![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/10\/Porgy-Bess-300x172.jpg\" "\\"Porgy-Bess\\"")
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Many of you, on the basis of the title alone, could write this post yourself. Porgy and Bess<\/em> is an iconic masterwork of the arts in the U.S. It is justifiably performed countless times by opera companies everywhere. And it sometimes provides a textbook example of the myopia with which arts organizations often conduct themselves in communities.<\/p>\n On numerous occasions, when I am discussing engagement and the necessity of developing and being in relationships over a long period of time, Porgy<\/em> comes up. The first time it did so, many years ago now, I was conducting a community-oriented workshop on engagement and two women from a local African-American church mentioned a local opera company’s production of the work and that company’s efforts to sell tickets to the church’s members. The biggest issue on their mind, years later, was “We hadn’t heard from them before and we haven’t heard from them since.”<\/p>\n This story illustrates several critical elements of engagement. First, arts organizations can be (unconsciously) ham-fisted in their interactions with the community. So focused are they on their product (so absorbed in “keeping the doors open”) that basic “rules” of interacting with strangers are forgotten. Second, at a minimum, Porgy<\/em> ticket sales would have been far more successful if there had been a relationship with those churches before<\/em> the production was scheduled. And even if there had not been, using the production to begin<\/em> something would have been far superior to the hit-and-run sales effort. If the relationship would have been nurtured from Porgy<\/em> forward, that would have been an acceptable (though not ideal) approach.<\/p>\n But the most important lesson may be that there are people in our communities who are not merely neutral toward the arts but, based on experiences such as this (and even more serious affronts), are hostile to the arts community. This is difficult for many of us to acknowledge, but awareness of the fact prepares us for working in community. Knowing there may be holes out of which we have to dig ourselves is worthwhile knowledge. We can be prepared.<\/p>\n Engage (with care and respect)!<\/p>\n Doug<\/p>\n Many of you, on the basis of the title alone, could write this post yourself. Porgy and Bess is an iconic masterwork of the arts in the U.S. It is justifiably performed countless times by opera companies everywhere. And it sometimes provides a textbook example of the myopia with which arts organizations often conduct themselves […]<\/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":[5,10],"tags":[12,26,13],"class_list":{"0":"post-2053","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-principles","7":"category-the-practice-of-engagement","8":"tag-arts","9":"tag-change","10":"tag-community-engagement","11":"entry","12":"has-post-thumbnail"},"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p1G6h9-x7","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":517,"url":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/2011\/10\/winds-of-change-hgo\/","url_meta":{"origin":2053,"position":0},"title":"Winds of Change: Houston Grand Opera","author":"Doug Borwick","date":"October 12, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"In the minds of the general public, opera is often seen as the most distant and elitist of the arts. (Opera lovers, don't pile on. I'm simply articulating what is a fairly common \"on the street\" perception.) That is why examples of deep community engagement coming from the opera world\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Examples"","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\/08\/WindmillsAtSeaCropped.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":5868,"url":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/2020\/03\/no-mystery\/","url_meta":{"origin":2053,"position":1},"title":"No Mystery!","author":"Doug Borwick","date":"March 4, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"If we are serious about building relationships with new communities, the onus for making the first move and for making our experiences truly welcoming is on us and us alone.","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\/2020\/02\/HolmesBakerStreetUnderground.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":5094,"url":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/2017\/12\/first-you-talk\/","url_meta":{"origin":2053,"position":2},"title":"First You Talk","author":"Doug Borwick","date":"December 6, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"You don't (successfully) begin any relationship by assuming 1) that you know what the other party needs\/wants and 2) that you can provide it. Relationship building begins by listening and learning.","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\/2017\/10\/OperaMemphis-e1509031309306.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":1233,"url":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/2012\/02\/mainstreaming-engagement\/","url_meta":{"origin":2053,"position":3},"title":"Mainstreaming Engagement","author":"Doug Borwick","date":"February 29, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"In a (very) recent post (Shut Up and Listen) I alluded to the article that Sandra Bernhard has written about Houston Grand Opera's HGOco for Building Communities Not Audiences. I also promised (some might say threatened) to follow up on it. One of my very real concerns about the current\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\/2012\/02\/OnTheRiver.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":2250,"url":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/2012\/12\/playin-in-peoria\/","url_meta":{"origin":2053,"position":4},"title":"Playin’ in Peoria","author":"Doug Borwick","date":"December 15, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"In mid-November I had the pleasure of presenting two workshops for Illinois' Local Arts Network, an organization of local arts agencies supported by the Illinois Arts Council and Arts Alliance Illinois. These two gigs, in Oak Park and Peoria, were the shakedown cruise on a new workshop, \"Mainstreaming Engagement,\" designed\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\/2012\/11\/Peoria.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":2873,"url":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/2013\/05\/lessons-from-the-road\/","url_meta":{"origin":2053,"position":5},"title":"Lessons from the Road","author":"Doug Borwick","date":"May 22, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"Since mid-January I have been on a whirlwind tour of the U.S. (and Toronto). I have kept thinking I am going to stop and reflect on all I've learned. So far, though, there's not been time. But I thought I'd at least take a few moments to thank all of\u2026","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":"north america - Google Maps","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/05\/NorthAmerica-300x152.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2053","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=2053"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2053\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2053"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2053"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2053"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}\n
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<\/a> Some rights reserved<\/a> by TeledyN<\/a><\/dt>\n<\/dl>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"