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Engaging Matters

Doug Borwick on vibrant arts and communities

Winds of Change: Bemis Center for Contemporary Arts

December 24, 2011 by Doug Borwick

I am sorely tempted to simply post the link to Art Works' blog post about Omaha's Bemis Center for Contemporary Arts–Artists-in-Community at the Bemis Center for Contemporary Arts–and call it a day. I'm tempted, but in spite of what some of you might wish, I won't succumb. The Bemis Center is clearly an arts-centered entity. Its mission is: The spirit and programs of the Bemis Center for Contemporary Arts are based on the conviction that … [Read more...]

Process and Product

December 17, 2011 by Doug Borwick

Most arts and community engagement workers at some point (if not frequently) make the case for the process being at least as important as the product in this field. This is heard so frequently as to have become a truism, even if little discussion of the idea takes place. And discussion is important because, in the context of professional arts genres with origins in the European upper class tradition (the vast majority of professional arts in … [Read more...]

The Pot Is Simmering

December 14, 2011 by Doug Borwick

Everywhere I turn in my Google Reader, someone is talking about core issues in the arts. (Yes, I know I said I was only going to do one post per week over the Holidays, but come on, how could I resist this?) Certainly the Occupy movement is an explanation, as is the NCRP report on arts funding. But in the last couple of weeks, in addition to Theatre Ideas and Jumper (about which I commented over the weekend) and Engaging Matters … [Read more...]

Occupy Lincoln Center (Thanks, Scott)

December 10, 2011 by Doug Borwick

Nope, this is not my title. It is blatant theft from Scott Walters' multi-part blog on the topic. For those of you who have not seen the posts, here are links to the first two: Occupy Lincoln Center-Part I and Occupy Lincoln Center-Part II. The thing about kindred spirits is that even if you don't agree 100% with everything they say or the way they say it, you are still captivated by the expression and want to share it. That's the way I feel … [Read more...]

NAMP

December 3, 2011 by Doug Borwick

The coverage of the National Arts Marketing Project's Conference in November has been extensive and interesting. (Is it only me or is NAMP Conference an odd, unwieldy name for a gathering of marketers? Do a search and you also get the National Association of Meat Packers. . . . But I digress.) Since I've started to share some of my idiosyncratic notions about marketing, I thought it would be a good idea to see what real marketers were saying … [Read more...]

Clybourne Park

November 26, 2011 by Doug Borwick

I was recently in Chicago for an Association of Arts Administration Educators Board meeting. While there I was lucky to score the last ticket for a performance of Bruce Norris's Pulitzer Prize winning play, Clybourne Park, at Steppenwolf Theatre. Not being a theater critic, I won't try to review the play itself. The production does represent a serious commitment by a significant regional theatre company to be relevant to the city in which it … [Read more...]

A Night at the Opera

November 19, 2011 by Doug Borwick

For some of you the title of this post is going to be a "bait and switch" experience. This is not about opera but about a theatre piece at the recent Grantmakers in the Arts conference. (I am indebted to my friend Barbara Schaffer Bacon's post on ArtsBlog, Too Progressive, Too Elite: Public Value and the Paradox of the Arts, for first pointing me to the video of it: A Night at the Opera by Tommer Peterson and KJ Sanchez.) Based on interviews with … [Read more...]

Marketing and More

November 16, 2011 by Doug Borwick

Many of you probably know (or know of) Katya Andresen and Katya's Nonprofit Marketing Blog. She is an expert on marketing, a great speaker (I've heard her a couple of times), and a relentless blogger. (She posts almost every day. My hat is off, in awe, to her.) She does not present herself as an arts expert. However, in a recent post she presented 3 Diagnoses for why your message isn’t getting through. I can't resist allowing her to make one of … [Read more...]

Creative Placemaking

November 12, 2011 by Doug Borwick

I am a huge fan of Americans for the Arts' Animating Democracy program. To my mind, their work is on the side of the angels. (And, of course, it has not hurt that Barbara Shaffer Bacon and Pam Korza have been kind to me and supportive of my work in many, many ways.) So, it was with great anticipation that I awaited the first Animating Democracy Blog Salon. I enjoyed myself immensely reading the posts, but on the last day of the event, I had (I … [Read more...]

Engagement via Participation

November 9, 2011 by Doug Borwick

Andrew Taylor (aka The Artful Manager) has long been for me a source of fascinating  (and/or insightful) ideas. I have learned, on occasions too numerous to mention, that when he tells me to read something (book, article, paper, cereal box . . . .) I should do it.  His recent post, Participatory practice in the arts, highlights a study by the James Irvine Foundation, Getting In On the Act: How Arts Groups are Creating Opportunities for Active … [Read more...]

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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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