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This research draws on New Institutionalist theory as interpreted by Fligstein and McAdam (2012) to explore the relationship between structure and agency within one nonprofit organization, Appalshop, located in Central Appalachia. Since 1969, Appalshop has worked with peer institutions to form a larger community cultural development (CCD) field, characterized by actors that value the potential of art and cultural activities to create space for individual and collective imagining and reimagining of communities. Through an exploration of archival documents and interviews with 18 current and former Appalshop staff, I analyzed the organization's 50-year evolution. I identified ways in which Appalshop has operated in the midst of different enabling and inhibiting structural forces, how its staff has sought to assert agency by contesting or circumventing those extant forces, and how the ensuing tensions have shaped the organization's approach to social change. During its evolution, Appalshop can be seen as having gone through four different stages characterized by changing national policy and culture as well as the actions of different generations of Appalshop staff. In order to withstand the growth of neoliberalism, changing technology and regional socioeconomic circumstance, Appalshop staff have had to adapt the organization's modus operandi to one that is more region facing and service based. / Doctor of Philosophy / Appalshop is a community cultural development organization located in central Appalachia. Community cultural development (CCD) is characterized by actors that value the potential of art and cultural activities to create space for individual and collective reimagining of communities. Founded in 1969, Appalshop and its staff have approached CCD in many ways, including through media production, youth education, theater and community organizing and, more recently, through community economic development. I explored Appalshop's evolution and sought to assess the ways in which this arts nonprofit has reacted to changing circumstances nationally and within its region, how those external forces have influenced the organization, and how its staff members have worked to contest forces that inhibited their organization's avowed mission and preferred activities. I used New Institutionalist theory, an analytic framework that emphasizes the need to explore the different fields of influence on any organization as well as the individual actors within that entity who, through their drive to create and perpetuate shared social meaning, may adopt or contest the narratives of external fields. I employed new institutionalism to make sense of the factors that have shaped Appalshop's trajectory as an institution to date. During its evolution, Appalshop has experienced four different stages characterized by changing national policy and culture as well as the actions of different generations of Appalshop staff. To withstand the growth of neoliberalism, changing technology and regional socioeconomic circumstances, Appalshop staff have had to adapt the organization's established modus operandi to one that is more region facing and service based.

The Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) has had significant influence on both for-profit and nonprofit employers since it was enacted in 1993. Because nonprofit organizations often have more limited resources than for-profit organizations, implementing family and medical leave policy mandates can be problematic. Arts-related nonprofit organizations often have even fewer resources available yet must still ensure legal compliance and market competitiveness while continuing to focus on meeting their missions. Even if a smaller nonprofit organization is not subject to the FMLA, it is subject to other federal, state, and local employment laws, and the organization must decide whether to offer unpaid or paid family and medical leave, perhaps styled after the FMLA. The purpose of this qualitative study was to understand how those who conduct human resource functions in nonprofit arts organizations would perceive governmental prompting toward providing FMLA and paid leave in relation to their ability to meet their missions. This question was explored through the lens of nudge theory and involved interviews with nine HR professionals from nonprofit arts organizations. Data were analyzed using Bazeley and Jackson's bucket coding and Yin's explanation building processes. The results of the study indicated that HR professionals perceived little to no effects of the FMLA on their nonprofit arts organizations' ability to meet their missions. The social change implications of this study involve providing insights to policymakers that could inform decisions about family and medical leave mandates or nudges toward a desired outcome regarding these leaves of absence in the nonprofit sector.

