{"id":4476,"date":"2016-03-16T02:00:47","date_gmt":"2016-03-16T06:00:47","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/?p=4476"},"modified":"2016-03-15T11:16:27","modified_gmt":"2016-03-15T15:16:27","slug":"diversity-and-genuine-engagement","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/2016\/03\/diversity-and-genuine-engagement\/","title":{"rendered":"Diversity and Genuine Engagement"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Diversity\"In February Malesha Taylor posted “Is Your Theatre Only ‘Diverse and Inclusive’ Twice a Year?<\/a>“, a meditation on diversity initiatives, outreach, and inclusiveness on HowlRound. There were so many spot on observations it’s hard to know where to begin.<\/p>\n

She begins by describing a ten-week consultancy she had with a theatre company to foster diverse audience development. When she began she “was in a mindset of ‘audience development’ but soon discovered [her] best approach would be to be in a mindset of genuine community engagement.” She bemoans an all-too-prevalent assumption that diversity can be achieved by one-off or short term efforts. (When do lasting relationships really form out of a single attempt at speed-dating?) She concludes that too many attempts to achieve diversity are simply seeking ways to sell more tickets: “Can the theatre see itself as a benefit to the community and not the other way around?” (When stated this baldly, the self-serving nature of this kind of pursuit of “diversity” is pretty obvious.) She cites the problem with “outreach” quoting Emily Golding-Olivera:<\/p>\n

Why do we see communities of color as targets of \u201coutreach\u201d instead of our customer base? African Americans consumers command a total of 1 trillion dollars of spending power. Companies that build these relationships are benefiting, in both the short and long-term.<\/em><\/p>\n

(This is a long-standing hot button for me. See Outreach<\/a>).<\/p>\n

And the issue of the myopic quest for diversity is one I have addressed previously (The Self-Centered Pursuit of Diversity<\/a>):<\/p>\n

“Diverse audiences” as a goal is self-serving, it’s self-focused\/artcentric. It’s about making the organization look better or feel better about itself. The goal should be serving\/making life better for diverse communities.<\/em><\/p>\n

But it is the concern with “genuine community engagement” that most interests me here. Her advice:<\/p>\n

If the community is to be reflected in the theatre, and the community is in fact diverse, why not simply engage in an organic relationship <\/em>[an on-going, permanent one] with the community and let the diversity in the audience be a result of that engagement? “<\/em><\/p>\n

is the heart of the matter whether the pursuit is of diversity or, frankly, any new communities: development of organic relationships.<\/p>\n

Great advice in so many different aspects.<\/p>\n

Engage!<\/p>\n

Doug<\/p>\n

Photo:\"Attribution\"<\/a><\/span> Some rights reserved<\/a> by smoorenburg<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Diversity is not achieved via “programs.” It’s the result of genuine community engagement\u2013organic, on-going, permanent relationships.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":4484,"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":"Diversity and Genuine Engagement: Effective diversity efforts are built on permanent relationships.","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":[12,42,39],"class_list":{"0":"post-4476","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-principles","8":"tag-arts","9":"tag-diversity","10":"tag-relationships","11":"entry"},"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/Diversity.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p1G6h9-1ac","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":5729,"url":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/2019\/10\/doomed-to-fail\/","url_meta":{"origin":4476,"position":0},"title":"Doomed to Fail","author":"Doug Borwick","date":"October 30, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"Diversity, equity, and inclusion are vital to the future of the arts. The commitment to community that community engagement requires is an essential foundation upon which to build efforts in DEI.","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\/2019\/10\/Fail.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":3756,"url":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/2014\/08\/making-meaningful-connections\/","url_meta":{"origin":4476,"position":1},"title":"Making Meaningful Connections","author":"Doug Borwick","date":"August 6, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"The Helicon Collaborative and Irvine Foundation's report on engaging with diverse communities.","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\/2014\/07\/Helicon-IrvineConnectionsReport-e1406298763696.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":3687,"url":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/2014\/07\/the-self-centered-pursuit-of-diversity\/","url_meta":{"origin":4476,"position":2},"title":"The Self-Centered Pursuit of Diversity","author":"Doug Borwick","date":"July 16, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"\"Diverse audiences\" as a goal is self-serving. 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