![\"MagnetOyster-Pearl\"](\"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/04\/MagnetOyster-Pearl-300x134.png\")
One issue that every arts organization seeking to engage with its communities must address is the “where” of arts activity. Our unconscious assumption is that art needs to take place in spaces specially designed for the form in question: concert halls, theaters, museums. But just as people unfamiliar with the work we present are intimidated by it, many are reticent to enter the venues to which we have grown accustomed.<\/p>\n
Of course there are excellent reasons to design spaces for art: acoustics, sight lines, lighting. All are vital for the best possible presentation. At the same time, our dedicated edifices preclude specific possibilities. I have come to imagine two metaphors to express this. The function of a magnet is to attract things to it. That is the essence of our edifice-focused approach. Its success is directly related to the strength of the magnet. (Yep, “If we build it . . . .”) The “go out” approach\u2013taking art to where people are\u2013is more like seeding oysters with grains of sand. Sometimes you get a pearl. But if there is no sand, no pearl ever forms. (OK. I know this is a cheesy pair of metaphors, but they might be helpful and they may well “stick.”)<\/p>\n
In workshops I often use the Ode to Joy “Orchestral Flash Mob” video found here: https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=kbJcQYVtZMo<\/a> and ask participants to tell me what they see and then extrapolate lessons for the arts from what they see. It usually excites people because the responses of joy from children and adults are ends we all seek. Recently, I was particularly struck by a participant’s observation that arts organizations needed to “trust the art.” Her point was that great art can speak for itself in extraordinary settings. Certainly there are tradeoffs in degree of focus on the art possible in a public square and the level of detail that can be perceived in non-ideal settings, but at times (not<\/em> all, or even most of, the time!: magnets and<\/em> oysters) such options can be the beginning of deepened relationships with both individuals and communities.<\/p>\n Let the pearls begin.<\/p>\n Engage!<\/p>\n Doug<\/p>\n Magnet:\u00a0\u00a0openclipart.org by\u00a0 Johnny_automatic (public domain) Pull toward us or go out and foster pearls? Both and.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":3556,"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":"Magnets and Oysters\u2013Pull toward us or go out and foster pearls? Both and: http:\/\/wp.me\/p1G6h9-VI","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":[12,13,52],"class_list":{"0":"post-3578","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-principles","8":"category-the-practice-of-engagement","9":"tag-arts","10":"tag-community-engagement","11":"tag-venues","12":"entry"},"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/04\/MagnetOyster-Pearl.png","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p1G6h9-VI","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":5590,"url":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/2019\/04\/presenter-engagement\/","url_meta":{"origin":3578,"position":0},"title":"Presenter Engagement","author":"Doug Borwick","date":"April 24, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"Presenting organizations and community engagement: great potential.","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\/2019\/04\/SegerstromCenterPlaza.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":5616,"url":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/2019\/05\/on-the-road-2\/","url_meta":{"origin":3578,"position":1},"title":"On the Road","author":"Doug Borwick","date":"May 9, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"Community Engagement On the Road","rel":"","context":"In \"arts\"","block_context":{"text":"arts","link":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/tag\/arts\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/Luggage.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":2250,"url":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/2012\/12\/playin-in-peoria\/","url_meta":{"origin":3578,"position":2},"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":2818,"url":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/2013\/05\/engagement-vocabulary\/","url_meta":{"origin":3578,"position":3},"title":"Engagement Vocabulary","author":"Doug Borwick","date":"May 1, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"[Note to new readers: This is a very old and widely read post. In the interest of providing up-to-date information about thinking on this topic, you can find updated definitions of terminology related to community engagement and related arts management tools on the ArtsEngaged website here.] I have on a\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Principles"","block_context":{"text":"Principles","link":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/category\/principles\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Dictionary","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/04\/Dictionary-300x153.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":2724,"url":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/2013\/03\/outreach-%e2%89%a0-community-engagement\/","url_meta":{"origin":3578,"position":4},"title":"Outreach \u2260 Community Engagement","author":"Doug Borwick","date":"March 20, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"I \u00a0sometimes hear people equate outreach with community engagement. In my ongoing effort to clarify the language we use about these matters, I'd like to differentiate between these two terms. For me, the simplest distinction is that outreach is (at best) done \"for,\" community engagement is done \"with.\" \u00a0Outreach, as\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Principles"","block_context":{"text":"Principles","link":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/category\/principles\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"NotEqual","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/01\/NotEqual.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":2552,"url":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/2013\/03\/engaging-the-third-rail-ii\/","url_meta":{"origin":3578,"position":5},"title":"Engaging the Third Rail: II","author":"Doug Borwick","date":"March 2, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"Last time your intrepid blogger embarked upon a consideration of the untouchable heart of the arts enterprise: programming. Herein we continue the journey. ---------- From the previous post: (NB: In these posts on mainstreaming engagement, I am addressing only those individuals or organizations that want broader and deeper relationships with\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Principles"","block_context":{"text":"Principles","link":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/category\/principles\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"ThirdRail","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/02\/ThirdRail-300x258.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3578","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=3578"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3578\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3556"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3578"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3578"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3578"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\nOyster with pearl: ![\"Attribution\"](\"https:\/\/s.yimg.com\/pw\/images\/cc_icon_attribution_small.gif\" "\\"Attribution\\""){kind=icon}
<\/a><\/span> Some rights reserved<\/a> by Anna’s Photos<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"