Between a rock and a hard place:

finding ways to cope with the financial challenges facing small arts and cultural organisations in Norrbotten

The project explores how managers of small arts and cultural organizations throughout Norrbotten cope with and manage the everyday struggle of protecting cultural expressions resulting from human creativity while fulfilling requirements of accountability, economic prioritization, stewardship, and revenue management.

During the last five years, the pressure on arts and cultural organizations to find alternative financial funding has increased, all while not compromising on the core values that grant them legitimacy in the sphere of arts and culture. In this project we conduct a qualitative study of nine small organizations of big importance to Norrbotten. We develop new knowledge and insights about the challenges and needs of these small arts and culture organizations, and the project aims to support them in their development of new strategies, policies and hands-on tools required to turn their financial challenges into opportunities.