Trustees of Culture: Power, Wealth, and Status on Elite Arts Boards (review)

Artistic institutions are embedded in society and are shaped by changing economic, social, and political conditions. Boards play a critical role in mediating between artistic concerns and these forces. Their work therefore profoundly influences how artistic institutions function, how they are funded, and what the precise extent and context of public and private support is.

Ostrower focuses on the boards of four art institutions in two unnamed cities, an opera company and a museum in each city. All four are described to be among the largest and wealthiest institutions in their city and in the country. The book is based on interviews with 76 board members; the focus is on the board members themselves, their backgrounds, their attitudes and understanding of the function of the boards, and their actual role as board members.

Members of these elite boards are wealthy (the percentage of millionaires on the four boards ranged from 94 to 100), and they are chosen on the basis of their personal wealth or corporate affiliation. There are now fewer members of the old social elite than there were in the past. More Jews and Catholics are invited onto the boards, chosen largely because of their potential financial contributions. The relatively few Hispanic and African Americans on the boards are millionaires. Sometimes, individuals with large art collections are invited to join the museum board; here the hope is to inherit the collection. Class in the narrow economic definition, then, has remained constant.

The selection pays scant attention to the education of the board members or their knowledge of the arts. Though some of the board members are enthusiastic, even passionate, about their art institution, many, though appreciative of the arts, are far less involved. Neither knowledge nor enthusiastic involvement is a prerequisite for board membership. One European member of a board believed that the degree of knowledge on the American board is lower than it would be in his country.

New members of elite art boards are chosen by the existing board. The established members try to recruit people who are similar in income, taste, and other preferences. They attract prospective members by responding to their preferences, giving them access to exhibitions and special performances that are often linked to social events or elaborate dinners with guests of high status.

A number of board members are chosen because of their business expertise, and several believe that their function on the board is to run a successful business. Ostrower suggests that in the past elites had attempted to insulate high cultural institutions and art from the "contaminating" influence of the market. That became more difficult because of the increased need for funds by cultural organizations. It would have been helpful to the overall discussion if Ostrower had spelled out these needs in greater detail. The prestige of some board members facilitates discussion between local government, an important source of financial help, and museums, which draw their audiences from much broader segments of the population than opera. The reduced funding for the arts generally by local governments and indeed reduced funding from private sources has increased pressures for artistic institutions to pay ever more attention to supplementing outside funding with additional revenues, through museum shops and other activities to attract people. Part of the increased funding need is due to the expansion of the art institution itself, part of an effort of the elites to join the ranks of world-class cities characterized by excellent fine arts institutions.

What effect does all this have on the artistic autonomy of the arts organization itself? Again, a larger discussion of this issue in the book, perhaps offering some comparative perspective, would have been helpful. It would have also been useful to include the views of art curators and members of the professional staff of the opera companies. But Ostrower does end with a very interesting discussion of...