Arlene Goldbard and Barry Hessenius have just concluded a fascinating blogfest, Clout, dealing with policy, advocacy, and the arts in the U.S. They invited a group of thought leaders (Roberto Bedoya, Dudley Cocke, Ra Joy, and Diane Ragsdale) to join them in discussing what might be necessary to move the arts community to a position of real political power.
The selection of the guest bloggers was what first got my attention, not just because I know and admire all of them. I was struck by the fact that they all, to one degree or another, are of the “something is not right” school of thought about the current state of affairs in the world of the arts.
As takeaway number 1, I would suggest the series as a must-read for anyone interested in cultural policy and advocacy. Each writer brought a unique perspective to the conversation. My Association of Arts Administration Educators colleagues could well use the series as a centerpiece for a unit (if not a course) on arts advocacy.
For me, takeaway number 2 (and this may be the biggest one) is the fact that we have difficulty discussing this topic because we sometimes don’t realize that we are talking about different things when we are talking about arts policy. (And sometimes we mean different things at different times.)
- What do we mean by the arts? Sometimes we mean culture broadly, including all elements of creative expression that define us as human and define our societies. Other times we mean some subset of that: our own discipline, our own category of art–e.g., “classical” or what I call reflective, the not-for-profit arts world, or the flagship arts institutions that maintain the European cultural tradition, to name a few options.
- How do we want public policy to support/encourage the arts about which we are speaking?
- And how do we transform the public dialogue so that the ends we seek (and given the first bullet point above, that can be a moving target) are achieved?
Takeaway number 3 is that everyone has a particular “take” on the subject. As I read it, Barry’s focuses on a robust, muscular approach to policy formation via, among other things, well-financed lobbying; Arlene, coming from a social justice perspective, focuses on grassroots action for equity. (Barry and Arlene, forgive me if I’m misrepresenting you here. I have vast respect for you both and know that one-phrase summaries are ridiculously reductive.) As I’ve readily admitted on numerous occasions, I am myopically committed to sincere, vigorous community engagement on the part of the arts establishment being the answer to all questions. (Perhaps not global climate change, but who knows . . . ?)
Of the posts included in the series, if forced to recommend one, it would be Dudley Cocke’s. That may be because I’ve known him longer than any of the other participants; or because it was his Whitesburg, KY company, Roadside Theater, that first awakened me to the possibilities of (and desperate need for) community engagement in the arts world; or because he may be the least known (among the established arts community) of the group. He is less specific in his recommendations regarding policy formation than the other participants, but his observations about the differences between his home audience and his experience with Roadside’s audiences during its national tours in the late 1970’s and into the 1980’s seem central to the eventual solution to cultural policy change. “Real people” want and need cultural expression that speaks to them, that reflects their lives. When the arts community takes them seriously and gives them what they need, they will form the basis of an unstoppable political power.
I’ll grant Barry that the approach to advocacy should not be either/or. I know where my heart lies and where I’ll spend my energy. I welcome those who can and will pursue policy change through traditional political mechanisms. So long as we don’t step on each others’ toes or work at cross purposes, the ends we seek will be better served and arrived at more quickly.
But let’s keep talking to each other as we move forward.
Engage!
Doug