![\"ShiftingTheCenter\"](\"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/04\/ShiftingTheCenter-246x300.png\")
You are now privy to the reason I became a musician rather than a visual artist. (Or at least one reason.) I deeply appreciate good graphic design but my capacity for creation is, shall we say, limited. What you see here is the best I can do. Honestly!<\/p>\n
Yet as crude as this is, I think it gets the point across. I have attempted to articulate the thought that the picture expresses on a number of occasions and I discover that the adage about pictures and words is correct.<\/p>\n
Historically, arts organizations have placed art, their understood mission, at the core of their work and thinking. To be honest, in that construct, the “community” outside of the arts organization is often an afterthought, if it rises to the level of thought at all. My argument is that the mission really lies in the relationship between the arts organization and the community. The art is at the center of that<\/em>.<\/p>\n The engagement mode of thinking sees the art as something that grows out of the relationship between the arts organization (and\/or artist) and the community. In this view, the center of the things, the art, lies immediately between them. I am advocating for a shifting of our frame of reference about the art from our own internal understanding of (and passion about) it to the point at which the art brings meaning to the larger community\u2013shifting the center.<\/p>\n Engage!<\/p>\n Doug<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" You are now privy to the reason I became a musician rather than a visual artist. (Or at least one reason.) I deeply appreciate good graphic design but my capacity for creation is, shall we say, limited. What you see here is the best I can do. Honestly! Yet as crude as this is, I […]<\/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":[5],"tags":[12,26,13],"class_list":{"0":"post-2025","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-principles","7":"tag-arts","8":"tag-change","9":"tag-community-engagement","10":"entry","11":"has-post-thumbnail"},"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p1G6h9-wF","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":3161,"url":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/2013\/10\/examining-the-mission-model\/","url_meta":{"origin":2025,"position":0},"title":"Examining the “Mission Model”","author":"Doug Borwick","date":"October 9, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"Over the past five to ten years, much discussion has taken place about the need for revised business models for the arts industry. On the expense side this comes from recognition of the labor cost challenges faced by the performing arts and the capital cost struggles of edifice-centered organizations (museums\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Principles"","block_context":{"text":"Principles","link":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/category\/principles\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"MissionMotel","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/09\/MissionMotel-300x199.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":2811,"url":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/2013\/04\/engaged-mission-iii\/","url_meta":{"origin":2025,"position":1},"title":"Engaged Mission: III","author":"Doug Borwick","date":"April 24, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"I\u2019d like to take a different approach to consideration of mission in this post from the previous two. This one is less directly about the relationship between mission and community engagement (although two of the examples deal, very explicitly, with that). What I\u2019m interested in here is the power that\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":5720,"url":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/2019\/10\/mission-creep\/","url_meta":{"origin":2025,"position":2},"title":"Mission Creep??!!","author":"Doug Borwick","date":"October 16, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"If connecting people with the arts represents \"mission creep\" for your organization, your organization needs to seriously re-examine it's mission.","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\/2019\/09\/Mission.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":6436,"url":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/2021\/09\/terminology\/","url_meta":{"origin":2025,"position":3},"title":"Terminology","author":"Doug Borwick","date":"September 9, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"A critical element in effective community engagement is understanding exactly what it is . . . and what it is not.","rel":"","context":"In "10th Anniversary"","block_context":{"text":"10th Anniversary","link":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/category\/10th-anniversary\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/10.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":4945,"url":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/2017\/06\/engagement-terminology\/","url_meta":{"origin":2025,"position":4},"title":"Engagement Terminology","author":"Doug Borwick","date":"June 21, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"We need good definitions to make our work more effective. Here is an updated set from my perspective, for what it's worth.","rel":"","context":"In "The Practice of Engagement"","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\/2015\/08\/Dictionary-300x202.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":3146,"url":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/2013\/10\/the-pursuit-of-excellence\/","url_meta":{"origin":2025,"position":5},"title":"The Pursuit of Excellence","author":"Doug Borwick","date":"October 23, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"In Excellence-To What End? I made the case that serving people\u2013all of them, from artists to \"the great unwashed\"\u2013was the purpose of seeking excellence. In the months since that post, I've reflected more on this issue, one that is central to our field and of vital importance to all of\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Principles"","block_context":{"text":"Principles","link":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/category\/principles\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"ExcellenceSign","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/02\/ExcellenceSign-300x148.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2025","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=2025"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2025\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2025"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2025"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2025"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}