For the Arts - Colleges

Helping college faculty and artists address questions such as these is an important part of our work.

Over the past decade, Callahan Consulting for the Arts, LLC has worked across campuses and disciplines to forge connections among college students, faculty and the professional world. By administering a funding program for colleges, developing new evaluation techniques, writing books and facilitating national gatherings for faculty and students, we have contributed to the growing discussion about the role of creativity on campus.

As philanthropists, we run the largest funding program that joins colleges with professional artists, leading us to understand the needs and nuances of college performing arts departments. As the manager for Dance/USA's National College Choreography Initiative (which transitioned to the American Masterpieces Dance College Component), we have overseen all aspects of this extremely successful program that supports collaborations between guest artists, colleges and communities across the country. In its three completed rounds of funding, 149 residencies have already supported 80 artists at 87 different colleges reaching over 20,000 students; audiences numbered nearly 175,000. (An additional 53 residencies are currently taking place.) Based on the documentation and evaluation of its accomplishments, and our support to Dance/USA in the fundraising process, the NEA renewed this initiative from a single year to six rounds of funding. Annual publications document the enormous impact of these projects for students, faculty and the general public.

Our two books about assessment, career and residency planning are used as texts in colleges.

Dance from the Campus to the Real World (and Back Again): A Resource Guide for Artists, Faculty, and Students. We conceived of, and oversaw the creation and publication of this book that benefits faculty, administrators, emerging and professional artists, and students. "Residencies 101" guides artists and faculty in working together to plan successful residencies. "Universities 101" guides artists who are considering faculty positions on what to expect and ask. "Real World 101" orients young dancers (and faculty) to what life will be like once they graduate from college and begin a career. Colleges who count it among their texts include Cornish College, SUNY-Purchase and Columbia College Chicago. Laura Faure at Bates College commented, "Never has there been such a thorough and useful guide to this area of the field." Workshops shaped around the book were held in San Francisco, Los Angeles and New York, drawing students from 20 colleges. Artist Keith Johnson states about the LA Forum: "I left, re-grouped, and really thought about what I wanted out of academia and the professional world. I am thrilled. Once I had the chance to voice my problems I had the desire to find my way....and I am."

Singing Our Praises demystifies evaluation for arts administrators and artists by highlighting glowing examples of how arts professionals have used it to learn about their success, improve programs, and build the case for funding. The book received the American Evaluation Association's sole national award for a publication in 2005 and has become one of the leading texts in the arts field. It is used increasingly in arts management and arts business programs. Former George Mason University Arts Management Program Professor Julia Ward commented: "I have no doubt that Singing Our Praises will be a resource to be found on the shelf of every forward-thinking arts professional."

Our training in evaluation, arts management and career planning for artists leaves students and faculty with an updated skill set. We've led training in arts evaluation in part based on our book at the University of Alabama and the University of Wisconsin. We've lectured on fundraising and evaluation for the graduate arts management programs at American University, George Mason University and Bates College. Our career planning workshops help prepare students for life beyond graduation and have been co-led with Steve Gross of The Field, who has taught similar semester-long courses at Julliard.

The position papers we've written, and forums we've held for professional artists and faculty, have contributed to the national dialogue about creativity and its role in education. They've charged universities to support the creative process, enhance curriculum and prepare the next generation of artists. In conjunction with NCCI, eight Forums on Artist-College Collaborations were held around the country for artists and faculty to grapple with these issues; publications such as Artist-College Collaboration: Issues, Trends and Vision documented the dialogue. Our Opinion piece in the Chronicle of Philanthropy highlighted evaluation measures that are appropriate for colleges, and drew national attention to this issue. And our position paper for the Maggie Allesee National Center for Choreography helped FSU to make the case for its investment in choreographers and the creative process.

All of our work with colleges takes into account an important and growing trend: creativity is a growing and important attribute and a skill set that should be encouraged in higher education. Steven Tepper's use of the term creative campus points to the ways in which creativity, when infused at the college level, can foster connections between disciplines and advance the entire mission of a campus:

This trend has implications for students upon graduation: Sir Ken Robinson points to the ways in which it affects Fortune 500 hiring decisions: "To face the future, with all its creative challenges and uncertainties, we need a refreshed conception of intelligence that recognizes we are much more than we have been led to believe by traditional academic education."

Depending on the needs of the department, our work can involve the following goals and products: