Inside Out vs. Outside In: Community engagement and loyalty building work together Guest Post by Amelia Northrup-Simpson, TRG Arts This post is part of a series of collaborations with TRG Arts and is cross-posted to their blog Analysis from TRG Arts. There are two schools of thought when it comes to eating a cinnamon roll. There are those who eat the cinnamon by unrolling it, eating along the edge, slowly making their way to the … [Read more...]
Farmer and the Cowman Redux
Three years ago I published a post titled The Farmer and the Cowman in which I acknowledged an epiphany about the relationship between arts marketing and community engagement. In the past six months I have, on several occasions, been re-confronted with the truth of their close relationship (when both are being done well). This was really driven home to me in the highly flattering (and most embarrassing) post written by Trevor O’Donnell Taking a … [Read more...]
Rorschach Test
We’re all artists now Quick. What's your reaction to that sentence? This was the title of a September 2015 New York Times article that considered expanded definitions of and options for creativity and the increasingly participatory nature of culture (among other things). But my immediate interest here is with the range of reactions to that premise: We're all artists now. What is your immediate response? While the options run on a continuum, … [Read more...]
A 21st-Century Commons
In June I was asked to speak to representatives of New Mexico’s Arts and Cultural Districts. The occasion provided me the opportunity to reflect on the intersection of creative placemaking and community engagement. Creative placemaking is designed, among other things, to bring “diverse people together to celebrate, inspire, and be inspired.” [Ann Markusen and Anne Gadwa, Creative Placemaking: … [Read more...]
Artcentric Engagement
In Parsing "Engage" I addressed the fact that the meaning of the word engagement is dependent upon who is engaging with whom toward what end. This is a quick followup to that meditation. I recently ran across the following headline in an arts newsletter: "2015–The Year You Become Engaged in the Arts." This fairly clearly shows that the intent is to bring people who are outside in. There is no indication of an awareness of a need for the arts to … [Read more...]
Best Practices
There is a concept that has become extremely popular in management circles over the last decade or so: best practices. By that people mean the set of structures or programs that are most effective in achieving a particular desired end. Generally, these will be approaches that have resulted in success in numerous different situations in a number of different places. It is a popular concept because it prevents people from having to "reinvent the … [Read more...]
Public Charity
Wonkiness Alert This post is only (or mostly) for those interested in nonprofit minutiae. There are two basic types of 501(c)(3) organizations: public charities and private foundations. Private foundations are limited in the deductions available to contributors, are subject to excise taxes, and have a different and more complicated Form 990 (990PF) to fill out. (In addition, they are required to distribute a minimum percentage of their assets … [Read more...]
Lessons from a Grocery Chain
It's amazing where one can find inspiration. In May NPR did a feature on a Southwest Philadelphia grocery store that I immediately tweeted. Then as I read it in more detail I discovered I simply had to write about it. The story concerns opening a grocery store in what was considered to be a "food desert"–an urban area that ostensibly will not support a traditional grocery store with fresh produce and associated "middle class" staples. When Jeff … [Read more...]
AftA Thoughts 2015: The Arts and . . .
This is the final installment in a series of posts reflecting on last June's Americans for the Arts convention in Chicago. (But don’t get too hopeful, there are several other impressions from the event percolating that I won’t label with this group.) A focus of Americans for the Arts over the next several years is going to be pairing of the arts with other disciplines. Conversations and work around the arts and medicine, the arts and … [Read more...]
AftA Thoughts 2015: Staff Diversity
This is the fourth in a series of posts reflecting on last June's Americans for the Arts convention in Chicago. Diversity and equity were large themes that I’ve addressed twice already. Last time (Self-Perpetuating Boards) I commented on issues of governance. This time, staff diversity is the topic. A highlight of the convention for me was Tom Finkelpearl’s (Commissioner of NYC's Department of Cultural Affairs) comment that despite low salaries … [Read more...]