{"id":4402,"date":"2016-01-20T02:00:06","date_gmt":"2016-01-20T07:00:06","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/?p=4402"},"modified":"2016-01-19T11:16:18","modified_gmt":"2016-01-19T16:16:18","slug":"afas-follow-up","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/2016\/01\/afas-follow-up\/","title":{"rendered":"AfAS Follow Up"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"AfAS\"\u201cArt for art\u2019s sake\u201d is a concept that always generates discussion and passion. My last post (Art for Art\u2019s Sake Revisited<\/a>) was no exception. My good friend Andrew Taylor took me to task both for things I said and for some he assumed I did. (See his comments following the post.) He forced me to refine the intent of that post and in the process several things were clarified for me.<\/p>\n

There are two points I was trying to make. First and by far the more important one in the context of this blog was that AfAS is insider baseball that is mystifying to outsiders and, potentially, an impediment to bringing them to an appreciation of the power of the arts. That\u2019s the critical thing for the issue of attempting to build relationships with new communities.<\/p>\n

Second\u2013and I see this now as something I perhaps should have addressed separately\u2013is an observation that we should examine our insider use of the phrase AfAS like I was suggesting with my observations about \u201cmusic is the universal language.\u201d The words AfAS do not really mean what most people who use them intend: art for the sake of art. I continue to believe the face value meaning of those words is not what we are trying to say. Our allegiance to AfAS as a truism is rooted in our understanding of what the phrase represents. (I did not intend for my framing of \u201cart being important\u201d as being the only<\/em> meaning of it, though I can see how it can be read that way.)<\/p>\n

In the back and forth on this topic, my buddy Bill Cleveland got in touch and shared an article of his from the 10\/20\/15 issue of Public Art Review. (Bravo, Sort of<\/a>) He reminds us that if we use exclusionary language, people will hear it. \u201cHaven\u2019t we learned the hard way that, in our media-saturated world, there is no longer such a thing as a private conversation\u2014and, surprise, surprise, that the way we communicate about art is often more impactful than the art itself?\u201d<\/p>\n

Also, George Tzougros from the Wisconsin Art Board shared this with me: Chancellor endorses art for art\u2019s sake<\/a>. It was published the same day of my post. \ud83d\ude42 As I told George, We mean so many things by AfAS. But rarely if ever what the words by themselves suggest. I\u2019m totally on board with the Chancellor of the Exchequer saying that the arts have far more importance than economic impact. It\u2019s just that, again, it\u2019s not for the sake of art, it\u2019s for the sake of human beings (even \u201cjust\u201d the artist!).<\/p>\n

My interest in this blog is not to address the issue of artists and their relationship with the community. (I will continue to suggest that there may be ways of expanding opportunity for as well as the depth of<\/em> artistic expression in artists being more community aware, but that\u2019s a very different topic.) My self-assigned portfolio is arts organizations and here again Andrew made a good point. I sometimes conflate artists and arts organizations subconsciously because I come to this work from having been a composer and conductor. The artist frame of reference is easy to fall into. But my work in this blog and in my books, except where otherwise stated, is intended to focus exclusively on the relationship between arts organizations and their communities.<\/p>\n

Engage!<\/p>\n

Doug<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Expansions, clarifications, further thoughts on Art for Art’s Sake<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":4393,"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":"More on Art for Art's Sake","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":[12,13,23],"class_list":{"0":"post-4402","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-intrinsic","11":"entry"},"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/AfAS.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p1G6h9-190","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":4379,"url":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/2016\/01\/art-for-arts-sake-revisited\/","url_meta":{"origin":4402,"position":0},"title":"Art for Art’s Sake Revisited","author":"Doug Borwick","date":"January 13, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"Art for art's sake is a self-evident truth for all of us for whom it is self-evident. However, for the many who are not true believers the concept is either incomprehensible, off-putting, or both.","rel":"","context":"In "Principles"","block_context":{"text":"Principles","link":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/category\/principles\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"AfAS","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/AfAS.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/AfAS.jpg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/AfAS.jpg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/AfAS.jpg?resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":4608,"url":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/2016\/08\/fifth-anniversary-highlights-art-for-arts-sake\/","url_meta":{"origin":4402,"position":1},"title":"Fifth Anniversary Highlights: Art for Art’s Sake?","author":"Doug Borwick","date":"August 10, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"Fifth Anniversary Highlights: Art for Art's Sake?","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\/2016\/07\/FiveCandles.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":1005,"url":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/2012\/01\/art-for-arts-sake\/","url_meta":{"origin":4402,"position":2},"title":"Art for Art’s Sake? There’s No Such Thing","author":"Doug Borwick","date":"January 11, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"So here is a bit of heresy for the New Year. A recent post by Clayton Lord on his blog New Beans, This Is Your Brain on Art (sizzle, sizzle), reminded me of my first exposure to the Rand Corporation's 2005 Gifts of the Muse study. A distinction was made\u2026","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\/2012\/01\/PaintBrushes.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":5720,"url":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/2019\/10\/mission-creep\/","url_meta":{"origin":4402,"position":3},"title":"Mission Creep??!!","author":"Doug Borwick","date":"October 16, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"If connecting people with the arts represents \"mission creep\" for your organization, your organization needs to seriously re-examine it's mission.","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\/09\/Mission.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":2970,"url":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/2013\/07\/benefits-of-the-arts\/","url_meta":{"origin":4402,"position":4},"title":"Benefits of the Arts","author":"Doug Borwick","date":"July 31, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"One of the best things about blogging (especially in the summer when so many of my colleagues in academia are paying less attention) is the opportunity to experiment with ideas that are, shall we say, not fully baked. 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