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It’s been a week since the election. I have spent the time (metaphorically) in the fetal position under the covers. I regret that I’ve not had the psychological energy to weigh in before; I’m now viscerally aware that with age comes a marked reduction in resilience. (Who knew?)<\/p>\n
I will confess that one of my first impulses was to throw in the towel on my work attempting to better connect arts organizations with their communities. Even then, though, I knew that was a form of cowardice that I couldn’t, ultimately, abide. It was Diane Ragsdale’s reflection<\/a> on our situation slapped me silly and began the process of getting me out of my funk:<\/p>\n We arts workers will need to let go of the notion upon which many nonprofit professional cultural organizations were founded: that we exist, essentially, to save the world with art (and, quite often, with Western European Bourgeois Art, specifically). Instead, it seems that our first charge is to live fully in our tragically divided country and participate fully in our tragically broken democracy. Fleeing physically, mentally, emotionally, or spiritually is to deny both our culpability and power to make a difference.<\/em><\/p>\n But her reminder of Paul Krugman’s late-night election day post<\/a> (that I did read live) is what is most<\/em> affecting me now: “[P]eople like me, like most readers of the New York Times<\/em>, truly didn\u2019t understand the country we live in.” Like so many others, we didn’t see it<\/em> coming<\/em><\/strong>; and we didn’t see it coming because 1) the reality of\u2013as opposed to our fantasies about\u2013suburban\/exurban\/rural life is invisible to us, 2) we have made little or no effort to learn about those communities, and\/or 3) we don’t truly value the experiences of those communities.<\/p>\n Yes, there are virulent racists and rabid misogynists who voted for the next president, but there are not 59+ million of them. Many of those voters chose to hold their noses and opt for support of values, vitally important to them, with which we passionately disagree or, like working class jobs, we’ve given little thought; but we also know that many Clinton voters held their noses to support equity, justice, and\/or a historic possibility.<\/p>\n I am the grandson, nephew, and cousin of Iowa farmers, raised in that state in a town of about 25,000 people. If I, who came from that world, can lose sight of their experience, it’s not surprising that so many of us were blindsided. BTW, if you want a good dose of humble pie, read “I am the rural uneducated person<\/a>.” (Try substituting “arts establishment” for “media” as you read it.)<\/p>\n Years ago, when Building Communities, Not Audiences<\/em><\/a> was in the planning stages, I was invited to speak with a group of staff members at the National Endowment for the Arts. (I am indebted to Jamie Bennett for that incredible opportunity.) When I described the book’s content, Joan Shigekawa, Sr. Deputy Chair of the Endowment, asked me, “But what about the disaffected middle class?<\/strong>” I knew I had been nailed because I was not specifically addressing that world in the book. I did a brief politician’s dance of words around the topic and resolved to make sure I never lost sight of her question.<\/p>\n When I encourage arts organizations to build relationships with new communities, I\u2019m always asked \u201cWhat communities?\u201d The pragmatic answer is to begin with those with which some relationship already exists. But it\u2019s true that the knee-jerk first thought\u2013often encouraged by funders\u2013is always some<\/i> target community, often a community of color. I encourage broadening that thinking but it\u2019s true I\u2019ve seldom (though not never) mentioned segments of the middle class. Going forward, I must do better in responding to Ms. Shigekawa\u2019s admonition.<\/p>\n I am seeing people referring to the arts as \u201cweapons of mass inclusion\u201d to be tapped at this moment in our history. That\u2019s a great sentiment. To live up to that description we must include, along with others, rural, suburban, and middle class communities in our planning. Thus far, we\u2019ve not devoted enough of our time to this. There are, of course, shining exceptions. Let me point to Art of the Rural<\/a> and Springboard for the Arts<\/a> (because they are the ones I know best) as two among a goodly number that do<\/i> support work that impacts rural and\/or middle class lives.<\/p>\n And to be clear, we\u2019ve not devoted nearly enough thought and energy to building relationships with any<\/i> new community, but that\u2019s a much, much different discussion.<\/p>\n Ms. Ragsdale, at the conclusion of her election reflection exhorted us to “. . . walk out into our communities, with our senses wide open, and absorb ‘the relations between one thing and another.’\u201d I’ve been advocating that for years as the basis for community building. What I now see is that we need to be doing that not just in urban neighborhoods but also in suburbs, towns, and villages across the country. For the good of our communities and, frankly, for the viability of our industry, we must, collectively, learn from and work with all of them. We can be a powerful force for furthering understanding and for building unity if we do things to make us so.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n (Get out from under the covers and) Engage!<\/p>\n Doug<\/p>\n Photo: Lessons on community building from an election. The arts can be a powerful force for bringing us together if we use them to do so, bringing us *all* together.