{"id":4543,"date":"2016-06-29T02:00:58","date_gmt":"2016-06-29T06:00:58","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/?p=4543"},"modified":"2016-06-27T15:49:31","modified_gmt":"2016-06-27T19:49:31","slug":"what-can-be-left-out","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/2016\/06\/what-can-be-left-out\/","title":{"rendered":"What Can Be Left Out"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"JazzPianoHands\"Last time I commented on an experience I’d had at the Charlotte Jazz Festival. (What You Can Leave Out<\/a>) I observed a pianist doubling on harmonica who on one occasion had considerable difficulty getting the harmonica out of his hand so he could get both hands on the piano part. While extricating himself from the harmonica he did what all good jazz pianists do, played the essential notes with his other hand until both were available. This is not particularly unusual, especially in jazz piano. Nevertheless, he made it work seamlessly for the ensemble and the audience.<\/p>\n

My point last week was about planning and about understanding the essential work of your organization. This time I’m focusing on my call for arts organizations to become indispensable. From the perspective of individuals who are not true believers in the arts or communities faced with competing needs and interests coupled with limited resources, we cannot afford to be “what can be left out.”<\/p>\n

I always acknowledge that the arts are <\/em>indispensable. However, in practical terms, if that indispensability is not apparent to those for whom it is important for us to be<\/em> indispensable, we are not, in any way that matters, indispensable.<\/p>\n

Now that sentence was intentionally convoluted. Here’s the point: if we have to tell people that we are important, that we are essential, to them\u2013again by any practical measure\u2013we’re really not.<\/p>\n

To avoid the fate of dispensability, we must do things that make us matter to people. And to do that<\/em> we have to know them well enough to know what’s important to them. That comes from relationship building, from engaging<\/em> with them.<\/p>\n

Engage!<\/p>\n

Doug<\/p>\n

Photo:\"Attribution\"\"Noncommercial\"<\/a><\/span> Some rights reserved by Bsivad<\/a><\/p>\n

\n

Engaging Matters will be taking the week of July 4 off. Happy Holiday!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

What Can Be Left Out: Making the arts non-dispensable<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":4541,"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":"What Can Be Left Out: Making the arts non-dispensable","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":[12,13,39],"class_list":{"0":"post-4543","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-relationships","11":"entry"},"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/05\/JazzPianoHands.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p1G6h9-1bh","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":4540,"url":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/2016\/06\/what-you-can-leave-out\/","url_meta":{"origin":4543,"position":0},"title":"What You Can Leave Out","author":"Doug Borwick","date":"June 22, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"What You Can Leave Out: Identifying the essential","rel":"","context":"In "Overview"","block_context":{"text":"Overview","link":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/category\/overview\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"JazzPianoHands","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/05\/JazzPianoHands.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":4918,"url":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/2017\/05\/connecting\/","url_meta":{"origin":4543,"position":1},"title":"Connecting","author":"Doug Borwick","date":"May 10, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"There are only a few people who would be \"all in\" for 40 minutes of jazz based on 1920's idioms. A composer's oral program notes provided the rest access to appreciating the music.","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\/04\/CharlotteJazzFest2017Logo-e1493139613891.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":2433,"url":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/2013\/01\/ttrash-project\/","url_meta":{"origin":4543,"position":2},"title":"The Trash Project","author":"Doug Borwick","date":"January 19, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=h6ZBlYdyoeQ One of the joys of all the traveling and speaking I am undertaking is the opportunity to find out about cool examples of engagement work going on around the country. I am going to Austin for the Texas Commission on the Arts & Texans for the Arts conference, Strategies\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Examples"","block_context":{"text":"Examples","link":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/category\/examples\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/img.youtube.com\/vi\/h6ZBlYdyoeQ\/0.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":3106,"url":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/2013\/08\/why-we-do-it\/","url_meta":{"origin":4543,"position":3},"title":"Why We Do It","author":"Doug Borwick","date":"August 28, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"I love Chicago. I love jazz. I love jazz clubs in Chicago; and one of my favorites is Andy's, a place my wife and I discovered because it has a show that begins before my bedtime. (Being a jazz lover and not being a night owl creates some real challenges\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Principles"","block_context":{"text":"Principles","link":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/category\/principles\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"JimmyEllisAtAndys-Seated","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/08\/JimmyEllisAtAndys-Seated-184x300.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":4921,"url":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/2017\/05\/totally-irresistibly-captivating\/","url_meta":{"origin":4543,"position":4},"title":"Totally, Irresistibly Captivating","author":"Doug Borwick","date":"May 17, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"Are we willing to do what it takes to allow people to come to love our work as much as we do by expending the energy required to make what we do irresistible?","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\/04\/SammyMillerCongregation.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":4255,"url":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/2015\/09\/best-practices\/","url_meta":{"origin":4543,"position":5},"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":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4543","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=4543"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4543\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4593,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4543\/revisions\/4593"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4541"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4543"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4543"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4543"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}