{"id":1331,"date":"2012-03-28T07:15:43","date_gmt":"2012-03-28T11:15:43","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/?p=1331"},"modified":"2012-03-28T07:20:19","modified_gmt":"2012-03-28T11:20:19","slug":"bimodal-engagement","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/2012\/03\/bimodal-engagement\/","title":{"rendered":"Bimodal Engagement"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>When I first became sensitized to the need for change within the arts community to a greater focus on community engagement (now over twenty years ago), I sometimes felt like a voice in the wilderness. (I know I wasn&#8217;t alone, but some of us who felt that way were not connecting with like-minded peers. This may simply have been a pre-Internet issue.) Today, as I have observed in recent posts, engagement has become a buzz word in the industry. I certainly have my misgivings about the potential for trivializing or misunderstanding the nature of engagement necessary (substantive, ongoing, mutually beneficial relationships with individuals and organizations outside the arts community), but it still is gratifying. However, I repeat myself.<\/p>\n<p>I am developing a notion about what we are seeing today in the arts establishment around this issue. On the grassroots level, small community arts councils and neighborhood-focused arts organizations have always had an &#8220;ear to the ground,&#8221; responsive to their constituents. This has been true even when the art being presented has not been particularly attuned to community cultural backgrounds, tastes, or interests. Their emphasis has been on the local, on relationships. The artists and organizational leaders often know their constituents personally because they can. The population base is small enough to know and be known. It has been where my observation &#8220;All the arts are local&#8221; has had it&#8217;s best expression. [<em>Yes, I know that many others use that trope on Tip O&#8217;Neill&#8217;s dictum about politics, but I&#8217;ve been saying it for a long time and did use it before I had *seen* anyone else do so. Being first in one&#8217;s own mind may be worth something.<\/em>] Sometimes people attend arts events because one of the performers buys their groceries from them.<\/p>\n<p>And over the last few years, there have been increasing calls from national arts service organizations for community engagement. There are also more and more major arts institutions identifying engagement as important to their mission and to their success. In a short period last year, I heard the following people say the following things:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Clive Gillinson, Executive and Executive Director of Carnegie Hall:<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<blockquote><p><em>How can Carnegie Hall contribute to the lives of people?<br \/>\nI\u2019m never thinking about audiences. I\u2019m thinking about serving people.<br \/>\nWe will matter if we matter to society. <\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<ul>\n<li>Arnold Lehman, Director, Brooklyn Museum of Art said that the Brooklyn Museum of Art, in transforming itself, added a core value focused on enhancing the visitor experience and a commitment to the Museum\u2019s neighborhood.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li>Jesse Rosen, President and CEO, League of American Orchestras, identified three priorities for success at the 2011 Conference. One of these was<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<blockquote><p>\u201cRealign with community needs.\u201d In articulating this priority, Mr. Rosen cited Milwaukee Symphony principal violist Robert Levine who said, \u201cGetting community engagement right will involve orchestras rethinking themselves from top to bottom as cultural service agencies rather than high-end entertainment companies.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<ul>\n<li>Howard Sherman, COO, Los Angeles Music Center:<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<blockquote><p><em>How do we stay relevant in the Twenty-first Century? In adhering to our mission statement that commits us to \u201cbuilding civic vitality by strengthening community through the arts.\u201d<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<ul>\n<li>Leonard Slatkin, Music Director of the Detroit Symphony at the conclusion of the strike in 2011:<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<blockquote><p><em>If there\u2019s one thing we\u2019ve learned, it\u2019s that we have to be more involved in the communities outside of Orchestra Hall. We won\u2019t abandon it, but direct connections with other populations are absolutely critical.<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>To me, these are all stunning statements of commitment to community coming from major figures in the arts.<\/p>\n<p>Where I hear somewhat less of this is in the vast middle, albeit with wonderful exceptions, some of which I have mentioned in posts here. I may simply be imagining this bimodality because I am not hearing enough stories. [<span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">Before I get a lot of responses saying &#8220;Yes, we are doing it.&#8221; I\u00a0 want to remind readers that I am talking about <strong>the gold standard of engagement<\/strong>: repeating what I said above, <strong>substantive, ongoing, mutually beneficial relationships with individuals and organizations outside the arts community<\/strong>. That&#8217;s a high bar. Many activities called engagement by their sponsors don&#8217;t come close to it.<\/span>]<\/p>\n<p>But if it&#8217;s not my imagination, it&#8217;s not surprising. Arts organizations occupying that vast middle ground came into being in emulation of existing large institutions, made in their image in the mid-20th century. They are simply doing what the big outfits did. It is these mid-size groups that, arguably, have the least flexibility to undertake change (busily attempting to keep the door open in difficult times for the industry) and the least opportunity to take a step (or three) back and think strategically about the future. And the type of transitioning required takes time, training, and resources. If national organizations are shifting focus it may take a while for the examples to trickle down.