• Home
  • About
    • Engaging Matters
    • Doug Borwick
    • Backstory-Ground Rules
    • Contact
  • Resources
    • Building Communities, Not Audiences
    • Engage Now! A Guide to Making the Arts Indispensable
  • EM’s List
  • AJBlogs
  • ArtsJournal

Engaging Matters

Doug Borwick on vibrant arts and communities

Trading in the Studebaker

October 12, 2013 by Doug Borwick

Studebaker-CroppedFrequent readers of this blog know that I am in the midst of a series of posts dealing with core mission in the arts. (The Buggy Whip Lesson: Recognizing a Mission Crisis, The Metamission of Arts Institutions, The Old Ball Game, Examining the Mission Model) I’ve discussed many aspects of the need for arts organizations to re-imagine their role in the world. This one does so as well, with an eye on how changing times can make a venerable “mission model” become out of step with the times.

Studebaker, for those of you younger than “a certain age,” was a successful and reasonably innovative company making automobiles in the post-World War II era. They began as a wagon and buggy manufacturer and successfully made the transition to horseless carriages in the early Twentieth Century. They were not, however, able to make the transition to cars for the 1960’s and went out of business in that decade.

Thinking about this once-influential old company made me consider whether some missions may simply not be good fits for changed times. Perhaps I am saying the same thing that I’ve said in other posts, but it may be that the changing demographics, economics, and social expectations cited in those earlier posts simply have made the mid-Twentieth Century approach to arts presentation unwieldy for today in a way that Studebaker was not able to navigate in the 1960’s. That arts model was authority-based, rooted in a society that appeared to be fairly homogeneous (although the appearance was a forced one), and dependent upon relatively low labor costs and significant support from a wealthy class committed to supporting a cultural expression they saw as their own.

Institutions need to adapt to significantly changed circumstances . . . if they can. It may well be time to “trade in the Studebaker” of our didactic large organizations and remake ourselves in ways that better fit with the realities of the Twenty-first Century. Whether or not that’s possible is the big unknown for the arts industry’s future.

Engage!

Doug

Photo: AttributionNoncommercial Some rights reserved by aldenjewell

 

Share this:

  • Click to email this to a friend (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Google+ (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window)
  • Click to print (Opens in new window)

Related

Filed Under: Overview Tagged With: arts, community engagement, mission

Comments

  1. Dee Boyle-Clapp says

    October 15, 2013 at 11:30 am

    Thanks Doug,

    I heartily agree! The UMass Arts Extension Service held a symposium on Sept. 26th called: Arts Policy on the Ground: The Impact of the National Endowment for the Arts which included the launch of our new National Arts Policy Archive and Library (NAPAAL)and 40th Anniversary event. NAPAAL features materials from the NEA of which three distinct areas were highlighted, including Jazz and the NEA, Public Art and Design. and Audience Participation.

    The NEA’s Director of Research & Publications, Sunil Iyengar, not only unveiled their most recent Survey in Arts Participation, but he moderated a lively panel which addressed the reality that times are changing and underscored that the same old models (cars and otherwise) must evolve and are evolving. More than just speak to the choir, panelist Howard Herring, Director of New World Symphony in Miami, gave a series of exciting examples of how his symphony is thriving by reaching out in new ways, replacing tradition with innovation.

    We need to do and share more of this work, and I welcome hearing what others are doing to build existing audiences, attract new audiences, engage and excite a new generation of arts enthusiasts, support local artists of all stripes, and grow the notion that the arts are vital, relevant and vibrant parts of our civic and personal lives. These are exciting times.

    The video from the Arts Policy on the Ground Symposium will appear on our new National Arts Policy Archive and Library in a week or so (editing is underway!) at the url http://www.library.umass.edu/spcoll/umarmot/?s=NAPAAL&go=Find, until then, you can hear Howard Herring on NPR at: http://www.wnyc.org/radio/#/streams/wnyc-am820

    Dee Boyle-Clapp
    Arts Extension Service

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) […]

Share this:

  • Click to email this to a friend (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Google+ (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window)
  • Click to print (Opens in new window)

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

Tags

and artcentricity artists arts Asia Pacific board of directors box office business model change community engagement creativity dance diversity education equity examples excellence fundraising governance grants implementation instrumental international Intrinsic LAA mainstreaming management marketing mission museums music participation partnership placemaking programming public good public policy relationships research Robert E. Gard Foundation story circles structure terminology theatre venues
Return to top of page

an ArtsJournal blog

This blog published under a Creative Commons license

Copyright © 2018 · Magazine Pro Theme on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in

loading Cancel
Post was not sent - check your email addresses!
Email check failed, please try again
Sorry, your blog cannot share posts by email.