As I consider the future of ArtsEngaged and of my own role in the community engagement arena I am, of necessity, thinking about the status of community engagement in the nonprofit arts industry. If most (or even many) arts organizations were on a clear path to substantive community engagement there would be no need for training in and advocacy for community engagement. I'd be really (really, really) happy to ride off into the sunset. But from my … [Read more...]
Targets and Timeframes
I have recently found myself concerned with issues related to measuring community engagement, particularly its benefits to arts organizations. (Two-Phase Engagement; Reach and Frequency) There is a tendency among some to know that community engagement is a good thing and, therefore, to resist attempts to measure it's impact. If I'm honest, I may sometimes find myself in that group. There are others who assume that community engagement is at best … [Read more...]
ICYMI: Announcing
This was posted in July. Summer is a time when many of us are slightly less focused on things professional, so, in case you missed it, here is a repeat: It's official. As predicted in Changes, ArtsEngaged has a new and, to my eyes, snazzy website. The snazziness is entirely due to the efforts of our Marketing and Sales specialist, Achia Floyd. Many, many thanks Achia! While new is always (well, often) fun, what is most important to me about … [Read more...]
Reach and Frequency
I always proceed with fear and trembling when I venture into the topic of marketing. As I have said in the past, I am not a marketer. Nevertheless, there continue to be numerous valuable lessons from marketing that should support our work in and understanding of community engagement. Stick with me. This will get a tad "wonky." "Reach" and "frequency" are marketing terms that have much application to the discussion of various types of … [Read more...]
Lots of Coffee
Recently, in a conversation about beginning relationships with new communities, one of our new ArtsEngaged trainers, Anne Cushing-Reid, commented that, especially where there is negative history to be overcome, "There's a lot of coffee in our future." I flashed back to the thousands of cups of coffee I've consumed in the process of getting to know people. "Coffee" is, of course, a place holder for whatever means of social interaction is employed … [Read more...]
An Orchestral Musician’s View of Community Engagement: II
Guest post by Penny Brill Penny Brill is an alumna of the Community Engagement Training offered by ArtsEngaged. Here she continues her advocacy for musicians to participate in community engagement efforts. (Part I of her essay was posted last week.) As she points out at the end of her essay, however, this work is not for all artists. In addition, for a variety of reasons arts organizations should not insist that artists participate in or lead … [Read more...]
An Orchestral Musician’s View of Community Engagement: I
Guest post by Penny Brill Penny Brill is an alumna of the Community Engagement Training offered by ArtsEngaged. Here she advocates for musicians to participate in community engagement efforts. As she points out at the end of her essay, however, this work is not for all artists. In addition, for a variety of reasons arts organizations should not insist that artists participate in or lead community engagement efforts. (Let (Make) the Artists Do It … [Read more...]
Announcing
It's official. As predicted in Changes, ArtsEngaged has a new and, to my eyes, snazzy website. The snazziness is entirely due to the efforts of our Marketing and Sales specialist, Achia Floyd. Many, many thanks Achia! While new is always (well, often) fun, what is most important to me about this website upgrade is the opportunity to share many more resources with the community engagement field. The Engagement Essentials page is packed with … [Read more...]
Engagement as Pure Research
Community engagement sometimes begins as an attempt to accomplish a specific task–mount a festival, put on what is considered to be a performance relevant to community interests (note the construction of that phrase!), or, ahem, satisfy the requirements of a grant. By now, readers of Engaging Matters understand that any attempt to employ community engagement to achieve an organizationally-envisioned end result is, as I have heard described, bass … [Read more...]
Two-Phase Engagement
Community engagement practitioners are frequently asked to justify their work using traditional arts marketing/development metrics: ticket sales and donations. Don't get ahead of me. This is not a touchy-feely objection to practical outcomes. Ticket sales and donations as well as grants from "unusual suspects" and friendlier public policy for the arts are all results of effective community engagement . . . eventually. However, when anyone in any … [Read more...]