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Engaging Matters

Doug Borwick on vibrant arts and communities

Engaged Mission: II

April 20, 2013 by Doug Borwick

Compass

In Engaged Mission: I, I suggested that service to people is/ought to be a fundamental element of the understanding of our mission, whether or not it is formally articulated in a mission statement. I think that is probably not too controversial. It’s the extent of the service and the way we carry it out that could be a little more challenging for us.

MissionContinuum

In the simplistic graphic I presented last time, I tried to show that art as only service (community focused), while there are people and organizations with such a mission, is not the ground I am claiming when I speak of community engagement. It is the middle ground–where mutual interests (the arts’ and the community’s) are advanced–that is the focus of my work.

People for whom a particular art form or a specific work has deep meaning have difficulty understanding/relating to people for whom that is not the case. As a result, they assume that simply putting forth their work or medium/genre is serving the community. As a result, in spite of their intent, the effect can be artcentric. The key for the future of the arts lies in finding ways to serve people who do not already feel the arts are important to them–ways that they recognize. Surreptitious service (service that is invisible to the “recipient”) is not beneficial for practical reasons; it is also, in many cases, not actually service if the people being “served” are not aware they are benefiting.

From a practical standpoint, service exclusively to those who already understand the value might be sufficient if there were far larger numbers of people in that category than there are. But even if there were unmanageable multitudes already hooked, wouldn’t there still be a moral argument to do more? If we do this work because we are aware of its great power for good, don’t we have some obligation to share it with those who are not aware? If so, then we are faced “simply” with the issue of how to do so.

This brings us back to the second question from my previous post. To what extent do we serve people? Since mutuality of benefit is the hallmark of effective community engagement, one-way service to others at the expense of the art, artists, or arts organization is not the answer. Every organization will make its own choices on the continuum. So long as work begins somewhere to the right of Artcentric, progress is being made. Simply asking, in the context of every programming decision, “In what ways can our art be made personally meaningful to people unfamiliar with it or with its benefits?” will be helpful. The benefits will be increasingly valuable the more the responses to that question are based on direct knowledge and relationship with the community.

Any sincere desire to serve is a great beginning. As experience is gained and training is received, the quality (and benefits) of the engagement will improve.

Engage!

Doug

Photo:AttributionNoncommercial Some rights reserved by Roland Urbanek

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Filed Under: Principles Tagged With: arts, community engagement, mainstreaming

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  1. Centres and rootstrikers – Evidence of our times | Minor Expletives & Better Questions says:
    April 24, 2013 at 10:21 am

    […] Engaging Matters – Follow up on a shift centre – “In what ways can our art be made personally meaningful to people unfamiliar with it or with its benefits?” Anyone who’s talked to me recently knows I’m obsessed with the hypothetical “curious stranger” – this relates […]

About Doug Borwick

Doug Borwick is a past President of the Board of the Association of Arts Administration Educators and was for nearly 30 years Director of the Arts Management and Not-for-Profit Management Programs at Salem College in Winston-Salem, NC. He is CEO of Outfitters4, Inc., providing management services to nonprofit organizations and ArtsEngaged providing training and consultation to artists and arts organization to help them more effectively engage with their communities. [Read More …]

About Engaging Matters

The arts began as collective activity around the campfire, expressions of community. In a very real sense, the community owned that expression. Over time, with increasing specialization of labor, the arts– especially Western “high arts”– became … [Read More...]

Books

Books

Building Communities, Not Audiences: The Future of the Arts in the United States was published in 2012 as a “why to” book on community engagement. Engage Now! A Guide to Making the Arts Indispensable is a “how to” manual for the arts organization seeking to become invaluable. Doug is … [Read More...]

Gard Foundation Calls for Stories

The Robert E. Gard Foundation is dedicated to fostering healthy communities through arts-based development, it is currently seeking stories from communities in which the arts have improved the lives of citizens in remarkable ways. These stories can either be full descriptions (400-900 words) with photos, video, and web links or mini stories (ca. 200 words) […]

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Archives

Recent Comments

  • Doug Borwick on Systemically Privileged: “Thanks for your thoughtful response. You are right that a central issue is the use of the description. I'm constantly…” Mar 9, 08:48
  • Edward Brennan on Systemically Privileged: “There is the question as to the purpose of the label. "systematically privileged" comes across as a desire to shame…” Mar 8, 16:30
  • Carter Gillies on Systemically Privileged: “You write this in the interest of landing on a better 'label' for these institutions, but I am worried. It…” Mar 7, 09:16
  • Ned Canty on First You Talk: “Thanks, Doug. We will.” Dec 14, 10:36
  • Doug Borwick on First You Talk: “Thanks for giving this more context. Congratulations on a good start. Keep us posted on how this goes!” Dec 14, 08:12

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