“One of the strongest things that struck us was how many people leading these programmes have an authentic belief in social justice, democracy and building social and cultural capital. We anticipated hearing about the ‘what’ and ‘how’ of audience engagement, but we didn’t expect to hear quite so much about the ‘why’. Interviewees talked passionately about empathy, listening, sharing power, trust, transparency, honesty and patience. Many rejected the deficit model that suggests that communities are lacking in some way that arts and culture can solve, while others were acutely aware of their responsibility in places that have suffered decades of disinvestment and neglect.” – Arts Professional