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When two parties need to bridge distance between them there is a common phrase we use, “I’ll meet you half way.” That appeals to our basic sense of fairness. No one should have to do all the giving in developing (or healing) a relationship.<\/p>\nWhen two parties need to bridge distance between them there is a common phrase we use, “I’ll meet you half way.” That appeals to our basic sense of fairness. No one should have to do all the giving in developing (or healing) a relationship.<\/p>\n
When arts organizations are attempting to develop a relationship (engage) with a new community, that same principle should apply, and we often refer to meeting them half way.\u00a0 But I had a bit of an epiphany (although, yes, it’s a “Duh!”) that in meeting half way, both<\/em> parties have to move<\/strong><\/em>. A commitment to relationship building requires a willingness to move. For an arts organization this means doing some thing or things differently.<\/strong><\/p>\n If there is a belief that commitment to mission precludes much or any “movement” then something has to give. Either assumptions about the mission need to be examined or it will be necessary to recognize that true engagement is unachievable. Fortunately, the only understanding of mission that makes movement toward new communities impossible is one that assumes the way<\/em> it has always been done (time, place, mode of presentation, and all<\/em> content) is the way it must continue to be done.<\/p>\n This framework generates a question to apply in examining engagement activities. “What are you doing differently as a result of your commitment to engagement?<\/strong>” [This question was not among those in the last two posts (Yep, We Do That-Sequel (Part I) <\/a>and Yep, We Do That-Sequel (Part II)<\/a>, but it is like one in my earlier post, Yep, We Do That<\/a>: “In what ways has the work you do been altered, affected by your understanding of your communities (not your assumptions about your communities)?”] More importantly, how would the communities you are trying to reach answer that question<\/strong> about you? If your organization has difficulty responding to the question or if you think communities might have difficulty identifying a change, it’s likely more work needs to be done. It’s time to move<\/em>.<\/p>\n Engage!<\/p>\n Doug<\/p>\n Photo: \n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" A commitment to relationship building requires a willingness to move. For an arts organization this means doing some thing or things differently.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":4032,"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":"Meeting Half Way requires one to move: http:\/\/wp.me\/p1G6h9-130","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":[12,13,48,39],"class_list":{"0":"post-4030","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-mission","11":"tag-relationships","12":"entry"},"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/03\/WomanOnBridge.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p1G6h9-130","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":5368,"url":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/2018\/08\/lots-of-coffee\/","url_meta":{"origin":4030,"position":0},"title":"Lots of Coffee","author":"Doug Borwick","date":"August 29, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"Recently, in a conversation about beginning relationships with new communities, one of our new ArtsEngaged trainers, Anne Cushing-Reid, commented that, especially where there is negative history to be overcome, \"There's a lot of coffee in our future.\" I flashed back to the thousands of cups of coffee I've consumed in\u2026","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\/2018\/08\/CoffeeCups-225x300.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":3526,"url":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/2014\/04\/but-how\/","url_meta":{"origin":4030,"position":1},"title":"But . . . How?","author":"Doug Borwick","date":"April 16, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"Moving arts organizations to greater community involvement is a doable but gradual process.","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":"Questions","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/03\/Questions-143x300.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":4101,"url":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/2015\/05\/parsing-engage\/","url_meta":{"origin":4030,"position":2},"title":"Parsing “Engage”","author":"Doug Borwick","date":"May 13, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"Parsing \"Engage\": considering definitions and implications of similar sounding concepts.","rel":"","context":"In "Principles"","block_context":{"text":"Principles","link":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/category\/principles\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"EngagementRing","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/04\/EngagementRing-e1429555281389.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":59,"url":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/2011\/08\/eightfoldpath\/","url_meta":{"origin":4030,"position":3},"title":"The Eightfold Path to Community Engagement","author":"Doug Borwick","date":"August 27, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"OK, The Arts' Four Noble Truths was entertaining but contained little if any real substance. I'll grant you that. I hope this continuation of my trope on the essential tenets of Buddhism will be a little more nourishing. And let me acknowledge to those of you who are Buddhist that\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\/2011\/07\/100px-Dharma_wheel.svg_.png?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":4374,"url":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/2016\/01\/public-policy-and-community-engagement\/","url_meta":{"origin":4030,"position":4},"title":"Public Policy and Community Engagement","author":"Doug Borwick","date":"January 6, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"Fundraising, marketing, community engagement, and advocacy are all about relationship building.","rel":"","context":"In "Principles"","block_context":{"text":"Principles","link":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/category\/principles\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"BallotBox2","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/BallotBox2-e1448900072562.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":4997,"url":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/2017\/08\/the-boards-role-in-community-engagement-ii\/","url_meta":{"origin":4030,"position":5},"title":"The Board’s Role in Community Engagement: II","author":"Doug Borwick","date":"August 16, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"The board of directors can and should be a supportive resource for community engagement.","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\/2017\/06\/BoardOfDirs-300x199.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4030","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=4030"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4030\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4059,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4030\/revisions\/4059"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4032"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4030"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4030"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4030"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"Attribution\"](\"https:\/\/s.yimg.com\/pw\/images\/cc_icon_attribution_small.gif\" "\\"Attribution\\""){kind=icon}
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