Last week, I attended a workshop titled “Better Program Assessment” at the Americans for the Arts Annual Convention. The large group of attendees were there for a variety of reasons. Some were funders, some—like me—were there on behalf of arts education centers, one worked for the National Endowment for the Arts.

A young woman in the back of the room, who had some of the most interesting questions for the presenter, was trying to figure out how to assess her organization’s open studios program. The program had received a lot of questions and criticism from stakeholders about the quality of the art.

After the session, we spoke briefly about the problem presented in assessing open studios. Should they be evaluated on inclusivity? Economic impact? Audience exposure to new art forms? Artist satisfaction? Or … the more nebulous … “quality”?

My friends who have participated in open studios (as both artists and administrators) have a wide range of opinions. Some say that open studios are hard to fund and hard to publicize, and don’t translate into attendance for other programs. Another popular comment is that open studios are often looked down on by the “serious” art venues in a city, whose participation would grant the credibility and support needed to attract serious art buyers. The title of “open studios” is misleading in some cases, because not all open studios are open to everyone. Artists put a lot of work into preparing for open studios and are frequently disappointed by the turnout. These challenges can either present an opportunity for improvement, or a source of agitation for everyone involved. 

The proliferation of open studios in Connecticut, and the success of one in particular, have created a conundrum for Artspace in New Haven. Artspace runs City-Wide Open Studios, an event that has grown in the past 10 years to include three weekends and hundreds of artists. One of the most exciting aspects of CWOS has been the use of an alternative space, which for the past two years has included commissioned site-specific works and housed artists who do not have a studio in New Haven, but who participate in the densely populated visual art scene throughout the region.

This year, CWOS is scaling back to one long weekend, a decision that has sparked debate on Hank Hoffman’s blog. Leslie Shaffer, Executive Director of Artspace, admirably steps up to the plate to explain the thinking behind the decision. I wonder how many executive directors of Connecticut institutions as well-known as Artspace would respond to a blog post?

At any rate, the success of the new CWOS will no doubt be hard to measure—and interesting to watch.