In March I participated in the Intersections Summit hosted by Milwaukee Repertory Theater. It was a gathering of community engagement practitioners from theaters (mostly) across the U.S. As frequently happens, the conference sparked a number of thoughts. Last week I began by reflecting on the meanings of the word engagement. (The Problem of “Engagement”) In the opening keynote Carmen Morgan, a gifted diversity/equity/inclusion speaker and … [Read more...]
The Problem of “Engagement”
In March I had the privilege of participating in the Intersections Summit hosted by Milwaukee Repertory Theater. It was a heady gathering of community engagement practitioners from theaters (mostly) across the U.S. As frequently happens, the conference sparked a number of thoughts. One has to do with the essence of the convening, the word "engagement." Engagement is a problematic word; the way it gets used frequently prevents people from … [Read more...]
Systemic Privilege Revisited
In Systemically Privileged, I floated an idea. I discussed the difficulty I've had over the years in describing the kind of nonprofit arts organization most in need of developing authentic community connections. My suggestion to myself went as follows: Recently I have begun to experiment with a new label. The issue here is the historic preference given to presenters of a particular cultural tradition in the context of a rapidly diversifying … [Read more...]
Communities of Necessity
As part of the community engagement planning process virtually every arts organization has to make choices about which communities they want to seek out as partners. (We are talking here about new communities. Current stakeholders should, of course, be the first community with which to engage more fully.) In almost every circumstance it has been my practice to recommend minimizing the "degrees of separation." That is, go first to communities with … [Read more...]
Post-Racial? Puhleeze!
I recently attended a production of Our Town presented by Triad Stage, a professional theater company based in Greensboro, NC. It had been decades since I had seen the play but I've always had a soft spot in my heart for it. I thought it was very well done, but this is not a review. What this is is an observation that resulted from the casting. Triad Stage has for years made an effort to diversify its casting and their Our Town was no exception. … [Read more...]
Frames
Last September I presented two workshops on community engagement for ArtsFund Seattle. One was for board members, the other for staff of arts organizations. It was only recently that I was provided feedback from the evaluations. The board workshop was very well received. The responses about the workshop for staff were, as we used to say in academia, bimodal. The number of extremely enthusiastic and highly negative comments was similar. In … [Read more...]
What They Want
There is an unfortunate tendency on the part of some in the nonprofit arts industry to believe that it is their responsibility to provide to the public art that they think the public needs. This is usually based on little to no understanding of what those needs might actually be. In addition, when examined a bit, what they are really giving the public is the art that they want to give them. Anyone’s true need has little to do with it. There is a … [Read more...]
Doin’ What You Do
In Present What You Do I advocated for early engagement work to flow, where possible, from programming already planned and contextualized around the interests of communities. Serendipitously (there's a word I don't often get to use), at about the time that post was published, Gus Denhard from Early Music Seattle got in touch to tell me about a program they had done in December that does a good job of illustrating the point. (Long-time readers may … [Read more...]
Systemically Privileged
People concerned about issues related to the arts and equity (funding is just one area) have used many terms to describe the juggernaut that is the world of symphonies, ballet companies, museums, and theaters. Most of the terminology used is either offensive or absurdly complex (and/or unwieldy). “Mainstream” illustrates the former. It implies this Eurocentric world to be the standard, the “normal.” It places it at the center, marginalizing those … [Read more...]
One Wo/Man Band
I am frequently asked whether an arts organization can successfully engage communities with just one person assigned the responsibility for "engaging." One answer, given with considerable trepidation is, "It depends." If it's a small organization, if community engagement is represented/honored in all decision-making processes, if everyone in the organization maintains a commitment to engagement in all of their work, then "Maybe." If not, the … [Read more...]