Wikidata:Property proposal/artistic director
artistic director[edit]
Originally proposed at Wikidata:Property proposal/Organization
| Description | person responsible for the overall artistic vision of an organization and for its execution |
|---|---|
| Represents | artistic director (Q1797162) |
| Data type | Item |
| Template parameter | "ArtisticDirector" in en:Template:Infobox_performing_arts_company |
| Domain | theatrical troupe (Q742421), theatre troupe (Q2416217), theatre company (Q11812394), dance troupe (Q2393314), opera company (Q20819922), and all subclasses of performing arts organizations |
| Allowed values | instance of (P31) of human (Q5) |
| Example 1 | Théâtre de l'Œil (Q100042496) → Simon Boudreault (Q55670275) |
| Example 2 | Kaha:wi Dance Theatre (Q102341350) → Santee Smith (Q92549626) |
| Example 3 | Native Earth Performing Arts (Q6980009) → Keith Barker (Q60734239) |
| Source | Artistic director: Job description |
| Planned use | We intend to use this property in coming weeks and months as part of the grant project Modelling and Populating Performing Arts Data in Wikidata, both during ingests and during online workshops. We anticipate this property to be very frequently used on items of performing arts organizations. |
| See also | director / manager (P1037) |
Motivation[edit]
In the performing arts domain (at least, in North America and over the last 50 year or so), the artistic director stands out as a central position within performing arts organizations. enWikipedia defines artistic director as: “the executive of an arts organization, particularly in a theatre or dance company, who handles the organization's artistic direction.” enWiki further states: “The artistic director of a theatre company is the individual with the overarching artistic control of the theatre's production choices, directorial choices, and overall artistic vision.” As such, the artistic director of a performing arts organization is de facto credited as the artistic director of all creative endeavours produced by the organization. “Artistic director” is therefore primarily a position within an organization, but also a contributor role in performing arts endeavours (which could be inferred from the value of the “artistic director” property).
One could argue that the “artistic director” person-to-organization relationship could be denoted with employer (P108) or position held (P39) (with qualifiers) in person items – and that an “artistic director” property isn’t necessary. However, because of the central function of the artistic director within the organization, and because the artistic director is also credited as a contributor to performing arts endeavours produced by the organization, it appears necessary to create a distinct organization property for this function. Moreover, this proposed property will make it easier to document the successive holders of the artistic director position within a given organization.
If a chief executive officer (P169) position was needed for the corporate sector, it would stand to reason that an “artistic director” position is needed for the performing arts domain.
Usage consideration: artistic director and general manager positions
Organizational structures of performing arts organizations can vary considerably, and so can the distribution of executive tasks and responsibilities.
Wendy Reid observes: “Many nonprofit arts organizations have a long tradition of a dual leadership structure. Two leaders (the Artistic Director and the General Manager) jointly occupy the CEO position and report equally to the Board of Directors”. The American Association of Community Theatre notes: “[the artistic director] typically reports to the chief administrative officer, although in some companies, the two positions are combined into one.” And then, Berklee College of Music situates the artistic director as “the chief executives of arts organizations such as orchestra, opera, dance, and theater companies,” above the general manager function.
How should the “artistic director” property relate to director / manager (P1037)? Should it be a sub-property of director / manager (P1037) in order to more easily and accurately query all holders of executive positions within performing arts organizations? After all, artistic director (Q1797162) is claimed to be a sub-class of director (Q1162163). And can director / manager (P1037) be used to denote the holder of the general manager position in instances where the executive responsibilities are shared between the artistic director and the general manager?
Usage consideration: music director (and related leadership positions in musical organizations)
Berklee College of Music notes: “In the orchestra world, music director is often used as an equivalent title to artistic director.” Berklee further affirms: “The music director of an orchestra performs three overlapping roles—principal conductor, artistic director, and community arts leader.” The enWikipedia stub for Artistic director (music) appears to share this view: “A musical artistic director essentially mirrors a theatrical artistic director, albeit working in a different medium.”
As positions within organizations (see the distinction made between 'position' and 'role' in the WikiProject Performing Arts) are the artistic director (Q1797162) and the music director (Q1198887) positions indeed conceptually equivalent? And, even if they aren’t exact matches, can and should the proposed “artistic director” property be used to identify holders of music director positions in music organizations?
Once a consensus is reached, usage instructions should be added to the property.
--Fjjulien (talk) 18:08, 26 November 2020 (UTC)
Notified participants of WikiProject Performing arts --Fjjulien (talk) 22:12, 26 November 2020 (UTC)
Discussion[edit]
Support --RaffaelaSini (talk) 20:44, 1 December 2020 (UTC)
- Support --Gregory Saumier-Finch (talk) 18:48, 2 December 2020 (UTC)
- Support --Vero Marino (talk) 21:08, 2 December 2020 (UTC)
- Support Simon Villeneuve (talk) 22:19, 2 December 2020 (UTC)
- Support I agree that this property would be very useful to describe positions held. For roles in performing arts endeavours however, I believe that director (P57) fulfills all the needs because the endeavour (for example a production) is in itself already an artistic product. director (P57) is already widely used as a property to state who was the director of a performing arts production. I would suggest to make clear in usage instructions to use this new property for positions and director (P57) for roles. Beireke1 (talk) 11:09, 3 December 2020 (UTC)
- Je comprends votre point et il faut aussi voir la proposition comme un enrichissement de la description d'une organisation. Directeur artistique est très souvent un poste créé dans une organisation plus qu'un métier en tant que tel. Cela permettra une relation entre les individus qui ont d'autres fonctions et ce rôle spécifique dans une organisation. --Vero Marino (talk) 20:46, 3 December 2020 (UTC)
- @Beireke1: I fully agree with your proposed distinction and usage for the proposed property and director (P57). Any thoughts on the complementary "administrative director" and director / manager (P1037)? (see the usage considerations above and the distinct thread below). Fjjulien (talk) 19:27, 4 December 2020 (UTC)
- Support Mike Peel (talk) 14:03, 3 December 2020 (UTC)
- Support Dirac (talk) 14:55, 8 December 2020 (UTC)
Question How should the “artistic director” property relate to director / manager (P1037)? And can director / manager (P1037) be used to denote the holder of the general manager position in instances where the executive responsibilities are shared between the artistic director and the general manager? Fjjulien (talk) 19:31, 4 December 2020 (UTC)
Question Can and should the “artistic director” property be used to identify holders of music director (Q1198887) positions in music organizations? Fjjulien (talk) 19:34, 4 December 2020 (UTC)
- @Fjjulien: is there any difference with art director (P3174)? Pamputt (talk) 18:38, 9 December 2020 (UTC)
- @Pamputt: art director (P3174) is a property for works and is associated with a different subject item: art director (Q706364). This item is linked to the enWiki article for Art director, who is described as being "in charge of the overall visual appearance" of a work. As this article explains, the art director role is most closely associated with advertising and film. The proposed property is a property for organization and is associated with artistic director (Q1797162). This item is linked to a distinct enWiki article for Artistic director, which describes the function as related to theatre and dance organizations. These two properties and subject items therefore appear to be conceptually different with regard to the object item, the tasks and the domains associated with the function/role. Once the property is created, we could add a related property (P1659) art director (P3174) statement. Fjjulien (talk) 02:32, 10 December 2020 (UTC)
@Fjjulien, RaffaelaSini, Saumier, Vero Marino: @Beireke1, Mike Peel, Dirac: 
Done artistic director (P8938) Pamputt (talk) 07:01, 10 December 2020 (UTC)