<\/p>\n<p>I am in no way presenting this thought as a truth. I *am* putting it out there for consideration by all of us in the industry. If it&#8217;s true, there needs to be work done to address it. If it&#8217;s not, we need to have more opportunities to learn the stories. (In the near future I am going to talk about what Engaging Matters will be doing to assist with that.) And, if as is usually the case, reality lies somewhere in between the extremes, we need to be doing both.<\/p>\n<p>Thanks for considering this.<\/p>\n<p>Engage!<\/p>\n<p>Doug<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>When I first became sensitized to the need for change within the arts community to a greater focus on community engagement (now over twenty years ago), I sometimes felt like a voice in the wilderness. (I know I wasn&#8217;t alone, but some of us who felt that way were not connecting with like-minded peers. This [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[4,7],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-1331","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-overview","7":"category-winds-of-change","8":"entry"},"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p1G6h9-lt","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":4409,"url":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/2016\/02\/engagement-is-a-means-not-an-end\/","url_meta":{"origin":1331,"position":0},"title":"Engagement Is a Means, Not an End","author":"Doug Borwick","date":"February 10, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"Engagement is a means to the end of better arts and better lives, not an end in itself.","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Overview&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Overview","link":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/category\/overview\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"CorpsDeBallet","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/09\/CorpsDeBallet.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":2818,"url":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/2013\/05\/engagement-vocabulary\/","url_meta":{"origin":1331,"position":1},"title":"Engagement Vocabulary","author":"Doug Borwick","date":"May 1, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"[Note to new readers: This is a very old and widely read post. In the interest of providing up-to-date information about thinking on this topic, you can find updated definitions of terminology related to community engagement and related arts management tools on the ArtsEngaged website here.] I have on a\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Principles&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Principles","link":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/category\/principles\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Dictionary","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/04\/Dictionary-300x153.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":1861,"url":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/2012\/07\/civic-practice\/","url_meta":{"origin":1331,"position":2},"title":"Civic Practice","author":"Doug Borwick","date":"July 25, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"Michael Rohd, the Founding Director of Portland (OR)'s Sojourn Theatre has recently posted an extremely thoughtful reflection on community engagement and theatre: The New Work of Building Civic Practice. As I've said before, I am aware of the danger of echo-chambering in the blog world, especially in this case since\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Overview&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Overview","link":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/category\/overview\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1350,"url":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/2012\/03\/civic-engagement-by-stealth\/","url_meta":{"origin":1331,"position":3},"title":"Civic Engagement by Stealth","author":"Doug Borwick","date":"March 17, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"I have been waiting to catch my breath in order to comment on Clayton Lord's New Beans post from last October, Directing the Impact Echo. I haven't really caught it, but this is good a time as any. It is possible that some out there may be hesitant to dive\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Overview&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Overview","link":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/category\/overview\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/03\/CliffDiver.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":481,"url":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/2011\/09\/what-is-engagement\/","url_meta":{"origin":1331,"position":4},"title":"What Is Engagement?","author":"Doug Borwick","date":"September 24, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"I am teaching a course this fall called Arts in the Community. One of the course requirements is for students to assist in a community arts project. For the purpose of the course we use the definition \"arts-based project intentionally designed to address a community issue.\" A difficulty I (and\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;The Practice of Engagement&quot;","block_context":{"text":"The Practice of Engagement","link":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/category\/the-practice-of-engagement\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/09\/PTICA-LogoGraphic.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":4374,"url":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/2016\/01\/public-policy-and-community-engagement\/","url_meta":{"origin":1331,"position":5},"title":"Public Policy and Community Engagement","author":"Doug Borwick","date":"January 6, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"Fundraising, marketing, community engagement, and advocacy are all about relationship building.","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Principles&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Principles","link":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/category\/principles\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"BallotBox2","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/BallotBox2-e1448900072562.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1331","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1331"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1331\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1331"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1331"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1331"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}