{"id":1441,"date":"2012-04-11T07:26:44","date_gmt":"2012-04-11T11:26:44","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/?p=1441"},"modified":"2012-04-11T07:26:44","modified_gmt":"2012-04-11T11:26:44","slug":"altar-call","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/2012\/04\/altar-call\/","title":{"rendered":"Altar Call"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"Let me be the last, seemingly, to jump on the bandwagon of Diane Ragsdale’s post, If our goal is simply to preserve our current reality, why pursue it?<\/a> Most blogs dealing with the future of the arts are picking up on it, and many of the Emerging Leaders who posted as part of Americans for the Arts recent blog salon referenced it. The latter phenomenon I take to be particularly heartening. I would simply ask all of them to remember this after they have finally “emerged.” I have thoroughly enjoyed reading all the commentary and, since I think it has now been a respectable amount of time since I have piggybacked on her writing, I’m ready to do so again.<\/p>\n

But where do I begin? In many ways, given my perspective and driving passion, I could simply re-post it here and be done. But that seems incredibly lazy.<\/p>\n

Ms. Ragsdale’s post begins by citing the principles that undergird Finland’s demonstrably excellent system of public education and goes from there to consider public education in the U.S. in comparison and to draw lessons for the arts in this country. Of particular interest to me (and others, notably Scott Walters<\/a> in a comment on the post) was Finland’s commitment to equity. “Finland pursued education reform by aiming its teachers and schools at the goal of achieving social equity<\/em> (\u201cevery child should have exactly the same opportunity to learn, regardless of family background, income, or geographic location\u201d), not excellence<\/em>.” Those would be fighting words in a meritocracy where economic class is not seen to have any impact on the potential for “merit.” Oh wait, they are fighting words . . . .<\/p>\n

The post then presents an existential question for the arts establishment in the U.S., one that I and others have said in other ways. I really<\/em> like this way of framing the issue:<\/p>\n

In ten or twenty more years does the nonprofit arts and culture sector want to be the US education system: excellent art for rich people and mediocrity, lack of resources, and lack of opportunity for everyone else? Or do we want to be Finland\u2019s: high quality artistic experiences . . . for every man, woman, and child? Like most universities, do we want to limit our reach to those that have the time, money, privilege, proximity, and courage\/comfort . . .\u00a0 to access us at our venues? Or do we want to collaborate as a sector with the goal of making it possible for anyone to have affordable (online, big screen, small screen,\u00a0gaming system, etc.)\u00a0access to high quality arts education and performances?
\n<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

And speaking of fighting words, Ms. Ragsdale goes on to say, quite baldly, what many of us have been saying in somewhat less direct ways:
\n<\/em><\/p>\n

Just because the arts have been an elitist form of entertainment as long as most of us can remember is no excuse for that to continue to be our story in the future.<\/em><\/p>\n

Just because we have wrongly and self-servingly bought into and sold to others the idea that to be \u2018talented\u2019 you had to be a \u2018professional\u2019 and to make \u2018art\u2019 you had to be a \u2018nonprofit\u2019 doesn\u2019t mean we need to continue to make the same mistake.<\/em><\/p>\n

We got it wrong the first time.<\/p>\n

If our goal for the next century is to hold onto our marginalized position and maintain our minuscule reach\u2014rather than being part of the cultural zeitgeist, actively addressing the social inequities in our country, and reaching exponentially greater numbers of people\u2014 then our goal is not only too small, I would suggest that it may not merit the vast amounts of\u00a0time, money, or enthusiasm we would require from talented staffers and\u00a0artists, governments, foundations, corporations, and private individuals\u00a0to\u00a0achieve it.<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

With my Southern Baptist experience\u2013which ended some time ago\u2013as a backdrop, I now feel ready for an altar call. (And now you get the photo.) Seriously, this<\/em> is what my blog and my related work are all about. The only addition I want to make is that I fully understand how we got here and I sympathize deeply with the many members of the arts establishment who recognize (both consciously and subconsciously) the truth of these words but are (or feel) unable to move. I want (and plan) to work with them in making what is an essential but very <\/em>difficult transition. And let me make it clear that I am not saying Ms. Ragsdale does not. I know her. We have spoken many times. I feel privileged to call her a friend. She does as well. But sometimes, for the sake of getting the attention needed to generate change, a certain level of “in your face” rhetoric is required. Say on, Ms. Ragsdale . . . .<\/p>\n

