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...]
The Board’s Role in Community Engagement: I
The board of directors of a nonprofit arts organization can and should play an important role in planning for and adopting community engagement as a crucial mission strategy. There is a tendency on the part of some (I have been guilty of this myself) to view the board as an obstacle to be overcome in this work. Yet the board’s potential as a resource for furthering the work of community engagement is considerable and we owe it to ourselves to … [Read more...]
Who’da Thunk?
I don't like spending money. I'm leery of signing up for ongoing contracts for service unless I really, really have to (want to). So when we bought a new "pre-owned" car that came with a three-month trial subscription to SiriusXM™ satellite radio I was not overwhelmed with joy. But here's what happened. I kinda like the Sixties radio station, the Margaritaville station, the Classic Vinyl station, and my wife loves the Seventies station. When the … [Read more...]
Benefits of the Arts (Again)
Summer is an excellent time to review topics covered before and evaluate whether they should be raised again. Four years ago I offered a preliminary overview of a way of discussing the benefits of the arts. The subject keeps coming up in conference presentations and workshops so I thought it would be appropriate to revisit it now and to add a brief update at the end. Here is a passage from my 2013 post Benefits of the Arts: Those for whom art … [Read more...]
One Jupiter
Jupiter, Florida in northern Palm Beach County is home to a very large population of Guatemalan immigrants. In April 2015, Onesimo Lopez-Ramos, an 18-year-old member of that community, was murdered outside his home by a group of young men who later told police they were out “Guat’ hunting.” In response to this tragedy, El Sol, a local resource center for Guatemalan immigrants, Jupiter Inlet Lighthouse and Museum, and the Lighthouse ArtCenter … [Read more...]