Image courtesy of Wired At last fall's National Innovation Summit for Arts and Culture, organized by EmcArts, the Artistic Director of Mixed Blood Theatre in Minneapolis, Jack Reuler gave a great talk about what they have called "radical hospitality." One aspect of that philosophy has been providing free admission to all their performances, recognizing that cost was a significant barrier to building diverse audiences. Here is a link to a video of Jack's talk. And here is a new interview on HowlRound with Aditi Kapil of Mixed Blood, talking about "the business case for radical hospitality." The case for "free" was also made a few years ago by Chris Anderson in Wired Magazine: Free! Why $0.00 Is The Future of Business , later followed by a book called Free: The Future of a Radical Price . While for many theatres - or other art forms - such a move may be unthinkable, this strategy may not be as crazy or unfeasible as it may seem. This deb
Periodic musings on arts, culture, creative economy and philanthropy issues from the President and CEO of the Bonfils-Stanton Foundation in Denver. You can also follow me on Twitter at http://twitter.com/gsteuer.