{"id":3218,"date":"2017-05-30T12:27:00","date_gmt":"2017-05-30T16:27:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/artfulmanager\/?p=3218"},"modified":"2017-05-30T12:53:50","modified_gmt":"2017-05-30T16:53:50","slug":"a-new-lens-on-excellence","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/artfulmanager\/main\/a-new-lens-on-excellence.php","title":{"rendered":"A new lens on &#8216;excellence&#8217;"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Arts initiatives that seek social change often face an identity crisis: They are driven by passion, purpose, meaning, and making, but they are generally described and evaluated by more traditional measures. Worse than the challenge of a square peg in a round hole, &#8220;arts for change&#8221; projects aren&#8217;t pegs at all, but multi-dimensional efforts that defy (or are deflated by) the narrow language of program design: how many people are served, from what demographic, by what logistical process, according to what linear logic model. <!--more--><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.animatingdemocracy.org\/aesthetic-perspectives\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright size-full wp-image-3219\" src=\"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/artfulmanager\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/aesthetic_perspectives.jpg\" alt=\"Aesthetic Perspectives\" width=\"300\" height=\"300\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/artfulmanager\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/aesthetic_perspectives.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/artfulmanager\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/aesthetic_perspectives-150x150.jpg 150w, https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/artfulmanager\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/aesthetic_perspectives-100x100.jpg 100w, https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/artfulmanager\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/aesthetic_perspectives-200x200.jpg 200w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/a>The new <a href=\"http:\/\/www.animatingdemocracy.org\/aesthetic-perspectives\">&#8220;Aesthetic Perspectives&#8221; framework from Animating Democracy<\/a> works to expand that palette.<\/p>\n<p>Developed by the Animating Democracy team at Americans for the Arts, in partnership with artists and their allies (see the <a href=\"http:\/\/animatingdemocracy.org\/evaluation-learning-lab\">Evaluation Learning Lab<\/a>), &#8220;Aesthetic Perspectives&#8221; offers 11 attributes to help describe, understand, and evaluate &#8220;arts for change&#8221; initiatives beyond logistics, mechanics, and practical qualities:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Commitment<\/strong><br \/>\nCreative processes and products embody conviction to the cause espoused through the work.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Communal Meaning<\/strong><br \/>\nThe creative work facilitates collective meaning that transcends individual perspective and experience.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Disruption<\/strong><br \/>\nArt challenges what is by exposing what has been hidden, posing new ways of being, and modeling new forms of action.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Cultural Integrity<\/strong><br \/>\nThe creative work demonstrates integrity and ethical use of material with specific cultural origins and context.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Emotional Experience<\/strong><br \/>\nArts for Change facilitates a productive movement between &#8220;heart space&#8221;\u2014the emotional experience that art evokes\u2014and the &#8220;head space&#8221; of civic or social issues.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Sensory Experience<\/strong><br \/>\nVivid sensations deepen the experience of the creative work and heighten the power of its messages and the potential for change.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Risk-taking<\/strong><br \/>\nThe creative work assumes risk by subverting dominant norms, values, narratives, standards, or aesthetics.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Openness<\/strong><br \/>\nThe creative work deepens impact by remaining open, fluid, transparent, subject to influence, and able to hold contradiction.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Resourcefulness<\/strong><br \/>\nImaginative use of available resources drives artistic innovation and demonstrates responsible social and environmental practice.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Coherence<\/strong><br \/>\nStrong ideas expressed with clarity advance both artistic and social purposes.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Stickiness<\/strong><br \/>\nThe creative work achieves sustained resonance, impact, or value.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>The framework uses a broad definition of &#8220;aesthetics&#8221; (&#8220;aesthetics is about how creative expression stimulates our senses, moves us, and makes<br \/>\nmeaning in the world&#8221;), and seeks to broaden it further by acknowledging the historically narrow view of &#8220;excellence&#8221; and &#8220;beauty&#8221; in the institutional arts.<\/p>\n<p>To support application and exploration of the framework, the report and website include &#8220;companion&#8221; essays for artists, educators, evaluators, curators, and funders.<\/p>\n<p>Worth a reading, and also worth a spin on your own initiatives, to see whether and how it advances the work.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Arts initiatives that seek social change often face an identity crisis: They are driven by passion, purpose, meaning, and making, but they are generally described and evaluated by more traditional measures. Worse than the challenge of a square peg in a round hole, &#8220;arts for change&#8221; projects aren&#8217;t pegs at all, but multi-dimensional efforts that [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":3221,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-3218","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-main","8":"entry"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/artfulmanager\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3218","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/artfulmanager\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/artfulmanager\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/artfulmanager\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/artfulmanager\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3218"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/artfulmanager\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3218\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3225,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/artfulmanager\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3218\/revisions\/3225"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/artfulmanager\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3221"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/artfulmanager\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3218"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/artfulmanager\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3218"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/artfulmanager\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3218"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}