{"id":209,"date":"2011-08-17T12:00:00","date_gmt":"2011-08-17T16:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/?p=209"},"modified":"2011-09-02T09:39:54","modified_gmt":"2011-09-02T13:39:54","slug":"under-the-radar","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/2011\/08\/under-the-radar\/","title":{"rendered":"Under the Radar"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"

Photo credits below<\/p><\/div>\n

Last week, in Winds of Change<\/a>, I began a series of posts sharing examples of established arts organizations committed to substantive community engagement. This week I am introducing another category for your consideration.<\/p>\n

The arts began engaged with the communities they served. That’s the history of the field. The disconnect that is a foundational concern of this blog is 1) comparatively new, 2)\u00a0 a function of socio-economic evolution, and 3) largely limited to the not-for-profit arts industry and its cousins outside the U.S. The high visibility of the established arts community, at least among “movers and shakers” inside and outside the arts, has often eclipsed brilliant work being done at the grassroots (and higher) level by what I will call community arts practitioners. (My idiosyncratic operating definition of “community arts” is “arts-based projects intentionally designed to address community issues.”) Participants in this work, either historically or in the 1960’s and subsequent “revival,” know who they are. Those outside their world, especially those of us in the established arts community, often have no awareness of them. I plan to have a series of posts highlighting their work in order to widen awareness of their examples and, importantly, their “lessons learned” in how to link the arts with communities. I am going to call this series “Under the Radar,” not because the work is actually unknown, but because it existed (and to a certain extent still exists) outside the conscious awareness of the arts establishment.<\/p>\n

I hesitate to name names because so many will be missed and because my own awareness of the field is limited. But a few come to mind to be sought out: Caron Atlas, Barbara Schaffer Bacon, Linda Frye Burnham, William Cleveland, Dudley Cocke, Jan Cohen-Cruz, Kathy deNobriega, Steve Durland, Maryo Gard Ewell, Arlene Goldbard, Pam Korza, John Malpede, Marty Pottenger. These are significant figures who have toiled for decades to make art meaningful in the lives of average citizens all over the U.S. and all over the world. Their work should be widely known by anyone hoping to make a life in the arts.<\/p>\n

For this first foray “under the radar,” I want to highlight a recent series of interviews with William Cleveland that can be found on Barry’s Blog<\/a> from last month. Bill directs the Center for the Study of Art and Community<\/a> and is most recently the author\/editor of Between Grace and Fear: The Role of the Arts in a Time of Change<\/a>. [Disclosure: Bill has also contributed a revision of his article “Arts-based Community Development: Mapping the Terrain” to my book, Building Communities, Not Audiences<\/a>.<\/em>]<\/p>\n

Bill is a deep thinker about the relationship between the arts and communities. I will paste below links to all three parts of the interview. As mere teasers, let me present a few of my favorite quotations. (I should also point out that in the interview Bill himself uses the phrase “under the radar” to describe some of this type of work over the last forty years.)<\/p>\n

\n

I would . . . argue that many arts organizations do not see themselves as active incubators for artistic or community cultural development. <\/em>[Nevertheless,<\/em>] [m]ore and more artists and arts organizations are recognizing that the ‘artist as genius-hobo-Martian narrative’ is a dysfunctional product of our community culture . . . . These creators see their work and their roles as part of a cultural ecosystem that can only thrive when it is woven into the broader fabric of community life.<\/em><\/p>\n

I\u2019m not just talking about community-based arts here. I\u2019m talking about community-informed, community-responsive arts at every level. What do Willy Loman, King Hedley, and the Joad family have to say to job starved communities like Detroit and Fresno and Charlestown. What does a dance like Martha Graham\u2019s, \u201cTime is Money\u201d or \u201cAppalachian Spring\u201d have to say about hard times and hard feelings in Des Moines or Tallahassee.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

And who couldn’t love someone who not only knows but says the following:<\/p>\n

\n

Recession or no, this is still the only a place on earth where average annual expenditure for pink flamingo garden ornaments exceeds the budget of the national arts agency.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

