Arts Entrepreneurship Podcast: Making Art Work
Arts Entrepreneurship Podcast: Making Art Work
#350: Dr. Michael Frank (Arts Benefactor) (pt. 2 of 2)
Since many of our listeners benefit from donations, in addition to earned income, we thought we would interview an arts benefactor to highlight what they consider when engaging artists.
Today we released part two of our interview with Michael Frank. He’s a retired emergency physician and attorney who has long been a prodigious arts benefactor. In addition to the support he gives to artists of all genres, he serves on the boards of The Cleveland Orchestra, The Cleveland Ballet and Piano Cleveland. He’s also an active supporter of institutions such as The Cleveland Museum of Art, Playhouse Square and the Great Lakes Theatre Festival.
Join us to hear what motivates Mike and other benefactors to passionately support the arts!
Welcome to the Arts Entrepreneurship Podcast, Making Art Work. We highlight how entrepreneurs align their artistry, passion, and vision to create and pursue opportunities to capture value in the arts. The views expressed by guests on the Arts Entrepreneurship Podcast are solely their own, and do not necessarily represent the views of the podcast or its hosts. The appearance of a guest on the podcast, the venture they represent, or reference to any product or service does not imply an endorsement or recommendation by the podcast or its hosts. The content provided is for entertainment and informational purposes only and does not constitute business advice. Here are your hosts, Andy Heise and Nick Petrella.
Andy Heise:Hi Arts Entrepreneurship Podcast listeners. My name is Andy Heise.
Nick Petrella:And I'm Nick Petrella. Since many artists and arts organizations benefit greatly from benefactors, we thought we would invite an arts patron to join us so our audience can better understand what motivates them to support the arts and how they determine which artists and organizations they'll support. Joining us today is Dr. Michael Frank. He is a retired emergency physician and attorney with over 30 years of experience in emergency medicine and 25 years as an attorney. Among his many accomplishments, he is a fellow of the American College of Legal Medicine and a Life Fellow of the American College of Emergency Physicians. He was also recognized as the Ohio Emergency Physician of the Year in 2007. From 1996 to 2015, Dr. Frank served as general counsel for emergency medicine physicians and its successor company, U.S. Acute Care Solutions. Since retiring, he turned his attention to the arts and serves on the boards of organizations such as the Cleveland Orchestra, the Cleveland Ballet, and Piano Cleveland. He is also an active supporter of a variety of arts institutions, such as the Cleveland Museum of Art, the Cleveland Institute of Music, Playhouse Square, and the Great Lakes Theater Festival. Thanks for coming on the podcast, Mike.
Dr. Michael Frank:It's my pleasure to be here. I I love talking about the arts and my love for the arts, and uh I love the opportunity to share my love for that.
Nick Petrella:That's fantastic. So the NEA has recently pulled back on arts funding in the U.S. And I'm wondering, have you noticed more requests for support because of that, or is it too soon?
Dr. Michael Frank:It's too soon. I haven't noticed more reports. I've I've uh more requests. I've noticed that the request will reference uh the NEA uh uh grant problem, uh, but I haven't gotten more like this is an emergency request because of the lack of NEA funding. So I think we're gonna see that at some point. Uh I think also that uh one of the things that people are wondering about is whether this is gonna last, uh especially beyond the current administration. Uh I think uh, you know, a lot's gonna be uh told by the midterms, how the midterms turn out. Because a lot of people are thinking uh that if the midterms uh uh uh go the way of the Democrats and after uh after Trump, uh some uh a Democratic administration will come in and a lot of things uh will be reversed. I think a lot of people are thinking about that. So anyway, in answer to your question, no, I haven't received a lot more requests.
Nick Petrella:Yeah, I was just I was curious about that. I and I have been reading uh a fair amount. I think state organizations or state governments are stepping up. Andy, you're nodding. Have you seen that?
