Thinking Beyond the Boundaries of Labels

Written by Alexandra Siclait for the Janklow Arts Leadership Program at Syracuse University

SYRACUSE, N.Y. — There is no denying it. He is evocative, engaging, and delightfully charming. But perhaps most captivating is his infectious smile that is so disarming. Talk to him for five minutes or talk to him for an hour; regardless, Mark Nerenhausen will leave a considerable impression on the most cynical. Few leaders can truly match Mark's achievements. His accomplishments are not in scholarly publications like Congress Considered or the Journal of Conflict Resolution. However, the underpinning drives of his life's accomplishments are all around us: art and culture. 

Mark has made impressive strides in performing arts, coalition building, cultural leadership, and cross-cultural exchanges. Having enjoyed success in his career, it is sometimes hard to believe that Mark did not always consider art a profession. "I thought a career in the arts meant you were a performer. It wasn't until I got to college that I set foot in a real theatre. I never even thought people had careers doing that," he said. If all of this makes him sound intimidating, it should not. Mark has a passion for creativity, and with that passion comes his story. Where most executives of his credentials exude an egocentric attitude, Mark's demeanor is much more humble than pompous, laid back in a button-up shirt, pants, and glasses.

He acknowledges his accomplishments but aspires to achieve so much more. He has had a genuine interest in the arts, economic development, and cultural diplomacy. Raised in a small community in Washington Island, Wis., Mark cannot recall his life without art. "Art was something that was all around me," he said. Mark earned a master's degree in Arts Administration from the University of Wisconsin Graduate School of Business in Madison, Wis, and will be the first to say he got involved in art for more of the social side than the art side. "I never looked at [art] as a burning desire to present art but rather had a platform to bring people together, and art was a critical vehicle in that," he said. 

Mark developed a nonconformist relationship with art during his childhood and later adulthood. As anyone will hear him say, there is art with a capital "A" and a lowercase "a." And as he and a former colleague see it, art with a lowercase "a" is that essential component of culture, which lends itself among us, absent of the symphony and orchestra seasons or the art we study on walls made by the heroic artists. Simply put, art is all around us, and we always participate in art. "It [is not] this idea that art is somehow separate and apart from us. So art with the small "a" is the idea that art is one of those things that define us, and you don't have to go to the art museum. We live it and breathe it. It's getting people to recognize that it's a continuum, not an either-or situation," he said. 

Coupled with his relationship with art is Mark's command of wide-ranging nuances in cultural planning to connect community and commerce, corporations, government, private developers, cultural organizations, and public agencies. Few do it well, and even fewer elevate the arts for public benefit in economic development, cultural tourism, real estate development, and education. Mark excels at it. As president and CEO of AT&T Performing Arts Center in Dallas, he helped raise more than $4 million.

Under his leadership, Broward Center for Performing Arts gained a more prominent cultural presence as one of the top venues in the world, according to trade publication surveys. Additionally, he has received countless awards. With such a tremendous professional breadth, one cannot avoid asking the pivotal question: If art matters, why does it not receive more support? He recognizes his peers' shortfalls. "Arts administrators do a poor job connecting art to people's values," he said. But when Mark sees a weakness, he strives to think beyond the set boundaries and labels to meet the challenges and ultimately find a solution. "The challenge is to create a different perspective among arts organizations, being able to define the appropriate metrics and create the mechanism where the diplomatic interests can effectively work with the arts," he said.  

Perhaps joining the faculty of the Syracuse University (SU) Arts Leadership Graduate Program (ALP) is Mark's silent mission to train and mentor the next art leaders to break those boundaries and labels. Early this year, SU announced the launch of ALP. Mark joined ALP as the founding director and professor of practice. This past fall, the inaugural class began its first series of interdisciplinary courses. Mark is not the only one who is excited about joining SU.

In talking about him as a professor, SU student Caitlin Moriarty described him as "exuberant, innovative, and entrepreneurial. He always seems to have a great perspective and makes you think differently. He has influenced me to think deeper and differently about what the arts mean to the world." 

Just mention ALP for a second, and one will begin to hear the excitement in Mark's voice. Then, ask him what makes ALP different from an Arts Management program, and he will tell you. "When discussing scholarship in action, we don't live in isolation. We have the obligation and the opportunity to engage our community. I'm coming at it from the perspective of leadership versus management. It's about vision and looking at the big picture, not just being the one who dots the i's and crosses the t's. The arts can be in the larger community's vision. It draws on the strengths of Newhouse, Whitman, and Maxwell to give the students a broad perspective of what arts leadership is all about," he said.