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 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...]
Are You Getting Enough Bang for Your Buck?
by Zannie Voss Director, National Center for Arts Research 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.) In the National Center for Arts Research’s Edition 3 report on the health of the U.S. arts and … [Read more...]
Artists and Relationship Building
by Laura Zabel 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.) There is a lot of work right now on building demand, value and interest in the contributions of art and artists to places, social change, … [Read more...]
New vs. Existing: A Time for Every Patron
by Chad Bauman 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.) As a chief marketing officer, consultant and now managing director, I’ve participated in my fair share of marketing committee meetings. One of … [Read more...]
“The Work Will Do the Work” ??
by Chris McLeod 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.) “The work will do the work.” Wait. Not so fast. As a strategic arts marketing consultant I spend a lot of time speaking with (and … [Read more...]
Relationships and Public Policy
by Karen Gahl-Mills 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.) I had an interesting conversation with a smart colleague today, on the topic of the role of cultural organizations in civic affairs. We … [Read more...]