ArtsJournal.com is holding a blog forum called Is There a Better Case for the Arts?. I have only begun to read it (and now I have to leave for work) But I liked what Douglas McLennan had to say in his first blog entry:

In covering arts organizations over the years as a critic and journalist, I have developed a “McLennan’s Law” test. It goes: the effort an arts organization expends on trying to get butts in seats is often inversely proportional to its overall health. That is: You can always tell a theater or symphony orchestra is in trouble when it starts worrying more about getting people in the seats than it does about inspiring audiences; that’s the point it has become a follower rather than a leader. On the other end – a really successful company with a hot product doesn’t worry much about how it will attract an audience, it pours its efforts into a product it believes in.

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