I have been spending time of late trying to figure out the best path to engagement on the part of arts organizations. I am a firm believer that systemic engagement (mainstreamed engagement) is at heart the only way that will bear much fruit. Add-on activities won't get done. Seriously, where are the resources to do more? Or they will be marginalized internally and externally. Internal stakeholders will not see it as important; the community will … [Read more...]
Lessons from a Pirate: II
When last we met, I had begun talking about lessons in community engagement from, you remember, Jimmy Buffett. To refresh your memory, here are the last two paragraphs from that post: First and foremost, Jimmy Buffett appears to care deeply about his audience. He seems to genuinely like them. Now, I’m sure that’s not true every minute of every day of every fan, but on the whole he seems to enjoy singing for them–even when he’s singing … [Read more...]
Lessons from a Pirate: I
Yes, you're right. I'm writing a post (two, actually) about the arts and community engagement based on observations about Jimmy Buffett. (Really?!) Here goes: Can it be a guilty pleasure if I’m claiming it in a way that is visible to everyone with Internet access? And can it be a guilty pleasure if I don’t feel guilty about it? I’ll let you be the judge. I raise the issue because there may be some who think I should feel guilty. Through the … [Read more...]
The Porgy Problem
Many of you, on the basis of the title alone, could write this post yourself. Porgy and Bess is an iconic masterwork of the arts in the U.S. It is justifiably performed countless times by opera companies everywhere. And it sometimes provides a textbook example of the myopia with which arts organizations often conduct themselves in communities. On numerous occasions, when I am discussing engagement and the necessity of developing and being in … [Read more...]
Shifting the Center
You are now privy to the reason I became a musician rather than a visual artist. (Or at least one reason.) I deeply appreciate good graphic design but my capacity for creation is, shall we say, limited. What you see here is the best I can do. Honestly! Yet as crude as this is, I think it gets the point across. I have attempted to articulate the thought that the picture expresses on a number of occasions and I discover that the adage about … [Read more...]
Engagement Demands Change
I've recently returned from presenting two workshops dealing with the arts and community engagement. Both in Grand Rapids, MI, one was part of the Midwest Arts Conference sponsored by ArtsMidwest and the Mid-American Arts Alliance. The other was at the Johnson Center for Philanthropy at Grand Valley State University. As always happens, the experience opened up new insights for me in several different categories. One helped clarify for me the … [Read more...]
Lessons from the Ballpark
Blogging comes with an “occupational” hazard. Everything you do ends up having the potential for becoming a blog post, often when you least expect it. (Wait until you see the upcoming essay that began at a Jimmy Buffett concert!) Last month I was minding my own business attending a minor league baseball game with friends, thinking not a whit about the arts and community engagement. Then something remarkable happened. Between innings, a young girl … [Read more...]
Insight from the Concert Hall
Once again, Greg Sandow has given us a valuable framework for thinking about engagement. His recent post, Four keys to the future, has been cited by many already and deserves to be read and studied. I cannot see any need to add to what he said. I'll only observe that the principles he gives for a viable future for classical music are perfectly applicable across the arts. His four points are: Understand and respect the culture outside classical … [Read more...]
Engagement Is On-going
As she has a tendency to do, Nina Simon has made me think again. (There are days, I will confess, when I wish no one would do that to me.) Her August post in Museum 2.0 about arts experiences being pearls on a necklace needing string to tie them together (What's the String that Ties One Experience at Your Institution with the Next?) reminded me about the observation I made in my Clybourne Park post. For the person coming to our events, arts … [Read more...]
Engagement Principles from a Marketer
In The Farmer and the Cowman I posited that arts marketers and community engagement advocates (in my case, probably "zealots" would be more appropriate) should be great friends and collaborators. In it I mentioned a series that Trevor O'Donnell (MARKETING THE ARTS TO DEATH) is doing on inexpensive approaches to marketing research. In another "hall of mirrors" moment of blogging, I was grinning ear to ear at his list of principles for marketing … [Read more...]