This study is undertaken in response to the issue of incorporating traditional arts management effectively in online arts management via the websites of arts organizations. The aim is to investigate the introduction and implementation of websites in order to suggest effective and efficient approaches of management. This thesis contributes to online management and will enhance its perspective and enlarge its practice. The study presents the design and development of content analysis to analyse the content of websites in order to create both quantitative and qualitative measuring tools that are unlike currently available commercial evaluation tools, which use purely quantitative and automatic measures. The sample consists of 102 arts organization websites from six countries: Australia, Canada, France, South Korea, UK, and USA. In total seventeen arts organization websites from each country from the Yahoo regional directory have been examined. In this study, the website content analysis applied describes preliminary data that will shed some light on the current state of arts management, combining both on and offline application. The thesis articulates the three key functions that online and offline integrated arts management must incorporate in order to increase the value of utility and quality of their services delivered to audiences via the website. The framework of this study provides: 1. interactive communication dimensions between arts organizations and audiences via the website, 2. e-commerce features applicable to the website of arts organizations, and 3. other important and relevant features relating to arts management in websites in order to enforce the appropriate selection and allocation of different services, and to dynamically adapt to changes within those organizations. One of the most important contributions of this study may be that it has value for both academic and practical purposes in the implementation of arts management. As a result of this study, low levels of interactivity were identified in arts websites. This result suggests that online arts marketing is not as interactive as it could be, but undergoes a technological innovation phase towards more developed exploitation. In terms of e-commerce, successful introduction and adoption of websites has been identified. Other traditional arts management features that were not included in interactivity and e-commerce were well represented in the content of websites. The outcome confirms the potential of the website in arts management as an indispensable venue for interactive communication, e-commerce, and other important arts management tasks, such as arts education. By using content analysis, this study provides an evaluative measure for arts organizations that wish to use their websites more effectively, and it also affords a perspective on the current state of online and offline integrated arts management. The result of this study shows that arts management in the virtual venue is the same, or at least similar, to the real venue, and that websites allow arts organizations to coordinate online and offline integrated marketing management. This exploration of little known areas shows what visitors to the website actually communicate and contribute, which indicates that there is ample room for development and research in this area.

The purpose of this project was to examine the arts as a positive change agent for community development. Exploring how and for what purpose nonprofit arts organizations can create social capital can provide insight on how the arts industry can be a leader in the transformation of communities and regions around the globe. The perspectives of artists, community developers, sponsors and beneficiaries of the arts provided insight on how and in what ways the arts can evoke change by building connections and inspiring participation. Community development theorist Bhattacharyya (2004) distinguished community development from related fields such as economic development and social work by highlighting its ability to build solidarity and create agency. For Bhattacharyya, solidarity means trust and relationships where community members can work together for change. Once united for a cause, agency means the implementation of the group's goals. To explore the multiple ways which the arts can inform community development change for leaders, two case studies were conducted. Insights came from data collected for each case through key informant interviews and organizational website analysis.

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Nonprofits, including cultural organizations, are increasingly relying upon fees for service as part of their operating budgets. Arts organizations have taken an increasingly prominent role in arts education starting with federal budget cuts in the 1960s and 1970s. There is a lack of data on the effects of partnering with schools on nonprofit arts organizations as well as the effects of government contracting on nonprofits.This study consists of an email/internet survey to determine how contracting with schools to provide arts activities affects nonprofit arts agency independence, vendorism, bureaucratization, costs, and artistic quality. The survey was pilot tested with 22 leaders of arts organizations. The survey was emailed to a random sample of 680 leaders of American nonprofit arts organizations identified as art museums; ballet; dance; music; music groups, bands and ensembles; opera; singing choral; symphony orchestras; theaters; and visual arts organizations. Responses were gathered from 280 respondents for a 41% response rate. The researcher analyzed the data using frequencies, cross tabulations, logistic regression, and linear regression.This study reveals limited negative effects on arts organizations of partnering with schools. The major findings of this study support Lester Salamon's (1995) theory that bureaucratization is among the most likely effects of government contracting on nonprofits, and a study of nonprofits by Patricia Hughes and William Luksetich (2004) indicating that greater reliance on private funding does not divert funding fiom program service delivery. Organizations that partner with schools have greater odds of being affected by rules and regulations compared to those that do not partner with schools, but these rules seem to fall within acceptable limits for arts organizations of the types studied.Earning higher levels of income from school partnerships does not make arts organizations less likely to advocate for arts education, change artistic direction or offer significantly different programs, or impose unreimbursed costs.This study does not support Bruno Frey's (2003) Crowding Theory of the effect of external rewards on creativity. More collaborative types of school activity had no effect on organizational creativity in this study. However, enhanced artistic growth appears to be an important positive effect of school partnerships.