Ruth Rentschler is Chair, Academic Board, Deakin University, where she is also Professor in Arts Management. She holds ministerial appointments to the boards of the Victorian Health Promotion Foundation (VicHealth), as well as board appointments on the Art Gallery of Ballarat, Multicultural Arts Victoria and the Duldig Gallery.

Part I: Arts Governance Chapter 1: Arts Governance Experiences 1.1 Why Arts Governance? 1.2 Across Arts Boards 1.3 Governance Context 1.4 Defining Arts Governance 1.5 Who are the People on Arts Boards? 1.6 So what is Passion? 1.7 What is Arts Board Performance? Chapter 2: Roots of Arts Governance 2.1 Early Visionaries 2.2 Professionalising the Muses 2.3 Risky "Business" 2.4 Changes to Arts Governance over Time 2.5 Conclusions Chapter 3: Lost in the Theory Jungle 3.1 Asking Questions 3.2 Finding Answers in a Framework 3.3 Traversing the Jungle 3.4 Conclusions Part II: People Chapter 4: Profiles: Who, what, how board members 'do' governance 4.1 What People Bring to the Arts Board 4.2 Diversity 4.3 Capacity 4.4 Artistry 4.5 Conclusions Chapter 5: The Role of the Chair 5.1 A Special Sort of Leadership 5.2 Leadership as Change 5.3 What Board Chairs do 5.4 Strategic decision-making 5.5 Conclusions Part III: Governed by Passion Chapter 6: The Role of Passion 6.1 It's not about the Money 6.2 Constructive Passion 6.3 Destructive Passion 6.4 Combining Head and Heart 6.5 Conclusions Part IV: Performance Chapter 7: Board Members Behave Differently 7.1 Views from inside the Boardroom 7.2 Board Members as Strategic Resources 7.3 Individual Strategic Encounters 7.4 Mission Driven Encounters 7.5 Commanding Encounters 7.6 Shape Shifting Encounters 7.7 Community Minded Encounters 7.8 Balancing Board Member Behaviours 7.9 Conclusions Chapter 8: Creating Balanced and Effective Strategy 8.1 Building Better Boards 8.2 Crafting Strategy with CEO and stakeholders 8.3 Realising Board Processes 8.4 Examining Relational Strategic Decisions 8.5 Accountable 8.6 Temperate 8.7 Engaged 8.8 Theory of Strategic Balance 8.9 Conclusions Part V: Conclusions Chapter 9: Reinventing Arts Governance 9.1 Arts Governance Directions 9.2 How Board Members 'do' Arts Governance 9.3 How the Chair leads the Effective Board 9.4 Board members as volunteers 9.5 Board members profiled once more 9.6 Arts Board Complexity 9.7 Arts Governance and Disruptive Change 9.8 Arts Governance as a Distinct Genre 9.9 Arts Governance Redefined 9.10 CREATE an Effective Board 9.11 Conclusions

Based on original, in-depth research with art board's members, this is the first book to explore governance specifically within the context of cultural and creative organisations. It reflects on the changing pressures exerted on arts boards after the financial crisis and examines the new and emerging forms of board governance that are developing.