Andy Heise:Well, yeah. I mean I think the last we knew, um, it wasn't clear how NEA was going to impact the state level funding because a lot of it flows through there. Uh, but there was still a lot of uncertainty around that. But I think to your point, um that seems to be the the way it's currently happening. Yeah.
Dr. Michael Frank:Yeah. And and there are probably other ways that people will make up the shorefall. One of the things I have noticed is that a lot of people will say, well, um it's time for me to step up because the the organization needs it, uh, and so forth. And uh so I I think we're gonna we're gonna see more more of that. The other thing we're gonna see, we're already seeing there was an article about this in the Wall Street Journal this morning about states changing uh or a lot of imposing a lot of wealth taxes to make up for some of the shortfalls from the uh uh from the Medicaid uh cuts and so forth. Uh and I think that states are probably gonna look for other ways to get more money. Uh a lot of that money may go to make up for the Medicaid shortfalls, but also m may funnel down through some of the arts grants as well.
Andy Heise:Certainly.
Dr. Michael Frank:Yeah.
Andy Heise:Yeah. So having worked in sectors like health care and law, um where public funding and policies play a major role in the work that you do, um, do you think there's a case to be made for some stronger public investment in the arts, or should long-term sustainability primarily come from uh, like we've been talking about, private philanthropy and um foundations and that sort of thing?
Dr. Michael Frank:Aaron Powell Well, certainly uh uh more more funding than is currently being uh anticipated from the Trump administration. And uh some of those cuts are are just silly and and uh self-aggrandizing. I mean, the business about what's happened with the Kennedy Center and now he he wants to you know run the performances and so forth. This is a guy who is the antithesis of of uh of beauty uh in art. This guy has no business being involved with the the arts and so forth. So but to the extent that government gets involved with funding, it's the same thing is true with education. To the extent that uh you fund education, there are strings attached to it, and you gotta expect that. Uh one of the one of the uh organizations, the non-arts organizations which I support and have supported for years, uh is Hillsdale College, which is now getting a lot of press because they have never and do not accept any federal funding. They don't have to abide by any of the Title VIIs and Title IX and the other uh, you know, alphabet soup and so forth. And uh, you know, they are they are liberal in the classical sense. Um and um, you know, it once you accept the funding, then you got the strings, and that's what can happen with the arts organizations as well. You know, if the Kennedy Center had never received any federal funding, they wouldn't be in this, you know, it's it's unrealistic. I mean that's yeah uh that's where the money is. But uh but no, I don't think there should be more uh than usual, usual uh pre-Trump.
Nick Petrella:Yeah, okay. Yeah. So let's we've been talking about arts organizations. Let's talk about artists, and what I'm wondering is how would you suggest artists, whether they're dancers and musicians or visual artists, how would you suggest they cultivate relationships with donors?
Dr. Michael Frank:Um I tell you, one of the things I have found um uh terribly rewarding uh with all the arts organizations, especially the performing arts organizations, is the openness uh of the performers. And the uh you know, a lot of people are sort of very hesitant to approach performers, to approach musicians and so forth. They love it when people approach them and say, hey, you know, can we talk about this? Or I really liked what you did, and um uh the the opportunity to talk to uh the musicians at the Cleveland Orchestra and Apollos Fire Um and Piano Cleveland and so all these things have have just been wonderful. And that's the same thing. The uh the uh performers uh have to be open to that with the donors as well. Um you know I I'm aware of some initiatives where uh performers are recruited to make phone calls or to sign letters, so forth. Um I think that's okay. Um, but I don't think it makes much difference whether the letter is uh is you know be signed by the dancer or you're um you're a development person. It really depends on what the the message is and so forth. So yeah.
Andy Heise:So you're in you're involved with what we would call legacy organizations like the like the orchestra and the art museum, uh, but you're also involved with newer, smaller um arts organizations like you've referred to here, Apollo and Apollo's you know bigger, but uh Western Reserve, that sort of thing. Uh and those older or those those uh legacy institutions have been you know garnering support um for decades. Um but the newer institutions maybe are are strict are trying to figure that out. Are there are there things that you would uh recommend to those younger organizations as they look to um sustain their operations into the future?
