Ever since my Lead or Follow? post, I’ve been stewing a bit on its central premise. I suspect that a bit of amplification or clarification might be in order. The danger in trying to say several things in a single blog post is that the individual points can get lost. So, at the risk of being way over-repetitious, let me reiterate what is, I think, the critical foundation for successfully engaging with one’s community.
Engagement is built upon a belief that all participants have something to offer and something to gain. Working relationships of any kind require this. I talk with my students about how fundraisers need to see themselves as participants in an exchange whereby the funder and the recipient receive mutual benefit. The supplicant model can bring in some money but it is inherently unhealthy and less sustainable than a partnership model: I get funds to do important work; you get to support something that is important to you and benefits your community.
When engagement is seen fundamentally as an arrow in a marketing/funding quiver (whether to “bring down” audience or donors), it loses the mutuality essential for optimal success. It also demeans engagement.
What do the arts have to offer? To state the obvious, the arts. The experiences we bring to the table for the exchange are valuable, with vast potential to inspire individuals and transform their lives. They also, and this is important in entering into engagement work, have a capacity to address community issues that is insufficiently recognized in both the arts and non-arts communities. Work needs to be done on raising this aspect to consciousness, both by explanation and example.
What do communities have to offer? Understanding of what issues are critical and of the means to address them (or at least some of the means), along with experience of what has and has not worked in the past. This is only important in the engagement exchange if the arts community understands that this is valuable knowledge and experience. It can only flow from an arts world that sees itself as a partner in building a better community rather than simply the purveyor of a fixed commodity, however valuable that commodity might be.
Community engagement is critical for the future of the arts. But it is not simple nor is it something that can happen easily. Arts organizations, to be successful in engaging, must believe in it as a collaborative process, learn the skills necessary to enter into it successfully, and give it the extended time it will take to bear fruit.
Engage!
Doug