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":4739,"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":"Blindsided: Lessons on community building from an election","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":[4],"tags":[12,13,42,47,48,39],"class_list":{"0":"post-4738","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-overview","8":"tag-arts","9":"tag-community-engagement","10":"tag-diversity","11":"tag-equity","12":"tag-mission","13":"tag-relationships","14":"entry"},"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/11\/UnderCovers.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p1G6h9-1eq","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":5191,"url":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/2018\/01\/be-what-you-are\/","url_meta":{"origin":4738,"position":0},"title":"Be What You Are","author":"Doug Borwick","date":"January 24, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"Arts events bring people together, literally. Use this as a means of bringing people together *and* learning about them.","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\/01\/EasyButton-300x189.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":4773,"url":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/2016\/12\/middle-class-communities\/","url_meta":{"origin":4738,"position":1},"title":"Middle Class Communities","author":"Doug Borwick","date":"December 7, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"It's a nearly unaddressed issue that we are widely viewed as elitist and irrelevant. Overcoming that impression will take commitment and a considerable amount of work.","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":"iowastatefair","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/11\/IowaStateFair.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":4309,"url":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/2015\/10\/inside-out-vs-outside-in\/","url_meta":{"origin":4738,"position":2},"title":"Inside Out vs. Outside In","author":"Doug Borwick","date":"October 7, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"Inside Out vs. Outside In: community engagement and loyalty building work together","rel":"","context":"In "Customer-Client-Collaborator Series"","block_context":{"text":"Customer-Client-Collaborator Series","link":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/category\/customer-client-collaborator-series\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"cinnamon_roll_inside_out","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/10\/cinnamon_roll_inside_out.gif?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":4459,"url":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/2016\/03\/orange-mound\/","url_meta":{"origin":4738,"position":3},"title":"Orange Mound","author":"Doug Borwick","date":"March 9, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"Exceptionally good examples of community engagement from ArtsMemphis's Community Engagement Fellows Program.","rel":"","context":"In "Examples"","block_context":{"text":"Examples","link":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/category\/examples\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"ArtsMemphisCE_Fellows-OrangeMound copy","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/ArtsMemphisCE_Fellows-OrangeMound-copy.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":4890,"url":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/2017\/03\/the-nea-and-other-things\/","url_meta":{"origin":4738,"position":4},"title":"The NEA (and Other Things)","author":"Doug Borwick","date":"March 22, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"My hat is off to Michael Rohd: We must not shout- save the arts! We must sing - we stand together working towards equity, inclusion and resources for those most vulnerable among us.","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\/2017\/03\/NEA_Logo.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/NEA_Logo.jpg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/NEA_Logo.jpg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/NEA_Logo.jpg?resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":4233,"url":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/2015\/08\/afta-thoughts-2015-the-arts-and\/","url_meta":{"origin":4738,"position":5},"title":"AftA Thoughts 2015: The Arts and . . .","author":"Doug Borwick","date":"August 12, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"The notion that the arts are about the arts alone is a very recent (and unfortunate) one, historically. They were and should be about life\u2013all of it.","rel":"","context":"In "The Arts and . . ."","block_context":{"text":"The Arts and . . .","link":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/category\/the-arts-and\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Ampersand","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/12\/Ampersand.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4738","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=4738"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4738\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4763,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4738\/revisions\/4763"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4739"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4738"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4738"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4738"}],"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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<\/a><\/span> Some rights reserved<\/a> by Laurelinde<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"