Dr. Michael Frank:Yeah, well the first thing is uh again we get back to the finances, the finances and strategic planning. Uh I mean it's really important to have a focus on your art, your performance, but you can't lose sight of the fact that it's a business. Uh, and if you don't run it as a business, you're gonna fail. Most small businesses fail. I mean, that's you know, we're not talking about just arts organizations. Most small businesses fail because they don't know how to run a business. Uh and a lot of people in the arts uh don't know how to run a business, they have no business acumen and so forth. So you have to, if you have to get help from someone, and this is where the boards can be really important. You get people who have some business acumen to to help you. Um but I mean the the board has to have that acumen. I mean, when I I mean this other organization I was talking about had no strategic plan. And um, I mean, where was the board? Yeah, you know, doing this. But so that's my advice. Um, you know, one organization that I support, I'm not on the board, is Lay Delease. That's a relatively, you know, it's it's not new, it's not a legacy organization. Uh and they try and do things. I think Deb Nagy is brilliant. Uh she's a brilliant curator, um, but she also knows to bring in other people. She's a very good administrator in terms of bringing in other people and so forth, and running an organization and not outstripping her means. Um very creative uh things that they bring to the stage. Uh and so that's one of the reasons I support Late Delease.
Nick Petrella:Yeah. Well, let's continue on the topic of money. And so I'm thinking beyond fundraisers like auctions and gallas, can you recall any creative ways that arts organizations or artists have used to raise funds?
Dr. Michael Frank:Well, one of the things we haven't talked about is uh using match match funds. Um that's usually very effective, especially since it's especially uh it can be uh uh self-sustaining uh and almost snowballing because people start to compete with one another, um, you know, about uh and they want to get their name on that that match. And uh, you know, it was kind of funny. One of the organizations I I had uh uh made a donation, a substantial donation to them. Um and it was it was an unrestricted donation, and they uh they came to me and said, Would you be okay if we made this a match, you know, and said that you've offered this as a match? Uh it was this was amusing to me because you know, usually in a match, you know, the donor says, I'll give up to this amount. Yeah, yeah. And so, but if you don't come up to that, I don't give that. Um but I mean this this was already this was a done deal. I mean, it was already commercial. So I said, okay, you know, so they they they sent notices out that you know uh Michael Frank has, or a donor has made an offer for this amount of money if it's matched, which wasn't quite accurate. But um but the truth in there. Yeah, they were confident. They were confident in their ability to match. So anyway, the the match was made, and I said, okay, that but that was a lot of fun. That was uh that was a new thing to me.
Nick Petrella:The irony is they use small group psychology against you.
Dr. Michael Frank:Yeah. I was happy to help the organization, yes. Sure. Yeah.
Andy Heise:Have you seen um, you know, working with these larger organizations and smaller organizations, um have you seen any entrepreneurial thinking or innovation that you um that you that made you take notice or things that really kind of made you want to get involved?
Dr. Michael Frank:Well, you don't really see that from the outside until you get involved.
Andy Heise:Okay.
Dr. Michael Frank:Um I I can tell you that the uh uh the Cleveland Orchestra has impressed me. Um it is extremely well run administratively. Uh and as I mentioned before, uh most of the board work is done in the committees, uh, and the administration has uh people from the administration on all the committees uh and is involved with that. So it's it's a very from an entrepreneurial standpoint, it's a very well-run organization. I mean you can have all the um the expertise and intelligence that you want, but if you don't know how to run an enterprise um and you screw that up, uh you're not going anywhere.
Andy Heise:Yeah. Yeah. And I I love that you've that your advice in the my last question was about focusing on the business aspects and sort of operationally here and and not financially the first time, but this time more on the operation side. And this is you know, this is what I talk to students about all the time is like not-for-profits are businesses, it's just a different tax higher risk tax designation, right? If you want to have a if you want to support your mission, you have to make more money than you spend, otherwise you will cease to exist and therefore you can't fulfill your mission, right?
