Guest Postby Kathleen Riemenschneider For more than two decades I have managed and developed education and community engagement programs, but while earning my doctorate in leadership studies I learned about ‘employee engagement.’ I began to wonder if there was a relationship between community engagement and employee engagement. There are similarities: both are about increasing involvement in the decision-making process or at least giving a … [Read more...]
Benchmarking? Maybe Not
Guest Post by Selena Anguiano Selena Anguiano is a member of the Advisory Board of the Community Engagement Network. (Her bio is given below.) She has expressed some concern about CEN's next Conversation, Benchmarking Equity as announced in the last blog post here. Here are her thoughts. Next time we'll try to address the concerns. In trying to achieve equity in nonprofit (arts) organizations, there is a basic question - can one really … [Read more...]
Why Engage?
Guest Post by Penny Brill When we investigate the disconnect between what we are doing with our art and what we might do, we become aware of who has been left out of what we present, preserve and protect, what has been disregarded, who does or does not benefit using our current model, and who has been harmed by our decisions. We have excluded large segments of our communities and have not demonstrated that we value their … [Read more...]
Response to The Chasm of Disbelief
The following is an incredibly thoughtful response written by Carter Gilles to my post The Chasm of Disbelief. I am particularly grateful to him for pointing out the important role that doing the arts, participating in the arts, can play in overcoming disbelief. Once again, thanks Carter! Doug Borwick The idea that ‘the arts are not valuable’ is not simply a statement in isolation but the conclusion from a larger point of view. The … [Read more...]
Response to Listen vs. Tell
In Listen vs. Tell I spoke of the necessary switch from telling people about our work to listening to them as a pre-requisite for effective communication. As happens not infrequently, Carter Gilles responded thoughtfully and at length. He has given me permission to share his expansion on my thoughts here. This particular phrasing [Listen vs. Tell] reminded me of the work that the philosopher Carol Gilligan did I think in the 80s. … [Read more...]
An Orchestral Musician’s View of Community Engagement: II
Guest post by Penny Brill Penny Brill is an alumna of the Community Engagement Training offered by ArtsEngaged. Here she continues her advocacy for musicians to participate in community engagement efforts. (Part I of her essay was posted last week.) As she points out at the end of her essay, however, this work is not for all artists. In addition, for a variety of reasons arts organizations should not insist that artists participate in or lead … [Read more...]
An Orchestral Musician’s View of Community Engagement: I
Guest post by Penny Brill Penny Brill is an alumna of the Community Engagement Training offered by ArtsEngaged. Here she advocates for musicians to participate in community engagement efforts. As she points out at the end of her essay, however, this work is not for all artists. In addition, for a variety of reasons arts organizations should not insist that artists participate in or lead community engagement efforts. (Let (Make) the Artists Do It … [Read more...]
Your organization sucks at ‘community’ and let me tell you why
by Ronia Holmes, Assistant Director of Communications for Arts + Public Life at the University of Chicago This post is part of a series in conjunction with TRG Arts on developing relationships with both new communities and existing stakeholders through artistic programming, marketing and fundraising, community engagement and public policy. (Cross-post can be found at Analysis from TRG Arts.) Your organization sucks at ‘community’ and let me tell … [Read more...]
Considering Whiteness
[Guest post by Roberto Bedoya, Executive Director of the Tucson Pima Arts Council. Mr. Bedoya reflects on the need to consider the impact of unconscious racial perspectives before we address diversity policies in the sector.] My friend Doug asked me to respond to the recent blogs about diversity by Clayton Lord, Diane Ragsdale, Nina Simon, Barry Hessenius, and Ian David Moss that have been circulating in the arts blogosphere. With some … [Read more...]