INTRODUCTORY REFLECTIONS ON ARTS GOVERNANCE: Progress or prospect?

Asking probing questions and furthering debates about arts governance is the objective of this edited Companion, to determine how much progress has been made and what prospects there are for future research. In these ways, this chapter widens and deepens understanding of the field. Together with international debates about arts governance, there is a growing desire to address the differences, nuances, and perspectives as to how governance in the arts can be interpreted by various disciplines and in different contexts. The volume includes 25 chapters that examine arts governance at various levels of analysis and from different perspectives, as governance in the arts seeks further legitimacy. This is a first since little has been written in one volume deploying such variations. Through the contributions in this book, we have identified five levels of analysis of arts governance, reflecting legitimacy and power dynamics, extending theory in the arts governance field. Much work on arts governance has been devoted to boards, however, our contributors confirm that governance occurs beyond the boardroom. One implication of this insight is that arts governance embraces cultural governance through international debates. Future research is recommended on arts governance from multiple perspectives and at multiple levels, including diverse and inclusive practices, in order to boost legitimacy and understand power.