{"id":4766,"date":"2016-11-30T02:00:40","date_gmt":"2016-11-30T07:00:40","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/?p=4766"},"modified":"2016-11-28T16:06:04","modified_gmt":"2016-11-28T21:06:04","slug":"should-we-bother","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/2016\/11\/should-we-bother\/","title":{"rendered":"Should We Bother?"},"content":{"rendered":"<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-4739 alignleft\" src=\"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/11\/UnderCovers.jpg\" alt=\"undercovers\" width=\"320\" height=\"212\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/11\/UnderCovers.jpg 320w, https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/11\/UnderCovers-300x199.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 320px) 100vw, 320px\" \/>My post reflecting on the presidential election, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/2016\/11\/blindsided\/\" target=\"_blank\">Blindsided<\/a>, drew a thoughtful comment that seems to me to be worthy of a fuller response than a simple \u201cReply.\u201d <a href=\"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/2016\/11\/blindsided\/#comments\" target=\"_blank\">Here is a link to the comments section.<\/a><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">The gist of the comment was that there is little merit in engaging with people who will not leave their homes for what we have to offer. I certainly understand the sentiment and it is worth considering. However, there are a couple of rather serious issues I have both with the premise and at least an impression I have about \u201cwhere those thoughts are coming from.\u201d So here are some of the points, followed by my observations.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\"><em>You can\u2019t pry most Americans out of their homes to participate in many of the cultural activities [we] hold dear<\/em>. (The writer pointed primarily to high tech forms of entertainment as the stumbling block.)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">and<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><em>No amount of audience development will draw most citizens from their homes. <\/em><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">It is probably true that the threshold motivation required for moving people off the sofa to go out is higher than it was a generation ago, however there are factors beyond the attraction of big screen TV\u2019s. Dual career couples and single parents can often barely stagger in the doors at night much less find the energy to go out again. Economic factors also come into play. <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">It is absolutely true that audience development can do little to counteract these issues.<\/span> However, we also know that, especially on weekends, athletic events can be extremely well attended, craft breweries are over-run with people, and farmers markets are buzzing with activity.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">So what are we to do? Throwing up our hands and waiting for some transformation of society to resolve this will do no good. For me, assuming the status quo is the only possible \u201cquo\u201d seems to discount the creativity of arts organizations and the power of the arts experience to move people. It also seems to imply that those who are not already active arts supporters are somehow incapable of being interested in things we might offer. (I\u2019ll say more about this in a moment.) From a pragmatic standpoint, that they are not interested in the things we do offer is far more our problem than theirs. We\u2019re the ones with the most direct vested interest.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong>My call for engagement is <em>not<\/em> audience development.<\/strong> It is a call for building relationships. Out of those relationships we can gain understanding of the people we want to reach and offer things that are of meaning to them. [And for the zillionth time, this is <em>not<\/em> just \u201cgiving them what they want.\u201d <a href=\"http:\/\/artsengaged.com\/essentials\" target=\"_blank\">http:\/\/artsengaged.com\/essentials<\/a>] As one very, very small example, here is an excerpt from an <a href=\"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/2012\/11\/bright-spots\/\" target=\"_blank\">old blog post of mine<\/a>:<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px; padding-right: 30px; text-align: justify;\"><em>I am particularly struck by the way [the Sun Valley Center for the Arts] responded to reaching the town&#8217;s construction workers and craftsmen for a show of fine woodwork by George Nakoshima. They threw a kegger! &#8220;Sun Valley bought a keg of beer and invited the guys to come in after work. Poole says, \u2018They were down on their knees examining his work. It was the most engaged audience we could have hoped for.'&#8221;<\/em><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">It seems we ought to invest in doing new things (consistent with faithfulness to missions that honor <em>both<\/em> art and the public) to <em>be<\/em> of value and interest to more people.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">There is one potentially troubling element in the comment, directly related to the essence of my full post:<\/p>\n<ul style=\"text-align: justify;\">\n<li>On a road trip from Chicago to Raleigh, NC the writer<em> \u201c<\/em>[saw]<em> a plethora of franchise eateries, cheap stores, salons and religious supply outlets filling the malls, watched Fox News beamed to motel breakfast lobbies, [and] saw scant evidence of the arts nonprofits support (or even movie theaters).\u201d<\/em><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">This is clearly true, but there are malls and chain stores (as well as Fox News feeds in public places) along with scant representation of the nonprofit arts on the interstates in virtually every corner of the country, not just in flyover states and the South. This statement, coupled with the apparent dismissiveness of the observation that you can\u2019t \u201cpry most people out\u201d to participate in arts activities sounds a bit like the myopia that led to our being blindsided by the election. I don\u2019t presume that this is an attitude of the writer, but I\u2019ve heard such sentiments enough (in situations where the inflections tell the tale) to be hypersensitive. <strong>In both my previous post and in community engagement work generally, I am <em>deeply<\/em> concerned that we learn to respect the people we seek to engage. If we can&#8217;t or won&#8217;t we shouldn&#8217;t try. We should, then, not be surprised at being marginalized as a sector.