{"id":2908,"date":"2013-05-15T03:14:54","date_gmt":"2013-05-15T07:14:54","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/?p=2908"},"modified":"2013-05-15T03:14:54","modified_gmt":"2013-05-15T07:14:54","slug":"more-on-artists-and-engagement","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/2013\/05\/more-on-artists-and-engagement\/","title":{"rendered":"More on Artists and Engagement"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Beethoven\"The principal focus of this blog is arts organizations, but occasionally issues related to individual artists come up. The two primary categories where that\u2019s true are the applicability of community engagement to expanded opportunities for artist-entrepreneurs and the role of artists in the arts and community engagement (as in my last post, I Blame Beethoven<\/a>). This is more about the latter.<\/p>\n

I recently had a comment\/reply conversation with an individual artist who took me to task 1) for suggesting that there was merit in fostering the creation of more art that grows out of relationship with the community and 2) for pointing out that some artists consider the fact that \u201cthe public\u201d doesn\u2019t understand them to be a badge of honor.<\/p>\n

Taking the second point first, I have known some artists who in the privacy of their own minds and aloud among like-minded peers do not believe the person on the street is sophisticated enough to understand their work. I have often asked arts professionals (artists and administrators) who say that \u201cThe arts are for everyone\u201d whether they really <\/i>believe that their work is for or can speak to Bubba or Bobbie Sue. There are many, many, many artists who say \u201cYes\u201d and demonstrate the truth of their answer. Others are silent; a rare few admit out loud that they don\u2019t believe it is or can. And that attitude is one (relatively small) brick in the wall between the arts and the public. No one wants to enter into a relationship with someone who looks down on them. It\u2019s not a factor nearly as significant as the structural, financial, and training elements that separate arts organizations from the public; but it is one worth mentioning in the context of this blog.<\/p>\n

I respect the fact that some artists don\u2019t believe that any of their peers actually think this way. In the nearly two years of writing this blog I have become very aware that my experience is simply my own, that others in the industry have very different backgrounds and that age, art form, region, and place of operation (academia vs. \u201cin the trenches,\u201d for example) have a huge impact on our understand of \u201cwhat is.\u201d That said, at least to some extent, I don\u2019t think my experience is a complete aberration.<\/p>\n