When my good friend Maryo Gard Ewell asked me to write a reflection on the Gard Foundation/Americans for the Arts collaborative collection of Robert Gard's writings (To Change the Face & Heart of America), I was more than willing. Eager would probably not be a stretch. When I began teaching arts management, I remember Gard's The Arts in the Small Community almost leaping off the library shelf at me. His insistence on the importance of the … [Read more...]
First You Talk
Typically, when I see a headline like this: Opera Memphis Kicks Off Effort to Diversify Audience, I cringe. Not because I don't believe in diversifying our audiences. I clearly do. However, too often it is done badly and for pretty poor reasons. (See The Self-Centered Pursuit of Diversity) I can't speak to the company's motivations or even to much extent about their practices in attempting this. However–stop the presses–if you read the article … [Read more...]
Education and Engagement
Speaking of education and engagement (as I did in my last post, External Connections), there is a topic (or two or three) specific to them that probably bears addressing. Like marketing/sales and fundraising, education and engagement are externally oriented. However, since they do not necessarily have an immediate impact on the bottom line they can be viewed as less important in the arts organization hierarchy. In addition, they are both relative … [Read more...]
External Connections
Fundraising, sales, education, and engagement. All are concerned with making connections between an arts organization and individuals (and groups) outside the organization. The first two have long been focused most on people who have historically been supportive of arts of the European aristocratic cultural tradition. The latter two have spent somewhat more time dealing with those who have not. Fundraising and sales are further related in that … [Read more...]
Community Knowledge
It's no secret that I advocate for arts organizations addressing community interests. (Well, duh!) And, in order to do that, we have to know what those interests are. (Again, duh!) On my website I address some of the ways we can start to discover those interests. (Community Learning) Of course, the simple answer is to talk to members of those communities. And we absolutely should do so. But if this is so important, here's another thing we could … [Read more...]
From Mileposts to Through Line
Mileposts are those small signs we see (or, usually, ignore) as we speed along the interstate that indicate how far we've travelled. It's only in the rarest instances that anyone pays them any attention. Some people probably never do. Arts organizations are event-driven. We maintain in our heads an often unacknowledged chronology of progress from one event to the next. We pay extreme attention to the content and production of each event but this … [Read more...]
Excellence and Engagement: III
In my two previous posts I have been exploring the question of excellence as it applies to community engagement in the arts. (Excellence and Engagement: 1; Excellence and Engagement: II) Here, I want to address issues of equity and respect for communities in this context. Equity A complicating factor in discussions of excellence is the issue of equity. The arts of the European aristocratic cultural tradition have benefited for centuries from … [Read more...]
Excellence and Engagement: II
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...]
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...]