{"id":2455,"date":"2017-01-16T17:14:28","date_gmt":"2017-01-17T00:14:28","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/audience\/?p=2455"},"modified":"2017-01-16T17:14:28","modified_gmt":"2017-01-17T00:14:28","slug":"art-is-as-art-does","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/audience\/2017\/01\/art-is-as-art-does\/","title":{"rendered":"Art Is As Art Does"},"content":{"rendered":"

A recent dinner conversation with friends rolled around to the question: \u00a0“What is art?”<\/strong><\/p>\n

A long conversation ensued. \u00a0Someone offered up Wikipedia’s definition: \u00a0“Art is a diverse range of human activities in creating visual, auditory or performing artifacts, expressing the author’s imaginative or technical skill, intended to be appreciated for their beauty or emotional power.”<\/em><\/p>\n

This group of arts administrators was unsatisfied. \u00a0As managers, marketers and fundraisers, we observed that a more useful definition would extend beyond what art IS to also describe what art DOES.<\/p>\n

That got us thinking… \u00a0What are the essential elements of what art does? \u00a0We embraced a metaphor in which the conventional definition of art is represented as an entire HAND – and our question of what art “does” relates to how each finger specifically contributes to the hand’s functionality:<\/p>\n

Entertainment is the THUMB.<\/strong>\u00a0 It provides opposing pressure for each of the other fingers – the necessary counterpoint for any grip. We are not claiming that all entertainment is necessarily art. \u00a0But, without apology, we do say that art must aspire to offer some quality of entertainment – some access point, some resonance, some offering of substance and style sufficient to hold the\u00a0attention of an audience. \u00a0That’s entertainment.<\/p>\n

To inspire is the POINTER.<\/strong>\u00a0 We wholeheartedly embrace the part of the conventional definition that says, “…intended to be appreciated for their beauty or emotional power.” <\/em>\u00a0“To be appreciated” speaks to the imperative of art to render a purposeful effect on the recipient of the experience. \u00a0As arts administrators, our greatest satisfaction comes from providing forums for connecting the work of artists to audiences. \u00a0That’s the entire point!<\/p>\n

Education belongs to the TALL FINGER.<\/strong>\u00a0 The longest finger represents our responsibility to supply lifelong opportunities for arts & cultural engagement. \u00a0The virtue of engaging children in the arts isn’t that they’ll attend as adults so much as it is to imbue them with necessary skills of curiosity, creative exploration and the willingness to see the world from different perspectives.<\/p>\n

The RING FINGER signifies involvement.<\/strong> \u00a0The same finger by which we bind ourselves in marriage is the perfect place to signify a perpetual commitment to friendraising – as arts & cultural organizations operate\u00a0largely in the non-profit sector to which donors, sponsors, volunteers, leaders and stakeholders provide essential time, talent and treasure.<\/p>\n

The PINKY stands for inclusion.<\/strong> \u00a0Imagine the sensation of unknowingly shaking the hand of someone missing that finger – how momentarily unsettling that might feel. Our job as arts administrators is to extend a sincere welcome and a quality of service that is unfailingly mindful of the impressions we create. \u00a0Our collective handshake must convey every bit of welcome, respect and gratitude for their participation.<\/p>\n

Take this metaphor and grip it tightly and we create a single sentence – an extension of the conventional definition of art – that can be delivered with force:<\/p>\n

“Art is an inclusive and community-built function of relevant entertainment that inspires people, throughout their lives, to think, feel and learn.”<\/em><\/p>\n

Can we get a hand for that?<\/p>\n

# # #<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Please add your comments to this (or any other) clicking the LEAVE A REPLY link that appears below – or visit www.artsjournal.com\/audience<\/a>.<\/strong><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A recent dinner conversation with friends rolled around to the question: \u00a0“What is art?” A long conversation ensued. \u00a0Someone offered up Wikipedia’s definition: \u00a0“Art is a diverse range of human activities in creating visual, auditory or performing artifacts, expressing the author’s imaginative or technical skill, intended to be appreciated for their beauty or emotional power.” […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"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":[38,26,43,23,27,36,29,25],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-2455","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-engagement","7":"category-innovation","8":"category-leadership","9":"category-mission","10":"category-participation","11":"category-relevance","12":"category-service","13":"category-value","14":"entry","15":"has-post-thumbnail"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/audience\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2455","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/audience\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/audience\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/audience\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/audience\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2455"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/audience\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2455\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2478,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/audience\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2455\/revisions\/2478"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/audience\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2455"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/audience\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2455"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/audience\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2455"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}