It is increasingly difficult to avoid the current discussion within the field about new models.   The ‘new model’ that could effectively replace the traditional not-for-profit arts organization is the Holy Grail for the arts blogging and social media crowd. Interestingly, the people who are talking the least about new models are the practitioners. We would argue that if anything close to new models are emerging in the field, it is those very practitioners who are finding, implementing and adapting new approaches. For example:

For 20 years Obie-award winning Peculiar Works Projects (http://www.peculiarworks.org/index.php/about) has been utilizing an integrated combination format approach in which the three founding artists – any one of which proposes ideas – combine and collaborate to produce their projects.

More recently 13P adopted a non-integrated combination format to serve 13 very different playwrights as sequential artistic directors in an organizational life cycle of termin al intent. While 13P has completed its lifecycle, they have shared their approach and process on the website: http://www.13p.org/.

WhyNot Theatre (http://www.theatrewhynot.org/about-2/) in Toronto is pioneering a non-integrated, multi-organizational producing and mentoring format known as intergenerational collaborative producing, that maximizes shared resources and knowledge bases.

We have always asserted that the idea of a singular model for all is absurd in a field in which there is such enormous variety of working processes, curatorial approaches and intentions.   We believe that there are many formats and approaches that work and, when allowed to appropriately extend from the values, goals and working processes of the artists, represent effective new ways of working.