Background

Joan Jeffri, photograph by Eva Deutsch Costabel
Painting: “Manhattan Skyline” by Eva Deutsch Costabel*

Joanjeffri.com

Joan Jeffri is the Founder and Director Emerita of the Research Center for Arts and Culture housed first at Columbia University and now at the Entertainment Community Fund (formerly The Actors Fund). She is former Director of the Program in Arts Administration at Columbia University and past President of the Association of Arts Administration Educators and the International Arts Medicine Association.

Ms. Jeffri is the author of Respect for Art: Visual Arts Management and Administration in China and the United States (2007) with Professor Yu Ding from the Central Academy of Fine Arts, Beijing Arts Money: Raising It, Saving It, Earning It; (1989) and The Emerging Arts: Management, Survival and Growth (1980). She is also the editor of Artisthelp: The Artist’s Guide to Work-Related Human and Social Services (1990) and The Actor SpeaksThe Painter Speaks, and The Craftsperson Speaks (1994, 1993, 1992). From 1981-1990, she served as an executive editor of The Journal of Arts Management and Law. She has conducted numerous studies including Still Kicking, a study of aging performing artists in NYC and LA; Above Ground, a study of aging NYC visual artists; Changing the Beat: A Study of the Worklife of Jazz MusiciansMaking Changes: Facilitating the Transition of Dancers to Post-Performance Careers with William Baumol and David Throsby; Information on Artists I, II and III and IV, and The Artists Training and Career Project.

Early in her career, Ms. Jeffri was a poet and protégé of Louis Untermeyer. A former professional actress, she appeared in the national tour of The Homecoming and in the Boston Company of The Effect of Gamma Rays on Man-in-the-Moon Marigolds. She also appeared with the Lincoln Center Repertory Company in New York City.

Recent and current projects include the development of an interdisciplinary, intergenerational course to assist aging visual artists in documenting their work, called ART CART: SAVING THE LEGACY (https://artsandcultureresearch.org/art-cart); THE PERFORMING ARTS LEGACY Project (https://performingartslegacy.org), a prototype for aging performing artists to document their work;  a research project measuring the impact of ART CART on older participating artists in the areas of social isolation/inclusion, morale/depression, productivity/activity, and safe functioning; the development of a cultural management and leadership program in Qatar, acting as advisor and teacher for the development of arts and cultural research in China and as pedagogical advisor for the expanding field of arts administration for the National Arts and Culture Policy Research Institute, Central Academy of Fine Arts, Beijing.


*Original artwork on this site is by ART CART artists Eva Deutsch Costabel, Amaranth Ehrenhalt, Morton Kaish, Peter Ruta and Adele Shtern.

Scroll Up