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...]
First Contact
Several weeks ago at the Association of Arts Administration Educators' Conference in California, I had the pleasure of attending a plenary session/performance by Luis Alfaro. He is a "renowned . . . performance artist, writer, theater director, and social activist;" a MacArthur Fellow–a truly brilliant one. But one story he told had a brief phrase that gave me mental whiplash. He was talking about an encounter at a box office he had had and … [Read more...]