Finding Your Artistic Market: The Silk Road Theatre Example

I'm a strong believer in taking lessons from the success (and failure) of others.  On this post, we are going to take a look at a success . .  . the Silk Road Theatre Project in Chicago, winners of the Broadway in Chicago Emerging Theatre Award.

First, some disclosure.  I'm a fan of Silk Road.  I serve on a Board with the Founding Artistic Director and I have worked with the Founding Executive Director.

Now let's look at some of the things these guys did right.

1.  They found their niche.

The ED and AD are passionate about producing playwrights from Asian and Middle Eastern backgrounds.

But so what?  Everyone in the arts has passion.  What makes them so different?

There are over 200 nonprofit theatres in Chicago.  Want to take a guess at how many theatres were focused on those playwrights?

One.  Maybe Two.

Silk Road works in an underserved theatre market.  That means there is legitimate demand for their work.

They stand in stark contrast to the many other theatres doing the same type of work for the same type of audience.

2.  The people that work there are really damn smart.

Take a peek at the bio for Malik, the ED.  This isn't some starry eyed artist who is forced to handle the business end of things.  Malik knows what he is doing.

So can we please back away from this ridiculous idea that there are no really smart people who want to start theatres?

3.  They are interacting with the theatre community. 

Silk Road helped to put together Looks Like Chicago, a subscription plan designed to promote a set of diverse theatres.

Now I can tell you that these guys worked for years to get this program off the ground.  And the program doesn't just benefit them, it benefits three other theatres.

Which leads me to ask this question, when is the last time your arts organization did something that put money in somebody else's pocket?

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Who knows what the future holds for Silk Road.  Maybe they hit a bad patch and aren't here five years from now.

But I doubt it.

They have found an unique market, have smart people servicing it and have a community presence.

And yes, they produce Great Art.

Sounds like a winner to me.