And in response, let the rest of us<\/p>\n

Engage!<\/p>\n

Doug<\/p>\n

Photo:\"Attribution\"\"Noncommercial\"<\/a> Some rights reserved<\/a> by Rev Billy, The Church of Earthalujah & The Stop Sh<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Let me be the last, seemingly, to jump on the bandwagon of Diane Ragsdale’s post, If our goal is simply to preserve our current reality, why pursue it? Most blogs dealing with the future of the arts are picking up on it, and many of the Emerging Leaders who posted as part of Americans for […]<\/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],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-1441","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-overview","7":"entry","8":"has-post-thumbnail"},"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p1G6h9-nf","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":3868,"url":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/2015\/02\/arts-predispositions-ii-maybes\/","url_meta":{"origin":1441,"position":0},"title":"Arts Predispositions II: Maybes","author":"Doug Borwick","date":"February 11, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"Understanding non-participants. Arts Predispositions: Maybes","rel":"","context":"In "Principles"","block_context":{"text":"Principles","link":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/category\/principles\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/10\/Crowd-Cropped-e1412550057746.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/10\/Crowd-Cropped-e1412550057746.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/10\/Crowd-Cropped-e1412550057746.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":3870,"url":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/2015\/02\/arts-predispositions-iii-noes\/","url_meta":{"origin":1441,"position":1},"title":"Arts Predispositions III: Noes","author":"Doug Borwick","date":"February 18, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"Understanding non-participants. Arts Predispositions: Noes","rel":"","context":"In "Principles"","block_context":{"text":"Principles","link":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/category\/principles\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/10\/Crowd-Cropped-e1412550057746.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/10\/Crowd-Cropped-e1412550057746.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/10\/Crowd-Cropped-e1412550057746.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":5662,"url":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/2019\/08\/benefits-yet-again\/","url_meta":{"origin":1441,"position":2},"title":"Benefits (Yet Again)","author":"Doug Borwick","date":"August 7, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"It has been two years since I posted my effort at categorizing the benefits of the arts. In both of my international trips this year the subject came up and people wanted to deal with it at length. The subject is an urgent one both because of the social and\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Overview"","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\/2017\/05\/Dancer-e1495045883104.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":2795,"url":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/2013\/04\/engaged-mission-ii\/","url_meta":{"origin":1441,"position":3},"title":"Engaged Mission: II","author":"Doug Borwick","date":"April 20, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"In Engaged Mission: I, I suggested that service to people is\/ought to be a fundamental element of the understanding of our mission, whether or not it is formally articulated in a mission statement. I think that is probably not too controversial. It\u2019s the extent of the service and the way\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Principles"","block_context":{"text":"Principles","link":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/category\/principles\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Compass","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/04\/Compass-300x300.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":5274,"url":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/2018\/05\/the-problem-of-engagement\/","url_meta":{"origin":1441,"position":4},"title":"The Problem of “Engagement”","author":"Doug Borwick","date":"May 9, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"Effective engagement is rooted in relationship building with new communities, pursuit of mutual benefit with them, and inclusion of them in the design and implementation of projects.","rel":"","context":"In "Overview"","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\/2018\/03\/ProblemPostit-300x224.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":281,"url":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/2011\/09\/public-value-public-funds\/","url_meta":{"origin":1441,"position":5},"title":"Public Value, Public Funds","author":"Doug Borwick","date":"September 17, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"Fear and trembling I have. Yes. Talk of public funding for the arts. Happy no one will be. Be afraid. Be very afraid. Some time ago, Kelly Kleiman wrote a blog post for the Stanford Social Innovation Review that I only recently discovered: Second (and Third) Thoughts about Public Funding\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Principles"","block_context":{"text":"Principles","link":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/category\/principles\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/08\/BlueStar.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1441","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=1441"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1441\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1441"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1441"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1441"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}