Dr. Michael Frank:Yeah, one of one of the things we used to point out, you know, some hospitals are for-profit, and some hospitals are non-profit. And the hospital board, at the time that I was chairing that board, it was a for-profit, it had been sold and it was run by a very good organization, but it was for-profit. But the difference, um actually, all of them are the same. Nonprofits and for-profits are not for loss.
Andy Heise:That's a great way to say it. Yeah.
Nick Petrella:Yeah. You had mentioned that as a board member you're privy to finances of various organizations. Based on your experience and what you know, what can small organizations do to make sure they're financially sound?
Dr. Michael Frank:Uh you have to know your numbers.
unknown:Okay.
Dr. Michael Frank:And you have to have a court, you know, look, there is a natural tension between the the arts um operation and the administrative operation. There is going to be a n like in the ballet, there is always going to be a natural tension between what the artistic director wants and what the business side wants. What you can't do is get lost uh and have your goals say, well, we'll make it up this way, or we'll make it up that way. Uh, this is why the first two iterations of the Cleveland Ballet failed. They closed. Because they they wanted the best, and they wanted uh, you know, they wanted these sets, and they wanted uh uh this production, and it was going to cost this much, and they didn't have the money. Uh and eventually it catches up with you. So uh you know preserving that tension is fine. That's uh that's fine. But you can't let it uh uh let it drown you um in the quest for the perfection. You just can't do it.
Andy Heise:I think in in those in those parameters, like the that tension is often what leads to creativity and innovation, right? Yeah, sure. Yeah, um because you have to figure out a way to satisfy not satisfy, but you know, make it work from both both sides. Yeah.
Dr. Michael Frank:Yeah, and I think you know, one of the things that's important for the for the smaller organizations, um there is something called the trailer mentality. The trail where a small operation uh they don't have enough money to rent an office, so they're they're operating out of a trailer. You know, and uh, you know, the you know, my company when we started uh back in 1995, um, and it was a company which staffed ERs, uh, we had, I think we had three hospital contracts, we had one office worker. Yeah. Um and uh, you know, I think we had 25 physicians and you know, new we all knew each other by name, and um, and I think we really were working around of a trailer. Um, the office, you know, we had boxes of papers stacked around, and uh, you know, it was a very but there was the the spirit of um of you know we're gonna make something happen here. We actually were not trying to be a big organization, we were just trying to be a good organization. Yeah, solve the problem. And uh, you know, you don't want to lose that trailer mentality. You know, you're getting better, you're gonna have the big office and you know, the big corner office, and you know, you spend a lot of money on the name on the door and so forth. Uh and eventually, you know, if you lose that, you can it it can be dangerous at that point. Um and uh you want to be careful not to lose that trailer mentality as you're as you're growing. I mean, eventually you can become like the Cleveland Orchestra. Of course. Um, or the Cleveland Museum of Art. Um, but it's not gonna happen overnight. And there's nothing wrong about working out of a trailer. That's right.
Nick Petrella:Right. That's right. So, Mike, even with donor support, why do you think some organizations flourish and others don't?