I invite you to spend the time necessary to consider this thought-provoking interview.<\/p>\n

http:\/\/blog.westaf.org\/2011\/07\/interview-with-bill-cleveland-part-i.html<\/a>
\nhttp:\/\/blog.westaf.org\/2011\/07\/bill-cleveland-interview-part-ii.html<\/a>
\nhttp:\/\/blog.westaf.org\/2011\/07\/bill-cleveland-interview-part-iii.html<\/a><\/p>\n

Engage!<\/p>\n

Doug<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"Attribution\"\"Noncommercial\"\"No<\/a> Some rights reserved<\/a> by Captain Smurf<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Last week, in Winds of Change, I began a series of posts sharing examples of established arts organizations committed to substantive community engagement. This week I am introducing another category for your consideration. The arts began engaged with the communities they served. That’s the history of the field. The disconnect that is a foundational concern […]<\/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":[6,8],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-209","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-examples","7":"category-under-the-radar","8":"entry","9":"has-post-thumbnail"},"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p1G6h9-3n","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":384,"url":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/2011\/09\/under-the-radar-2\/","url_meta":{"origin":209,"position":0},"title":"Under the Radar-2","author":"Doug Borwick","date":"September 7, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"For over a decade, the Community Arts Network was the world's single most comprehensive website devoted the potential that the arts represent for community growth and improvement. It will be shocking to some that I include it in the \"Under the Radar\" category. For those of us vitally interested in\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\/Radar.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":356,"url":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/2011\/08\/cat-institute\/","url_meta":{"origin":209,"position":1},"title":"CAT Institute","author":"Doug Borwick","date":"August 31, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"Last year I had the good fortune to attend a conference, At the Crossroads, hosted the Regional Arts Commission of St. Louis. There I met or got re-acquainted with a number of people active in the community arts movement. I also had the opportunity to get some first-hand insight into\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Examples"","block_context":{"text":"Examples","link":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/category\/examples\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1679,"url":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/2012\/06\/at-last\/","url_meta":{"origin":209,"position":2},"title":"At Last","author":"Doug Borwick","date":"June 9, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"At long last, Building Communities, Not Audiences: The Future of the Arts in the United States, is available for purchase. The paperback is available by clicking this link for CreateSpace. (It's also available at Amazon, but my accountant will be happier if you use the CreateSpace link.) The ebook version\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\/9780972780421-200x300.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":3445,"url":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/2014\/04\/call-for-stories\/","url_meta":{"origin":209,"position":3},"title":"Call for Stories","author":"Doug Borwick","date":"April 22, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"In advocating for community engagement work, one of the most important elements is identifying and sharing stories of examples of what works (and of projects that could have been improved). For years, the Community Arts Network (CAN) was a great source of such stories. Unfortunately they had to close up\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "EM's List"","block_context":{"text":"EM's List","link":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/category\/examples\/ems-list\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Gard Foundation logo","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/02\/Gard-Foundation-logo.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":2984,"url":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/2013\/10\/irrigate\/","url_meta":{"origin":209,"position":4},"title":"Irrigate","author":"Doug Borwick","date":"October 5, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=4oePXcW6axk Springboard for the Arts has been developing buzz in the creative placemaking world of late. I've heard presentations about their work at several conferences this year. At the Americans for the Arts conference in Pittsburgh in June I got to meet Laura Zabel, Springboard's extremely energetic ED. Springboard began\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\/img.youtube.com\/vi\/4oePXcW6axk\/0.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":1201,"url":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/2012\/02\/shut-up-and-listen\/","url_meta":{"origin":209,"position":5},"title":"Shut Up and Listen","author":"Doug Borwick","date":"February 18, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"In this blog I attempt to highlight essential principles of effective community engagement work. In my recent posts Lead or Follow? and Equality in Engagement, I have tried to make the point that communities have valuable things to tell us when we work with them\u2013not just about topics or issues\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\/JensEar.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/209","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=209"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/209\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=209"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=209"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=209"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}