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Engaging Matters

Doug Borwick on vibrant arts and communities

No Words

December 19, 2012 by Doug Borwick

Like so many others, I have no words to respond to last week’s tragedy. Newtown, CT will never be the same. We will never be the same. Having no words, I had intended not to post anything about it. That was until I read yesterday’s NY Times Article “Seeking Comfort in Song Amid the Whiz of Bullets” by Sam Dolnick and  Michael Wilson. Here are a few cherry-picked sentences:

Mrs. Wexler, who spent 20 years in corporate finance before turning to teaching, began to sing holiday songs in a whisper.  The children whispered along. “Jingle Bells.” “Silent Night.” “I Have a Little Dreidel.”  They did not pause when they heard shots or screams.

In another classroom, a music teacher herded the children into a closet filled with instruments.
A teacher read a story in a kindergarten class.
A librarian pulled out crayons and paper and told pupils, “Our job is just to be quiet.”
Their teacher taped over the door’s clear windows with pictures and drawings. They waited.

I’m sure no one who makes a living in the arts needs me to comment further. However, I’ve started this and need to follow through. (I do understand, in going on, the irony of the title of this post.)

It is the elemental power of the arts that keeps me (us) in this work. Why else would we bother? The capacity to ground us, center us in moments of unimaginable crisis speaks most directly to the importance of the arts. This is even more basic than the self-understanding or inter-personal bonding the arts best facilitate. Five-year-olds know that the arts–songs, stories, and pictures–can make them feel more secure.

But let’s be clear. This is not about the concert hall, the theatre, or the museum. Those are important; they are a vital part of the arts infrastructure. This is about art in the lives of “ordinary” (How that word, especially in this context, makes me crazy!) people–first graders here and also factory workers and firefighters and secretaries and bankers and used car salespeople and stay-at-home moms. It is also about extraordinary (in an arts context) people like gang members and developmentally challenged adults and nursing home residents and the homeless. How much of our work is concerned with any of  these (or even one these categories of people), really? How much of our focus is on them and not the art itself or the donors or the artists or the powerful who make decisions in our communities?

It is in addressing the needs of the “ordinary” among us that, long-term, we will have the greatest impact on our communities.

End (for now) of the sermon.

Engage! (It’s in the best interest of us all.)

Doug

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Filed Under: Principles Tagged With: arts, community engagement, public good

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 …]

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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

Community Engagement: Why and How

Building Communities, Not Audiences: The Future of the Arts in the United States Engage Now! A Guide to Making the Arts Indispensable[Purchase info below] I have to be honest, I haven’t finished it yet because I’m constantly having to digest the ‘YES’ and ‘AMEN’ moments I get from each … [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) […]

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