Managing Swedish Art Organizations

Abstract: In Sweden, there is both the political will and the state finances to give funding to arts organizations and institutions. Despite this support for arts and culture, there is still unmet demand among crucial demographics in many cities and regions across the country. Helsingborg is a middle sized city in Southern Sweden that is representative of this problem. This begs the question of how to create and sustain arts organizations that can cater to this demand. Arts organizations can help foster the growth of creative communities and economies, but efforts to create and support such art organizations have had mixed results in Helsingborg. Many variables can contribute to the success or failure of such organizations, but this paper looks specifically at two art organizations in Helsingborg, and analyzes what role constraints and incentives have on the managers of these organizations. To what extent is the success of art organizations in Sweden dependent on managerial capacity for organizational change?