![\"Connecting\"](\"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/01\/Connecting.jpg\")
The root of effective community engagement is a sincere desire, steeped in humility, to be of value. All of the \u201chow\u2019s\u201d proceed from there. The humility required does not stem from any question about the value of art or of the work that an organization presents. Rather, the humility rests in awareness of how much is unknown about the needs and interests of a community with which little or no relationship exists.<\/p>\n
The process of community engagement, of developing relationships with communities, is relatively straightforward, like that of nurturing a new friendship; but it is often most like one in which the individuals are near total strangers at the beginning. That said, there is a fairly straightforward outline\/template of how to proceed. It is the details of the conversations that will be unique in each circumstance.<\/p>\n
With new communities or with ones with which there is only a short-lived history, \u201cgetting to know them\u201d is job one. Conversations should probably begin very simply with something like this:<\/p>\n
In a new relationship when an arts organization says that, the responses will likely run somewhere along a continuum from disbelief to wariness to curiosity, depending on the nature of any contact the community has had with art or arts organizations. This is an especially difficult obstacle to surmount if previous experiences have been negative.<\/p>\n
The potential community partner will likely have little experience with the arts. The next step in the conversation is not \u201cWhat do you want?\u201d (As has been discussed here numerous times before, they will likely not have any significant depth of knowledge of art.) That discounts the organization\u2019s expertise in the art’s history and repertoire. Instead, guide the community with this proposition:<\/p>\n
The series of conversations addressing this is the time-consuming element of the process. Trust must be built before much real sharing, especially of concerns, can take place. If there have been negative experiences, this will be difficult; much less so if the community you approach has no history with the arts. Over time, listen <\/em>to what the community says in response to this prompt. Eventually, there will be enough information that arts-based means of supporting the community will suggest themselves.<\/p>\n Finally, the arts organization should not overreach. It should not attempt to do too much too soon. Do nothing until a true relationship exists and there is clarity about how to proceed. And rather than striving to make a significant<\/em> difference, start small. Simply seek to make\u00a0some<\/em>\u00a0difference. Projects with greater impact best grow from small successes.<\/p>\n Engage!<\/p>\n Doug<\/p>\n Connecting with communities: “getting to know them” is job one.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":3993,"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":"Connecting with Communities: A Conversation Template","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":[10],"tags":[12,13,39],"class_list":{"0":"post-3990","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-the-practice-of-engagement","8":"tag-arts","9":"tag-community-engagement","10":"tag-relationships","11":"entry"},"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/01\/Connecting.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p1G6h9-12m","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":3958,"url":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/2015\/01\/engagement-principles-2\/","url_meta":{"origin":3990,"position":0},"title":"Engagement Principles: Current Thoughts","author":"Doug Borwick","date":"January 21, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"Engagement Principles: Humility, respect, reciprocity, mutual benefit, core motivations","rel":"","context":"In "Principles"","block_context":{"text":"Principles","link":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/category\/principles\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"ThinkerWithSunburst","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/12\/ThinkerWithSunburst.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":6402,"url":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/2021\/07\/equity-and-engagement\/","url_meta":{"origin":3990,"position":1},"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":6700,"url":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/2023\/02\/saving-virtue\/","url_meta":{"origin":3990,"position":2},"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":[]},{"id":4255,"url":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/2015\/09\/best-practices\/","url_meta":{"origin":3990,"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":3182,"url":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/2013\/11\/discovering-humility\/","url_meta":{"origin":3990,"position":4},"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":6252,"url":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/2021\/01\/connect\/","url_meta":{"origin":3990,"position":5},"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":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3990","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=3990"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3990\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4009,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3990\/revisions\/4009"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3993"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3990"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3990"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3990"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}\n
![\"Attribution\"](\"https:\/\/s.yimg.com\/pw\/images\/cc_icon_attribution_small.gif\" "\\"Attribution\\""){kind=icon}
<\/a><\/span> Some rights reserved<\/a> by visulogik<\/a><\/dt>\n<\/dl>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"