News > 2013 > Two PhD students win awards from the International Association of Arts and Cultural Management

Two PhD students win awards from the International Association of Arts and Cultural Management

August 14, 2013

PhD students André Courchesne and Pascale Landry won the top two Best Paper Awards from the International Association of Arts and Cultural Management (AIMAC) at its 12th biennial conference, in Bogota, Colombia. The conference, from June 26 to 29, was held for the first time in Latin America, and brought together over 250 arts management academics and practitioners from around the world.

Andre_CourchesneAndré Courchesne took first place for “The Motivations and Roles of Parents in Cultural Transmission,” in which he presents some preliminary findings on this topic. These motivations and roles are key factors in understanding future cultural consumption but to date have not been examined by many researchers. Over the past 30 years, cultural consumption has been linked to social class, revenue, education level, arts education and other demographic factors. Based on a qualitative approach, the preliminary findings of this research support a conceptual framework grounded in identity (Ricoeur, 1992) and on self and others’ perceptions (Goffman, 1967).

Pascale_LandryThe second-place article, “The Succession of Artistic Directors in Cultural Organizations and Organizational Identity: a Typological Approach," by Pascale Landry, shows that succession constitutes a pivotal moment in the development of an organization and can bring up issues affecting organizational identity. (Albert and Whetten, 1985). The empirical article looks at four cases of succession in cultural organizations and highlights the various identity issues of different kinds and intensities. Based on the concept of Economy of Worth (Boltanski and Thévenot, 1991), analyzing organizations in terms of conventions and agreements, the paper also identifies the plurality of logics in a succession. The case study illustrates the existence of high-intensity identity issues: drift and identity conflicts that occur during successions involving multiple simultaneous organizational changes.

André Courchesne is a manager in the cultural sector with 15 years' experience in the public service, with the Canada Council for the Arts, and 12 years in professional theatre (Festival de théâtre des Amériques, Théâtre Le Carrousel and Théâtre Parminou). In 2009-2010 he completed an MSc at HEC Montréal and also holds a Licence d'études théâtrales from the Université Sorbonne Nouvelle — Paris 3. He has been Director of Business Development for the Carmelle and Rémi Marcoux Chair in Arts Management since 2009.

Before returning to school and completing a Graduate Diploma in Management of Cultural Organizations, Pascale Landry spent twenty years working both as a multidisciplinary artist and a manager in the cultural sector. She was co-Artistic Director and Executive Director of Productions Recto-Verso. Building on her interest in the subject of executive succession in cultural organizations, she has presented her research findings at various international conferences, including those of AIMAC and the Association francophone du savoir (Acfas), and different professional events (RIDEAU 2012, the 2012 National Meeting of Orchestras Canada, and others).