I wish I had written that. That's exactly the way I felt when I finished reading Alexis Frasz' and Holly Sidford's report for The Paul G. Allen Family Foundation: Bright Spots Leadership in the Pacific Northwest. (Ms. Sidford was also the author the report, Fusing Arts, Culture and Social Change for the Committee for Responsive Philanthropy that highlighted the "shocking" news that most arts funding went to wealthy organizations.) But, not … [Read more...]
Public Benefit
Public benefit (or one of many closely related concepts) is becoming an increasingly important element in rating grant applications and in assessing the value of arts organizations to their communities. As I discovered in my recent work on a grant review panel for Cuyahoga Arts and Culture, there needs to be much more discussion of and, eventually, agreement about what this means. This is far too big a topic to be addressed in one or even … [Read more...]
Engaging with Palestrina
So, I was sitting there, behaving (as well as I generally can), when a sentence leapt out of my mouth unbidden. The occasion was a grant review panel, the subject was a chamber choir requesting funds to present a concert of music by Palestrina, and the precipitating topic was a discussion of the group’s response to the question about the public benefit of the activity. As is typical (and totally understandable given the state of the arts industry … [Read more...]
Leap into Community Engagement
ArtsEngaged in Illinois ArtsEngaged is coming to Illinois! I will be presenting my workshop Mainstreaming Engagement for the Illinois Arts Council, the Illinois Arts Alliance, and Illinois’ Local Arts Network on Thursday, November 15 (Oak Park, IL) and Friday, November 16 (Peoria). Thursday, November 15, 2012 9:30 am - noon Oak Park Public Library 834 Lake Street in Oak Park, Illinois Register Friday, November 16, 2012 9:30 am - … [Read more...]
Humilité
When I was a kid, I adored Camelot. There, I've said it out loud. (Well, to be more accurate, publicly.) There were many moments I loved. I'm only going to mention one here. When Lancelot is introduced he goes on at great length about how perfect he is for the Round Table. A knight of the Table Round should be invincible,/Succeed where a less fantastic man would fail./Climb a wall no one else can climb,/Cleave a dragon in record time,/Swim a … [Read more...]
100 Grants
During my one week home in October I had two grant review gigs to complete. One was for the Connecticut Office of the Arts, the other for the Cuyahoga (think Cleveland) Arts Council. My job was to review a bit over 100 grant applications. My role was to represent an "arts and community engagement" point of view. It was a learning experience. First, it's heartening that arts funding agencies are taking the public seriously. In Connecticut, … [Read more...]
How to Engage
I have been spending time of late trying to figure out the best path to engagement on the part of arts organizations. I am a firm believer that systemic engagement (mainstreamed engagement) is at heart the only way that will bear much fruit. Add-on activities won't get done. Seriously, where are the resources to do more? Or they will be marginalized internally and externally. Internal stakeholders will not see it as important; the community will … [Read more...]
Lessons from a Pirate: II
When last we met, I had begun talking about lessons in community engagement from, you remember, Jimmy Buffett. To refresh your memory, here are the last two paragraphs from that post: First and foremost, Jimmy Buffett appears to care deeply about his audience. He seems to genuinely like them. Now, I’m sure that’s not true every minute of every day of every fan, but on the whole he seems to enjoy singing for them–even when he’s singing … [Read more...]
Lessons from a Pirate: I
Yes, you're right. I'm writing a post (two, actually) about the arts and community engagement based on observations about Jimmy Buffett. (Really?!) Here goes: Can it be a guilty pleasure if I’m claiming it in a way that is visible to everyone with Internet access? And can it be a guilty pleasure if I don’t feel guilty about it? I’ll let you be the judge. I raise the issue because there may be some who think I should feel guilty. Through the … [Read more...]
Community Understanding through Theater
EM's List Member Community Understanding through Theater [This post is by EM's List Editor/Curator, Stephanie Moore] Cornerstone Theater Cornerstone Theater, a Los Angeles based theater company, collaborates with rural and urban communities to tell community stories through theater. Since its inception in 1986 the core artistic ensemble has worked side-by-side with local communities to write or adapt, direct and produce plays related to … [Read more...]