A Life Devoted to Leadership in the Arts

Why there is no greater success than failure: Jörn Jacob Rohwer's publication looks at how personal doubts and weaknesses became the basis of a leadership style based on listening, learning and consensus building. 

In profound conversations with author Jörn Jacob Rohwer, Steven D. Lavine tells his personal story for the first time, talking about cultural politics, philanthropy, the avant–garde, his center of life Los Angeles, where he directed the California Institute of the Arts for three decades (1988-2017). Spurred by self–doubt and a desire to fail, he emerges as a subtle thinker, visionary, and transatlantic mediator between the worlds of art, education, and politics.

The California Institute of the Arts: an arts college just outside Los Angeles. Opened 50 years ago, »CalArts« was long in crisis before Steven D. Lavine led it to financial prosperity and international renown. Today, the art school is a cradle of Academy Award and Pulitzer Prize winners, of Mellon and Guggenheim Fellows – a hotspot of U.S. creativity.

The online conversation started with an introduction by Peter Weibel and was moderated by Annette Jael Lehmann-Kolesch.

Video documentary:

ZKM | Videostudio

Live editing / streaming: Peter Müller, Tim Wenz
Technical support: Andy Koch, Xenia Leidig