![\"Angel\"](\"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/08\/Angel-208x300.jpg\")
Where angels fear to tread . . . !<\/p>\nWhere angels fear to tread . . . !<\/p>\n
If changing environmental factors\u2013like the rise of digital photography that decimated the world of photographic film production (remember Polaroid and Eastman Kodak)\u2013threaten the future of the arts industry (The Buggy Whip Lesson<\/a>), what should be done? We must seek an expression of the core purpose of art that is viable in the new landscape.<\/strong> For the photographic industry, the shift was from focus on a hard copy image (a product) to image capture devices and the sharing of those images <\/em>(products and services).<\/p>\n At the risk of re-repetition, let’s be clear that the arts will always exist. It’s the arts industry\/infrastructure\/establishment that is of concern here. (And to clarify, this is not a discussion of the role of artists. This is about institutions.)<\/p>\n In the Western world, since the time of the Church in the Middle Ages the role of the arts establishment has been the production and\/or presentation of art.<\/strong> (Note that visual artists are the producers of individual works; the institutions\u2013galleries and museums\u2013produce and present exhibits, exhibitions, and collections. In the performing arts, choreographers, composers, and playwrights create the equivalent of blueprints for work that others produce and present.) This worked as long as costs (primarily labor) were low and support sources (the Church, government, wealthy individuals, and corporations) were sufficiently committed to the product to fund it. Today both sides of the equation have shifted so much\u2013increased expense and rapidly declining will (or ability) to fund a Eurocentric spectator experience\u2013that an existential threat exists for the industry.<\/p>\n On the resources side, the key to the future lies in a dramatic increase in perceived public value<\/strong>. This will impact all potential institutional sources of support by increasing voter (for public support) and stockholder (for corporate support) understanding of the value of the arts. In addition, it will vastly expand the number of people interested in making personal contributions. But the path to this Nirvana runs through being<\/em> valuable to people in ways far beyond continuing to do what we’ve always done. <\/strong>(There is little we can do on the expense side of the professional arts, since labor will only grow more expensive over time. One option would be to adopt a greater role\u2013not an exclusive role\u2013as supporter of opportunities for citizen artists to create and perform. This would cost less and would help develop increased public value.)<\/p>\n Like the producers of photographic film, newspapers, and buggy whips, the time is ripe (if not over-ripe) for the arts industry to re-examine its core mission. Survival depends upon it. The fundamental “metamission” shift needs to be from focus on a product and its delivery to a focus on community<\/strong> and how the arts can support it\u2013<\/strong>a service orientation, one honoring the integrity of the art.<\/p>\n Simply put, it’s not “about” the art; it’s about the arts’ interaction with people <\/strong>and how it benefits them. While this may seem a radical break from current habits of thought about art in our industry, it is essential.<\/p>\n We must seek more ways for our work to benefit more of the public directly, especially those who are not now convinced that any significant benefits exist for them.<\/strong> Fortunately, in practice this transformation need not be as world-shaking as some might fear.<\/p>\n Engage!<\/p>\n Doug<\/p>\n Photo: Where angels fear to tread . . . ! If changing environmental factors\u2013like the rise of digital photography that decimated the world of photographic film production (remember Polaroid and Eastman Kodak)\u2013threaten the future of the arts industry (The Buggy Whip Lesson), what should be done? We must seek an expression of the core purpose of […]<\/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":"The Metamission of Arts Institutions-What is the fundamental role of arts institutions? http:\/\/wp.me\/p1G6h9-Os","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":[4],"tags":[12,21,13,48],"class_list":{"0":"post-3128","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-overview","7":"tag-arts","8":"tag-business-model","9":"tag-community-engagement","10":"tag-mission","11":"entry","12":"has-post-thumbnail"},"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p1G6h9-Os","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":3474,"url":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/2014\/03\/indispensability\/","url_meta":{"origin":3128,"position":0},"title":"Indispensability","author":"Doug Borwick","date":"March 5, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"When we engage, when we seek to serve the community good, we begin to gain traction as being necessary. That is a substantial base upon which to build.","rel":"","context":"In "Principles"","block_context":{"text":"Principles","link":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/category\/principles\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"BecomeIndispensable","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/02\/BecomeIndispensable-e1392744802805.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":6503,"url":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/2021\/11\/slow-simple-2\/","url_meta":{"origin":3128,"position":1},"title":"Doing Art","author":"Doug Borwick","date":"November 3, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"Arts participation is a patently obvious foundation upon which to build broad support for the arts. Most arts organizations should seriously consider emphasizing this as a core function.","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":5817,"url":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/2020\/01\/new-years-manifesto\/","url_meta":{"origin":3128,"position":2},"title":"New Year’s Manifesto","author":"Doug Borwick","date":"January 15, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"First draft of a statement on the need for and the path to effective community engagement.","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\/2020\/01\/Quill.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":3679,"url":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/2014\/07\/afta-thoughts-2014\/","url_meta":{"origin":3128,"position":3},"title":"AftA Thoughts (2014)","author":"Doug Borwick","date":"July 9, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"Americans for the Arts held its annual conference in Nashville last month. As always, it was a chance to catch up with long-time colleagues, make new friends, and delve into the issues facing what I call the \"arts establishment.\" I had the pleasure of helping facilitate a gathering of researchers\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Overview"","block_context":{"text":"Overview","link":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/category\/overview\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Nashville","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/06\/Nashville.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":4781,"url":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/2016\/12\/wine-and-cheese\/","url_meta":{"origin":3128,"position":4},"title":"Wine and Cheese?","author":"Doug Borwick","date":"December 14, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"Why is our industry so closely tied to wine and cheese?","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":"beer_and_wine","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/11\/Beer_and_Wine-e1479400193991.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":3351,"url":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/2014\/01\/go-to-the-gemba\/","url_meta":{"origin":3128,"position":5},"title":"Go to the Gemba","author":"Doug Borwick","date":"January 8, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"Show of hands. Who knows what the title of this post means? As I've mentioned before, my son is a higher ed IT management consultant. From him I learn many fascinating things about what's going on in the world of management theory and practice. Recently he told me that one\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Principles"","block_context":{"text":"Principles","link":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/category\/principles\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Gemba","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/12\/Gemba-300x146.png?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3128","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=3128"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3128\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3128"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3128"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3128"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"Attribution\"](\"http:\/\/l.yimg.com\/g\/images\/cc_icon_attribution_small.gif\" "\\"Attribution\\""){kind=icon}
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<\/a> Some rights reserved<\/a> by Juliett-Foxtrott<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"