This month I reach what the Social Security system thinks is my "full retirement" age. Knowing this was coming, I have been reflecting on the future of both Engaging Matters and of my business, ArtsEngaged. In August of this year Engaging Matters will be seven years old. For the first two years I posted twice a week. When that nearly killed me, I cut back to once a week, give or take time off for holidays. I continue to enjoy thinking and … [Read more...]
From the Q & A
In March I participated in the Intersections Summit hosted by Milwaukee Repertory Theater. It was a gathering of community engagement practitioners from theaters (mostly) across the U.S. Prompted by the event, I have previously commented on the meanings of the word engagement (The Problem of “Engagement”) and concern for justice and equity in engagement work (Justice and Engagement). This time, a couple of comments from a question and answer … [Read more...]
Justice and Engagement
In March I participated in the Intersections Summit hosted by Milwaukee Repertory Theater. It was a gathering of community engagement practitioners from theaters (mostly) across the U.S. As frequently happens, the conference sparked a number of thoughts. Last week I began by reflecting on the meanings of the word engagement. (The Problem of “Engagement”) In the opening keynote Carmen Morgan, a gifted diversity/equity/inclusion speaker and … [Read more...]
The Problem of “Engagement”
In March I had the privilege of participating in the Intersections Summit hosted by Milwaukee Repertory Theater. It was a heady gathering of community engagement practitioners from theaters (mostly) across the U.S. As frequently happens, the conference sparked a number of thoughts. One has to do with the essence of the convening, the word "engagement." Engagement is a problematic word; the way it gets used frequently prevents people from … [Read more...]
Systemic Privilege Revisited
In Systemically Privileged, I floated an idea. I discussed the difficulty I've had over the years in describing the kind of nonprofit arts organization most in need of developing authentic community connections. My suggestion to myself went as follows: Recently I have begun to experiment with a new label. The issue here is the historic preference given to presenters of a particular cultural tradition in the context of a rapidly diversifying … [Read more...]
Communities of Necessity
As part of the community engagement planning process virtually every arts organization has to make choices about which communities they want to seek out as partners. (We are talking here about new communities. Current stakeholders should, of course, be the first community with which to engage more fully.) In almost every circumstance it has been my practice to recommend minimizing the "degrees of separation." That is, go first to communities with … [Read more...]
Post-Racial? Puhleeze!
I recently attended a production of Our Town presented by Triad Stage, a professional theater company based in Greensboro, NC. It had been decades since I had seen the play but I've always had a soft spot in my heart for it. I thought it was very well done, but this is not a review. What this is is an observation that resulted from the casting. Triad Stage has for years made an effort to diversify its casting and their Our Town was no exception. … [Read more...]
Frames
Last September I presented two workshops on community engagement for ArtsFund Seattle. One was for board members, the other for staff of arts organizations. It was only recently that I was provided feedback from the evaluations. The board workshop was very well received. The responses about the workshop for staff were, as we used to say in academia, bimodal. The number of extremely enthusiastic and highly negative comments was similar. In … [Read more...]
What They Want
There is an unfortunate tendency on the part of some in the nonprofit arts industry to believe that it is their responsibility to provide to the public art that they think the public needs. This is usually based on little to no understanding of what those needs might actually be. In addition, when examined a bit, what they are really giving the public is the art that they want to give them. Anyone’s true need has little to do with it. There is a … [Read more...]
Doin’ What You Do
In Present What You Do I advocated for early engagement work to flow, where possible, from programming already planned and contextualized around the interests of communities. Serendipitously (there's a word I don't often get to use), at about the time that post was published, Gus Denhard from Early Music Seattle got in touch to tell me about a program they had done in December that does a good job of illustrating the point. (Long-time readers may … [Read more...]