Lawal Launches ‘One-Stop-Shop’ Art Website

If art, with its power to entertain and communicate, express and reconcile society and people, cannot be properly nurtured, developed and adapted into systems that will ensure its quality and longevity, then the future of true, pure and creative arts is dead!”

This was how accountant-turned-performing artist, who is a Fellow of the prestigious Kennedy Centre for the Performing Arts, Washington DC, U.S., Olusegun Olatunde Lawal, summarised the aim behind setting up a website he referred to as ‘one-stop-shop/e-book store’, which can be accessed at www.theartofarts.com.

Lawal, who was appointed Vice Chairman of Society for the Performing Arts in Nigeria (SPAN), where he managed 22 dance performances and shows until 2008, has directly supervised the production of 87 dance shows held on two continents of the world. He noted, “The aim of ‘THE ART OF ART MANAGEMENT’ programme is to provide quality and professional learning in arts management techniques to individual and corporate organizations with a view to improving the systematic scope and approach to art and its preservation in Nigeria.”

While stating that there were a lot of activities in Nigeria in the arts space but very little by way of arts education, Lawal said proper management of art was a lot more important than it is given credit for, adding, “If today’s Nigeria – brimming with untapped talents – fails to harness art as a national resource, many people, young and old, will fail to reap from not only the recreational benefits of developing these God-given gifts but will also lose out on a stable, commercial future that preserves our culture, values and national identity.”

Continuing, he said: “The tapping and enhancing of inert, artistic gifts goes way beyond the launch of an album or the odd play staged; it is an entire creative process that attracts large human and financial resources depending wholly on a system – painstakingly developed – to support the artist and preserve his art. 

“All over the world, it has become evident that art can be effective where government, policies and economies fail; that the power of the art (especially the performing arts) to communicate political issues (without being partisan), or spiritual truths (without being religious) is unparalleled to any other field of human endeavor.”

Lawal was, therefore, optimistic that his efforts in introducing professional performing arts management would promote a high degree of financial, corporate and social responsibility in relation to the arts in today’s Nigeria. He added that the website promises to be of tremendous value to artists, artistes managers and anyone who has love for the arts and its preservation.
 
The website combines comprehensive short e-books, audio books and nuggets on various aspects of arts management.