Last time I began a discussion of excellence in community engagement, saying "Advocates for community engagement in the arts often get pushback from people who assume that concern for the interests of our communities necessitates a 'lowering of standards.'" This time I continue with a consideration of three potential categories of excellence that are often not part of our discussions in the arts. Participatory Experiences Rather than focus on … [Read more...]
Excellence and Engagement: I
Advocates for community engagement in the arts often get pushback from people who assume that concern for the interests of our communities necessitates a “lowering of standards.” What follows is my attempt to address the misgivings (legitimate and otherwise) people have and to address them as clearly as I can. It is intended almost exclusively for arts organizations. Artists should be perfectly free to approach their art in whatever way seems … [Read more...]
Community Engagement Training
Welcome to the Shameless Commerce Department of ArtsEngaged. I've indicated here over the past year that we have been developing training programs for the field. They are intended for people interested in moving their organizations toward more effective community engagement. We have piloted three beta test (actually alpha and beta) groups and are putting together two or three more. We will soon be beginning the regular offerings described below. … [Read more...]
Zero Sum Funding?
The pursuit of grants, sponsorships, and donations is a central focus of all nonprofits–the arts no less than any other type of tax exempt entity. It keeps us up at night, permeates our dreams (and nightmares), and occupies many, if not most, of our working hours. Over the years I've come to observe that this work is often rooted in an assumption so deep we don't even realize we assume it. That is, the universe of funds from which we may … [Read more...]
Evaluating Engagement: Outcomes
Evaluation of any kind is a challenge for nonprofit organizations generally and for nonprofit arts organizations in particular. Resource constraints and focus on mission, sometimes at the expense of critical management issues, make evaluation a frequent afterthought if considered at all. Evaluating community engagement is particularly difficult because it is in its infancy as a practice for arts organizations. As such, it is no surprise that … [Read more...]
Why Engage?
I am frequently asked about the rationales for community engagement. I have spent so much time with my head in the weeds about the subject that my responses have a tendency to go on for a long time, attempting to list all the reasons. But recently, in a videoconference with a group of graduate students, a lightbulb went off. I realized that, in essence, there were just two broad categories of rationales. The first is the existential one. If … [Read more...]
Wingspread Symposium 2016 Revisited
A year ago, the Robert E. Gard Foundation, along with the Johnson Foundation, the Wisconsin Arts Board, and Americans for the Arts, sponsored a conference to consider the past, present, and future of community arts work in this country. Today, the outcomes of that conference, in reflections, written summaries, written and audio versions of the presentations, and video interviews with presenters are available on the Gard website. This is a … [Read more...]
Arts 1.0
Web 1.0 was the internet before "talkback." It was static one-directional communication. Whether intentional or not, it was inherently self-centered, presenting the view of the owner of the website. Web 2.0 is the interactive internet where people are invited and encouraged to make their views known. I recently drafted a series of statements in an effort to differentiate among sales, audience development, audience engagement, and community … [Read more...]
Storm Brewing
I've written before about the impact funding inequity is having on political discourse about government support of the arts. The Visible Hand was a response to Barry Hessenius' observations about funding controversies in San Francisco three years ago: A Potential Deep Divide in the Arts Sector. A colleague recently sent me the link to an article about a bill that has been introduced in the Pennsylvania legislature to examine "systemic racism in … [Read more...]
The Board’s Role in Community Engagement: II
Last time I presented the first part of a discussion about the potential for boards as positive resources for community engagement. Here is the rest of the text. Getting to Yes Since the inertial tendency of a nonprofit arts board may be ambivalent (or worse) toward community engagement, it is important to develop a strategy for developing enthusiastic support. The first step is to identify and then enter into preliminary discussions with … [Read more...]