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As part of my new work of providing direct support to organizations in efforts to more effectively engage with their communities I’ve been rethinking, expanding, and refining my thoughts on the most important characteristics and attitudes in doing so. I’m grateful to the Regional Arts Commission in St. Louis for the opportunity to dig down into this with their grantees. Here is where I am now.<\/p>\n
Humility Respect Reciprocity If the equation is vastly out of balance, we are not likely to be successful in gaining the support of the communities we seek.<\/p>\n Mutually beneficial collaboration Core Motivations Engage!<\/p>\n Doug<\/p>\n Photo: Engagement Principles: Humility, respect, reciprocity, mutual benefit, core motivations<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":3964,"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":"Engagement Principles: Current Thoughts http:\/\/wp.me\/p1G6h9-11Q","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],"tags":[12,13,36,39],"class_list":{"0":"post-3958","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-principles","8":"tag-arts","9":"tag-community-engagement","10":"tag-partnership","11":"tag-relationships","12":"entry"},"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/12\/ThinkerWithSunburst.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p1G6h9-11Q","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":6402,"url":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/2021\/07\/equity-and-engagement\/","url_meta":{"origin":3958,"position":0},"title":"Equity and Engagement","author":"Doug Borwick","date":"July 14, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"Good practices in community engagement and DEI work are closely related. Let's work together on them simultaneously.","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\/2021\/07\/Equity2.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":3182,"url":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/2013\/11\/discovering-humility\/","url_meta":{"origin":3958,"position":1},"title":"Discovering Humility","author":"Doug Borwick","date":"November 6, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"Expertise and passion are essential for the creation and presentation of art. At the same time, expertise and passion can be roadblocks to reaching communities. They separate us from those without them and make communicating difficult. It is a challenge for the passionate expert to understand those who do not\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Principles"","block_context":{"text":"Principles","link":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/category\/principles\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"BuriedTreasure","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/09\/BuriedTreasure.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":5653,"url":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/2019\/07\/the-long-road\/","url_meta":{"origin":3958,"position":2},"title":"The Long Road","author":"Doug Borwick","date":"July 24, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"Humility and respect: the keys to successful 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\/2019\/06\/LongRoad-500x400.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":4255,"url":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/2015\/09\/best-practices\/","url_meta":{"origin":3958,"position":3},"title":"Best Practices","author":"Doug Borwick","date":"September 2, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"Examples of community engagement success are often not transferable.","rel":"","context":"In "Principles"","block_context":{"text":"Principles","link":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/category\/principles\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"BestPracitces?","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/07\/BestPracitces-e1437663788937.png?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":6252,"url":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/2021\/01\/connect\/","url_meta":{"origin":3958,"position":4},"title":"Connect","author":"Doug Borwick","date":"January 13, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"The viability of our industry depends upon developing relationships\u2013making connections\u2013with many new communities. The bases for success are respect and humility.","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\/2021\/01\/Connect.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":6700,"url":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/2023\/02\/saving-virtue\/","url_meta":{"origin":3958,"position":5},"title":"Saving Virtue","author":"Doug Borwick","date":"February 22, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"There is no substitute for the listening and learning that effective engagement requires and there is no substitute for effective engagement if we are to make our organizations viable for the long term.","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\/2023\/02\/humility.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3958","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=3958"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3958\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3966,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3958\/revisions\/3966"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3964"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3958"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3958"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3958"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\n<\/strong>Perhaps the most important requirement for successful community engagement is humility\u2013awareness of both the organization’s capacities and<\/em> areas of ignorance. The latter becomes especially important in dealing with communities that are new and\/or unfamiliar to the organization.<\/p>\n
\n<\/strong>Directly related to humility is respect for those not expert in the arts\u2013respect as people and respect as having expertise that we do not.<\/p>\n
\n<\/strong>As I have said almost countless times before, there is no need to “dumb down” anything we do to engage with new communities. They do, after all, deserve our respect. (And if we can’t give it, we’d best stay away from engagement efforts.) However, there is an unconscious tendency to demand a lot from outsiders in order for them to appreciate what we offer\u2013understanding of the history, techniques, and practices of our disciplines as well as background on the individual works we present. It’s OK to demand that for them to appreciate our offerings. BUT, if we are expecting much of them, in fairness, we should invest as much in the relationship. Here are two questions that are good to consider:<\/p>\n\n
\n<\/strong>Effective community engagement stems from partnerships between communities and arts organizations. The most important foundation is that those partnerships must be mutually beneficial. If there is not identifiable benefit to the community and<\/em> to the arts organization, the work will not be sustainable and it will also not be successful as engagement. In all such work it is necessary to bear in mind that the community brings expertise in community interests and function and arts organizations bring knowledge of art and its processes. They can’t get along without each other.<\/p>\n
\n<\/strong>Finally, the values that make the arts organization “tick” toward community engagement can make or break the relationship. The three things listed here do not represent all that’s important in making engagement work, but they’re not a bad start.<\/p>\n\n
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<\/a><\/span> Some rights reserved<\/a> by davidyuweb<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"