AftA Thoughts 2015: Bait and Switch

As I said in my last post, in June I attended Americans for the Arts convention in Chicago. As part of my annual reflections on that experience, I wanted to comment on something that’s been on my mind for years.

In plenary sessions videos and performers were featured that demonstrated the power of the arts to transform lives and make communities better places to live. Stories like those are what originally brought me to this work and continue to fuel the passion I feel about it. The young spoken word artists who spoke truth to power, the teenage jazz and blues musicians were remarkable for the quality of their work and inspiring for the clearly positive impact their experiences were having on their lives and on the lives of those around them. The advocacy videos (focusing largely on arts education) were similarly powerful in their messages.

But this is where I sometimes get a little antsy. These stories are a critical part of the arts’ message of public value. And I don’t argue that they are the only part, far from it. However, some in the arts community use those stories to solicit support for the arts and then ask for money to fund business as usual–programming that has little or nothing to do with the stories used to prime the pump.

If for the purpose of seeking funding we tout the arts as a means of bettering people’s lives, we need to be sure that the funding we secure from those pitches is, indeed, used in ways that are intentionally (and demonstrably) transforming communities. My oft-repeated question: “How are the lives of the people of your community made better by the work you do?” applies. No version of “they are better off because we exist” satisfies the question. More to the point, the betterment must be such that it is recognized by members of our communities outside the arts. How are we all doing on that measure?

If we simply use the kinds of arguments described here to win support for an artcentric status quo, we are guilty of bait and switch promotion.

Engage (to make our case)!

Doug

Photo: Some rights reserved by nist6dh

[Everyone, note: This is not a criticism of Americans for the Arts or the convention by any means! This is just a long-dormant thought that re-emerged on seeing the great examples of community improvement and individual empowerment that were showcased there.]