Dr. Michael Frank:You know, one of the things that uh you know the uh audiences can tend to be fickle. Um and cultivating an audience is something which uh which is a task which you have to do. Uh and if you just say, well, I'm gonna be I'm gonna be an artist, I'm gonna be pure art, um, and I'm gonna be I'm not gonna mess with those uh quotidian uh uh uh endeavors like raising money or cultivating an audience. Right. Um if you do that, you know, you may be a great artist, you may be producing great art, but you're not gonna have a great organization. Um and uh some organizations just don't have it. You know, there are there are some smaller, there's an offshoot of um of Apollos Fire. There are a couple of them who have started um a small uh a broke organization, uh which um they just have a few performances a year, and so far uh it's been good. I'm hoping that they um get some business sense here because they had I I know they have the performance talent. Uh it's yet to be seen whether they have the other elements that are needed to flourish. And that doesn't mean, you know, it's it's a harsh business. Uh I mean the the um the field is crowded. I mean, one of the things I love about Northeast Ohio is there is so much good music, so much good art. You know, whatever you want is is here. You know, I could uh go and sometimes do go to performance uh just about every night. Sometimes I have to pick from two or three things uh that are going on. You know this, Nick. Yeah, um you know, we've had that difficulty before. Um, so the field is crowded, and the fact is there's only so much audience to go around. Um so sometimes they they branch out, uh, they go farther afield. You know, you've got uh some groups which will focus on Rocky River, and uh some groups will focus out in Sugar and Falls and or East Cleveland and so forth, so you spread out. But the fact is, even if you're doing everything right, uh you might not make it. Yeah. Um but you know, in the world of graphic art, for example, there are tons of artists making great art who we will never hear about. Right. Um and who we will never see you know, forget just the Cleveland Museum, we will never see in any of the galleries or shows going on. I mean you can take a look, you know, just about every church or hospital has a bunch of art on the wall from local people and so forth. Some of it's really, really good. Um, but the the promotion is not there, and some of them, you know, we'll just um they will be forgotten uh after a time.
Nick Petrella:And to your point from from earlier in the interview, if you can't do it, if you don't have the business acumen, bring someone in who does.
Dr. Michael Frank:Yeah, yeah, absolutely. And there are plenty of business people who uh actually uh it doesn't take much to entice them to be involved in the arts. There are different motivations for people being on boards. Uh you know, the ideal motivation is someone who really loves the arts.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Dr. Michael Frank:But again, there are different motivations. Some people uh just it's social standing. Uh they want to see their name on the on the programs and so forth. Um some people just feel it's what's expected of them uh because of their uh social standing. Um and some people are just curious. Um there again, there are lots of different motivations uh for being on boards uh and lots of different uh assets. Uh you know, not every board member has the same I mean uh a lot of board members have absolutely no interest in the business side. But they um they want to contribute in other ways to other uh parts of the uh the organization, which is fine.
Andy Heise:Mike, was there a moment when you realized that supporting the arts would be a central part of your and your late wife's legacy?
Dr. Michael Frank:Um I think it was when my wife and I really started talking about uh the future and our mortality, and uh that's when we I mean i it had been a uh just a routine thing for a long time. Um but when we started talking about you know, what are we gonna do? What's the end point? Uh, where um uh it was then that we realized uh you know that was that was the moment.
Andy Heise:Yeah. Yeah. Mike, we've reached the point of the interview where we ask all of our interviewees the same three questions. And the first question is, what advice would you give to someone wanting to become an art entrepreneur?
Dr. Michael Frank:Um same advice I gave before. Don't forget the other side. Yeah. Uh I mean if you don't have quality art, the business side doesn't matter. If you don't have the business side, the quality art side doesn't matter. Uh the two have to go together. Preserve the tension, that's fine. As Nick said, absolutely true. That's where the creativity uh comes in, that create that tension is involved, but you can't have one without the other uh unless you want to be a one sh one-hit wonder. You know, what there's nothing wrong with one-hit wonders. That's you know, that's great. But uh if you want to be an organization which survives, then you've got to pay attention to both sides.
unknown:Yeah.
Andy Heise:I I I like to say you can all you can do anything once. And some do. And some do. The key is how do you, if you want to be able to do it again, how do you how do you repeat it?
Nick Petrella:What can we do to ensure the arts are more accessible and reaching the widest possible audience?
