{"id":3081,"date":"2013-07-24T06:44:53","date_gmt":"2013-07-24T10:44:53","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/?p=3081"},"modified":"2013-07-24T06:44:53","modified_gmt":"2013-07-24T10:44:53","slug":"inspire-delight-and-surprise","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/2013\/07\/inspire-delight-and-surprise\/","title":{"rendered":"Inspire, Delight, and Surprise"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"InspireDelightSurprise\"It has been a while since I have cribbed from Nina Simon here. The time is right. Her recent post, Hack the Museum Camp, Part 2<\/a>, was a lot of fun, with much good food for thought about our curatorial and management processes. In it she describes an adult summer camp for museum professionals and artists in which teams devised exhibits for an exhibition of work from the Santa Cruz Museum of Art & History collection. There are good lessons there about how to approach team projects, about the value of doing<\/em> things rather than talking about them (I’m going to try to keep that lesson in mind for my workshops!), and about diversity. You might imagine that I was swooning in ecstasy over her observation, “Diversity isn’t just nice to have–it’s fabulous.<\/b>” The discovery at camp was that the greater the diversity in each group, the better the result.<\/p>\n

But there was one passage that stopped me in my tracks. In talking about what she would do differently, she observed:<\/p>\n

I wish we had focused more on a theme like “make an exhibit that is completely delightful and surprising” and less on “make an exhibit that takes a risk.”<\/em><\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Her point here was primarily about focusing on the positive and<\/em> on the museum attendee and less on the teachings of museology and the caution that comes with insider experience. However, I eventually tumbled to an application of this more generally for community engagement work. When curating with the community in mind, we should be imagining what would be delightful and surprising to them. That’s the magic of the arts. And it’s a way of thinking that feels far more comfortable to many (I’m sure) than focusing on community needs, even community interests. What I would add to this is something that I am confident Ms. Simon’s campers were thinking anyway, since that’s what we all do in this business, but I would add “inspire” to the list. That gives voice to what we are attempting as we seek to connect with a broader community.<\/p>\n

The element of this that most appeals to me is that in order to “inspire, delight, and surprise” we must know<\/em> the people we are trying to reach<\/strong>. We cannot do so otherwise and we are even intuitively aware of the fact. Attempting to do those three things immediately leads us to questions about who “they” are, what they value, what they know (and don’t). It humanizes what may otherwise be a faceless mass and forces us to get up, get out, and get to know them. Only then will be able to fulfill the directive.<\/p>\n

Engage! (so that you can<\/em> Inspire, Delight, and Surprise)<\/p>\n

Doug<\/p>\n

Photos:
\nInspire (Light Bulb): \"Attribution\"<\/a> Some rights reserved<\/a> by Joi<\/a>
\nDelight (Middle):\"Attribution\"\"Noncommercial\"\"Share<\/a> Some rights reserved<\/a> by Nagesh Kamath<\/a>
\nSurprise (Right):\"Attribution\"<\/a> Some rights reserved<\/a> by Tetsumo<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

It has been a while since I have cribbed from Nina Simon here. The time is right. Her recent post, Hack the Museum Camp, Part 2, was a lot of fun, with much good food for thought about our curatorial and management processes. In it she describes an adult summer camp for museum professionals and […]<\/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":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[5,10],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-3081","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-principles","7":"category-the-practice-of-engagement","8":"entry","9":"has-post-thumbnail"},"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p1G6h9-NH","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":3715,"url":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/2014\/07\/civil-rights-museum\/","url_meta":{"origin":3081,"position":0},"title":"Civil Rights Museum","author":"Doug Borwick","date":"July 23, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"The arts can provide opportunities for healing or reconciliation, but developing the relationships that will allow them to be developed requires humility, respect, and serious efforts to understand.","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\/2014\/07\/CivilRightsMuseumImages.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":4229,"url":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/2015\/08\/afta-thoughts-2015-staff-diversity\/","url_meta":{"origin":3081,"position":1},"title":"AftA Thoughts 2015: Staff Diversity","author":"Doug Borwick","date":"August 5, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"What if arts organizations were seen as robust contributors to better lives for African-Americans, Hispanics, recent immigrants, the poor, the disenfranchised? Enhance diversity by being valuable.","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\/06\/DiverseStaff-e1435326777756.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":6464,"url":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/2021\/10\/not-charity\/","url_meta":{"origin":3081,"position":2},"title":"Not Charity","author":"Doug Borwick","date":"October 6, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"For California's Riverside Art Museum relationship building with the area's Hispanic communities led directly to a huge influx of capital and a massive expansion of the facilities.","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\/2013\/04\/Gold-e1427122302387.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":1654,"url":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/2012\/06\/the-atlanta-opera\/","url_meta":{"origin":3081,"position":3},"title":"The Atlanta Opera","author":"Doug Borwick","date":"June 6, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"EM's List Member Folk Tales and The Atlanta Opera [This post is by EM's List Editor\/Curator, Stephanie Moore] The Atlanta Opera has been a part of the arts and culture scene in Atlanta, Georgia since 1979. This year they commissioned their first opera, Rabbit Tales. A contemporary, one-hour children\u2019s opera,\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":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/06\/Atlanta.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":4874,"url":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/2017\/04\/doin-it-museums\/","url_meta":{"origin":3081,"position":4},"title":"Doin’ 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 "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\/02\/MetropolitanMuseum.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":2260,"url":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/2012\/12\/holiday-gift\/","url_meta":{"origin":3081,"position":5},"title":"Holiday Gift","author":"Doug Borwick","date":"December 29, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"Few people are really spending time investigating professional reading at this pre-New Year moment. 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