{"id":1572,"date":"2012-05-19T08:04:13","date_gmt":"2012-05-19T12:04:13","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/?p=1572"},"modified":"2012-05-19T08:04:13","modified_gmt":"2012-05-19T12:04:13","slug":"public-utilities","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/2012\/05\/public-utilities\/","title":{"rendered":"Public Utilities-Private Amenities"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Another highlight for me of the recent American Association of Museums Conference was a brief presentation by Ford Bell, President of AAM. In a very short welcoming speech, he said two things that will stick with me for a long time.<\/p>\n<p>A while back (in <strong><a title=\"Bimodal Engagement\" href=\"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/2012\/03\/bimodal-engagement\/\" target=\"_blank\">Bimodal Engagement<\/a><\/strong>) I mentioned that I have been hearing leaders of national service organizations weighing in on the importance of substantively engaging with or involving community. Dr. Bell, in his introduction of the conference theme (Creative Community) said, \u201cCreativity is our tool; community is what we build.\u201d That\u2019s a pretty direct commitment to the centrality of community in the work of the museum. The idea that the ultimate function of museums is community building is radically different from what had been my unexamined understanding of the role of museums: guardians of the past. Of the three legs of museum work\u2013preservation, research, and interpretation (education)\u2013community building is the child of education.<\/p>\n<p>But the quote that has set my mind spinning came a few moments later. He said there was a need to understand that museums are \u201c<strong>public utilities not private amenities<\/strong>.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><strong>Those five words could launch a two-fold revolution<\/strong>. <strong>They should be the rallying cry for reframing the debate about cultural policy in the United States.<\/strong> However, <strong>the related revolution, that must come first, is for<\/strong> the museum community, and now I will reframe my focus to <strong>the arts community, to make that distinction true<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p>The public utility argument will work only if arts organizations view themselves as servants of the public. The fact is that, for the most part, they do not. Service to community, broadly understood, is rarely at the forefront of mission statement in the arts. This is a problem in that most of them are 501(c)(3) organizations and public service is supposed to be the reason they hold that status. Moreover, until they adopt a public service frame of reference, the public utility argument will hold no merit in public discourse.<\/p>\n<p>But what a game changer living out the reality of that role would be.<\/p>\n<p>Engage!<\/p>\n<p>Doug<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Another highlight for me of the recent American Association of Museums Conference was a brief presentation by Ford Bell, President of AAM. In a very short welcoming speech, he said two things that will stick with me for a long time. A while back (in Bimodal Engagement) I mentioned that I have been hearing leaders [&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],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-1572","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-overview","7":"entry"},"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p1G6h9-pm","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":1576,"url":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/2012\/05\/museums-engage\/","url_meta":{"origin":1572,"position":0},"title":"Museums Engage","author":"Doug Borwick","date":"May 23, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"The number of articles I have posted on the American Association of Museum Conference is indicative of the merit I found in much that went on there. This one, reporting about the panel on which I served, will (I think) be the last one. The panelists included Prerana Reddy (a\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Examples&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Examples","link":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/category\/examples\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1560,"url":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/2012\/05\/engagement-is\/","url_meta":{"origin":1572,"position":1},"title":"Engagement Is","author":"Doug Borwick","date":"May 2, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"April 29-May 1 I attended the American Association of Museum's Annual Meeting and MuseumExpo in Minneapolis. It's a huge event, with more than 3000 attendees. (Remember \"museum\" includes zoos, aquariums, history museums, etc.) It's also a long-running show. The first meeting was something like 106 years ago. Coming from a\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Principles&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Principles","link":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/category\/principles\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":4874,"url":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/2017\/04\/doin-it-museums\/","url_meta":{"origin":1572,"position":2},"title":"Doin&#8217; It: Museums","author":"Doug Borwick","date":"April 12, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"Participatory practice in the museum world, mostly sourced from Nina Simon.","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Principles&quot;","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\/2017\/02\/MetropolitanMuseum.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":936,"url":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/2012\/01\/healthy-art\/","url_meta":{"origin":1572,"position":3},"title":"Healthy Art!","author":"Doug Borwick","date":"January 18, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"Ever since I posted an entry citing lessons from the Slow Food Movement for community engagement work\u2013Slow Food, Engaged Arts (still my most widely-read post)\u2013I've been bookmarking articles dealing with the arts and health. It's a surprisingly long list. Coming on the heals of the Holidays, it seemed this might\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Examples&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Examples","link":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/category\/examples\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/SmileyFruit.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":3426,"url":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/2014\/02\/ux-design\/","url_meta":{"origin":1572,"position":4},"title":"UX Design","author":"Doug Borwick","date":"February 5, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"UX Design: How can the experience of the end user be enhanced? An IT industry innovation applicable to the arts.","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\/2014\/01\/DosMacLogin.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/01\/DosMacLogin.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/01\/DosMacLogin.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/01\/DosMacLogin.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/01\/DosMacLogin.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":2962,"url":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/2013\/06\/china-thoughts\/","url_meta":{"origin":1572,"position":5},"title":"China Thoughts","author":"Doug Borwick","date":"June 19, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"So, I've now been to China, Beijing specifically. I was privileged to have been invited to speak for a celebration of the tenth anniversary of the arts management program at the China Conservatory of Music. A single trip does not make one an expert on China! It does not even\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Overview&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Overview","link":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/category\/overview\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"SummitMtg2Cropped","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/06\/SummitMtg2Cropped-300x110.png?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1572","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=1572"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1572\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1572"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1572"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1572"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}