi-modal expressive arts intervention in a community cancer support group setting. Methods: This project used quantitative and qualitative approach, purposive sampling from existing adult cancer survivor community support groups. Theoretical concepts from Natalie Roger's Creative Connection® informed the overall design, implementation and evaluation of the project. Quantitative and qualitative data were collected using the Expressive Arts for Cancer Survivor data collection tool consisting of a post-intervention 12-item Likert Scale survey and 7 open-ended questions developed for this research. Implementation Plan/Procedure: An expressive arts intervention consisting of drawing and painting or clay work was implemented at the Breast Cancer, Blood Cancers, and Head and Neck Cancer community support groups. Group participants were invited to explore other modalities such as expressive writing, sound, movement and group dialogue to enhance the expressive art experience. Implications/Conclusion: Expressive arts during the cancer support group setting fostered creativity, insight, and self-awareness; helping survivors learn more about their feelings. Participants experienced a deeper sense of connectedness and appreciation for others within the group. The opportunity for sharing was positively received; the arts provided a means of self-expression. Participants expressed a strong desire to discuss the use of expressive arts with their healthcare provider. Findings signal the importance of developing evidence based (open full item for complete abstract)

Doctor of Philosophy, The Ohio State University, 2018, Arts Administration, Education and Policy

This dissertation discusses how engaging in arts-based identity exploration activities can help traditional-age undergraduates (ages 18-24) develop increased self-awareness and cultural sensitivity. The dissertation first explores the participatory inquiry paradigm and the roles of artistic/creative expression in holistic knowledge creation and transformative learning. It then provides an overview of the field of arts-based inquiry and its wide variety of approaches. The following chapters discuss traditional-age undergraduate identity development and how arts-based identity exploration activities can be used in undergraduate multicultural social justice courses to foster self-awareness and cultural sensitivity. Chapter 8 discusses the author's Spring 2016 in-class research at The Ohio State University, in which 50 students from a wide variety of majors engaged in various arts-based identity exploration activities. It was conducted within two sections of the general education course "Visual Culture: Investigating Diversity and Social Justice." The study was grounded in the participatory inquiry paradigm. It addressed these research questions: (1) Can engaging in arts-based identity exploration activities help the traditional-age undergraduates in this study increase their awareness and understanding of their own and others' individual and cultural identities and thereby increase both self-awareness and cultural sensitivity? (2) If so, which specific activities, utilizing which artistic modalities, do they find effective and in what ways? (3) Do study participants in non-arts/humanities majors react differently to various activities than do arts and humanities majors? If so, which activities and how? This mixed-methods study employed arts-based inquiry, qualitative, and quantitative methods. First, a qualitative questionnaire solicited students' views on whether and how arts activities could help traditional-age undergraduates further understand and devel (open full item for complete abstract)

Doctor of Philosophy, The Ohio State University, 2016, Arts Administration, Education and Policy

Researchers from around the globe have long evidenced entrepreneurship; broadly defined in the literature as the organizing of organizations; usually analyzed through an economic lens and frequently evidenced by way of for-profit business ownership, legal incorporation and/or organizational development. For over half a century of rapid growth in the academic field, the study of entrepreneurship has aided students, researchers, practitioners and policy makers in initiating both business and organizational development within various fields and sectors of human society. However, perhaps due to the prevailing view of entrepreneurship as the establishment of a new for-profit business, the preference for an economic lens of analysis, and to the absence of a national sectoral frame for the arts, entrepreneurship researchers have yet to conduct empirical research evidencing entrepreneurship as it occurs across a defined arts sector. Given the absence of the arts sector as a research focus within top tier entrepreneurship journals, there is a need for researchers to conduct empirical entrepreneurship research for the purposes of informing arts entrepreneurship education and practice. To address this need, the study lays a foundation for comparative analysis of (1) owner/founder demographics, (2) entrepreneurial characteristics, (3) entrepreneurship practice and (4) venture trends and tendencies in a defined arts sector. After generating the data for analysis, I analyze the data through the lens of a conceptual framework, utilizing key findings as a catalyst for guiding and informing research directions for the future.

Doctor of Philosophy, The Ohio State University, 2016, Arts Administration, Education and Policy

In the midst of an evolving environment, nonprofit arts organizations are seeking new ways to address various managerial challenges. In recent years, various forms of interorganizational restructuring practices have prevailed as a means to increasing nonprofit arts organization's long-term viability. This research has examined, in particular, two cases of mergers of nonprofit arts organizations to identify the reasons for which nonprofit arts organizations merge, various concerns and challenges that are involved in such mergers, and the factors that contribute to a successful completion of the mergers. Additionally, the research has utilized a survey to investigate the extent of interrelatedness among a sample of nonprofit arts organizations in Columbus, Ohio. The research has constructed in-depth narratives and analyses of the two case studies and has constructed an analytical framework for understanding the mergers of nonprofit arts organizations. In addition, the research has captured a set of evidence for various interorganizational relationships that exist among the nonprofit arts organizations. The research concludes with a set of policy recommendations for supporting mergers and interorganizational integration in the nonprofit arts sector.

Master of Arts, University of Akron, 2014, Theatre Arts-Arts Administration

Strategic planning has many benefits including creating structure, directing the goals of a quickly expanding organization, and strengthening the long-term growth of an organization. For a small arts organization, the benefits can be astounding. Along the way though, there are many potential missteps and hazards an organization must avoid. This project will use the Fairfax Choral Society as a case study to highlight these principles. Outlining the details of both an unsuccessful and successful strategic planning process at the Fairfax Choral Society, this project will showcase the difficulties and achievements experienced by the organization.This project will use a critical eye to determine the stumbling blocks and mistakes, while creating a template for future strategic planning processes that could be used by any small arts organization.

Doctor of Philosophy, The Ohio State University, 2014, Art Education

This study was designed with a desire to learn what happens when student artists step away from the traditional practice of self-expression and become facilitators of communication and catalysts of change in communities. How does such an experience influence their civic learning and what new pedagogical insights can be gained for fostering engaged citizen artists? This arts-based action research study was conducted through the vehicle of a newly designed community engaged arts course called the Citizen Artist Dine and Dialogue Initiative at Ohio State University. The course involved an intensive partnership between undergraduate students in the arts and youth artists from a local community arts organization called Transit Arts. Our process involved hosting a community breakfast dialogue series where the insights gained allowed us to create a culminating site-specific final project that was responsive to community concerns. All of this was driven by an interest in exploring the intersecting practices of arts and dialogue in civic engagement efforts. The conceptual framework for this study was informed by critical dialogue scholars Mikhail Bakhtin and Paulo Freire, as well as art historian Grant Kester who conceived the dialogical aesthetic. It also relied upon feminist scholars Nel Noddings, Carol Gilligan, and Megan Boler, who assert the ethic of care, a theoretical concept often cited in the growing body of civic engagement and civic learning scholarship that this study also references. In part, this study was a response to the numerous university arts educators and scholars in the broader field of education who have been calling for changes in arts education. There is a growing demand for students to be given a broader vision for a life in the arts so that they may be properly armed to take on the role of bridge builders and catalysts of change in communities. Findings from this study revealed that the lack of prior civic learning that is common for many st (open full item for complete abstract)

Master of Arts, University of Akron, 2014, Theatre Arts-Arts Administration

Is the 501(c)(3) still the best legal structure for organizations seeking to promote the arts?