Dr. Michael Frank:Oh, that's great. That's a terrific question. Um, and there are a number of initiatives for that. Uh and uh uh I'll give you an answer for both the Cleveland Ballet and the Cleveland Museum of Art. Uh for the ballet, one of the things we've done for our major performances, uh, which are at Playhouse Square, uh the first performance is usually uh a morning matinee. Uh it's a pay what you can, uh, which means that actually, if you don't have any money, fine. It's usually $15, which we ask for. Um but it's it's actually our our dress rehearsal. Um and we have uh communication with schools around, and we have busloads of kids coming to see this performance. We are growing the next generation, and it is absolutely adorable. I remember uh we have photos of uh uh when we uh were doing uh it was I think it was uh Sleeping Beauty, and all these little kids were coming in in their gowns and tiaras and uh and boys too were coming in uh dressing up and just loving the ballet. And we had we had a chance to have photo ops with the dancers, with the the kids, and I'm not sure who who was enjoying it more, the dancers, the kids, uh, who were you know mixing it up with the dancers. And uh it was uh it was just glorious uh to see all these kids, kids coming in. And it of course it made it uh accessible uh you know for a family to to bring the whole family for you know next to nothing. For and and this is, you know, look, I know I'm I'm biased, but I'm not wrong. This is a world-class ballet company. They are as good uh as anybody you've ever seen. Um, I can tell you when we did um Romeo and Juliet uh this past uh spring, uh I remember uh one of the uh intermission, one of my friends who's on the piano faculty for the Cleveland Institute of Music, she's Russian, uh, and she's uh she's seen uh the world's best ballets in Russia, Europe, United States, and she came to me at intermission and she said, Michael, this is the best ballet I've ever seen. Um so you know, look, I know I'm biased, but I'm not wrong. This is world-class ballet. So the Cleveland Museum of Art, um, you know, a lot of people think of museums as a stodgy, you know, dusty place with uh, you know, dead works of art on the walls and so forth. Um the Cleveland Museum has a different idea. And if you've ever if you've never been to the art lens section, uh you really ought to take some time and go there. It's a wonderful play space where uh the kids can actually play and they can make their own art using using their hands uh to make art on screen uh and To pull up different pictures from the museum and play with them. And there's so much to do there. And there's been an active, and I can tell you from the committee that I'm involved in at the museum, we've had a stated goal to increase the traffic of kids. We're looking to bring in a hundred thousand kids this year. Wow. And we're we're on our way to that. But there's been a lot of outreach to schools and so forth. And the other thing which is really important in terms of accessibility, there is no admission fee. The Cleveland Museum is the only major museum in the country that does not have an admission fee. It's the only one. Well, okay. Yeah, but you yeah. One of the few. One of the few. Yeah. So but but that's that's uh I think if anybody ever on the board or the committees ever suggested that we charge admission, I think they'd be run out of town. Right. Um because it's part of our DNA in terms of uh accessibility, but um but focus on the kids. Get the kids in, grow your audience. Um and so far it seems to be working.
Andy Heise:That's great.
Dr. Michael Frank:Yeah.
Andy Heise:Lastly, what's the best artistic or entrepreneurial advice you've been given?
Dr. Michael Frank:Um don't stretch yourself too thin. You know, because that's the irony of that. Yeah. Yeah, that's a that's a like I said, I'm learning how to say no. Um you know, because I mean I mean there's a real temptation because all these organiz I love all these organizations. And I'm like a kid in a candy shop saying, Well, I want that that Tootsie Roll there, or I want that lollipop. But I can't I it it would be self-defeating uh at this point. There's only so much time.
Nick Petrella:That's great. Well, Mike, thanks so much for coming on with us. It's it was fun to to just hear the passion in your voice and hear about your generosity and and for giving us a peek in what arts benefactors consider when uh when supporting the arts.
unknown:Yeah.
Dr. Michael Frank:Well, thanks for having me on. Like I said at the outset, I love talking about this.
Andy Heise:Thanks, Mike. Thanks for listening. If you like this podcast, please subscribe. Visit Arts Entrepreneurship Podcast dot com to learn more about our guest and how you can help support artists, the arts, and this podcast.