<br \/>\n<\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">On the positive side, an area of considerable promise lies, I think, in offering participatory arts activities. As the writer said,<\/p>\n<ul style=\"text-align: justify;\">\n<li><em>Only encouragement and accessibility of participatory arts activities can orient kids to assume active engagement with creativity.<\/em><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">But I would add that this need not\/should not be limited to children. <strong>There is a powerful need to make more people identify with the arts. Helping them learn to <em>do<\/em> the arts may be one of our most effective options.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>And finally, I submit for your consideration the following quote:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><em>Reality TV is \u201ccartoons for the chronologically adult.\u201d<\/em><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>I include this simply because it is so eminently quotable and amusing.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Essentially, <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/2016\/11\/blindsided\/\" target=\"_blank\">Blindsided<\/a> was a call to pay attention to <\/strong>a large group we have not often included in our thinking, what Joan Shigekawa called<strong> &#8220;the disaffected middle class.&#8221; If we engage them with respect or at the very least with a willing suspension of disrespect, we may find pathways to mutual interest and greater relevance for our work.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Engage!<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Doug<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Photo:<span class=\"ccIcn ccIcnSmall\"><a href=\"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by-nc-sa\/2.0\/\"><img decoding=\"async\" title=\"Attribution\" src=\"https:\/\/s.yimg.com\/pw\/images\/cc_icon_attribution_small.gif\" alt=\"Attribution\" border=\"0\" \/><img decoding=\"async\" title=\"Noncommercial\" src=\"https:\/\/s.yimg.com\/pw\/images\/cc_icon_noncomm_small.gif\" alt=\"Noncommercial\" border=\"0\" \/><img decoding=\"async\" title=\"Share Alike\" src=\"https:\/\/s.yimg.com\/pw\/images\/cc_icon_sharealike_small.gif\" alt=\"Share Alike\" border=\"0\" \/><\/a><\/span> <a title=\"Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike License\" href=\"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by-nc-sa\/2.0\/\" target=\"_blank\">Some rights reserved<\/a> by Laurelinde<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>If we engage the &#8220;disaffected middle class&#8221; with respect or at the very least with a willing suspension of disrespect, we may find pathways to greater relevance.<\/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":"Should We Bother? Engaging with the middle class. (Oh my, yes!)","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":[12,13,42,43,39],"class_list":{"0":"post-4766","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-diversity","11":"tag-programming","12":"tag-relationships","13":"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\/p1G6h9-1eS","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":5285,"url":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/2018\/05\/from-the-q-a\/","url_meta":{"origin":4766,"position":0},"title":"From the Q &#038; A","author":"Doug Borwick","date":"May 23, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"Re: equity and justice, are we all really \"on the same page\"? And is there a danger that a designated community engagement staff member can lead to \"outsourcing equity\"?","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Principles&quot;","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\/2018\/03\/Question-143x300.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":4229,"url":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/2015\/08\/afta-thoughts-2015-staff-diversity\/","url_meta":{"origin":4766,"position":1},"title":"AftA Thoughts 2015: Staff Diversity","author":"Doug Borwick","date":"August 5, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"What if arts organizations were seen as robust contributors to better lives for African-Americans, Hispanics, recent immigrants, the poor, the disenfranchised? Enhance diversity by being valuable.","rel":"","context":"In &quot;The Practice of Engagement&quot;","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\/2015\/06\/DiverseStaff-e1435326777756.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":1957,"url":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/2012\/09\/engagement-principles-from-a-marketer\/","url_meta":{"origin":4766,"position":2},"title":"Engagement Principles from a Marketer","author":"Doug Borwick","date":"September 12, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"In The Farmer and the Cowman I posited that arts marketers and community engagement advocates (in my case, probably \"zealots\" would be more appropriate) should be great friends and collaborators. In it I mentioned a series that Trevor O'Donnell (MARKETING THE ARTS TO DEATH) is doing on inexpensive approaches to\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Principles&quot;","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\/2012\/08\/HalOfMirrors-300x251.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":1350,"url":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/2012\/03\/civic-engagement-by-stealth\/","url_meta":{"origin":4766,"position":3},"title":"Civic Engagement by Stealth","author":"Doug Borwick","date":"March 17, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"I have been waiting to catch my breath in order to comment on Clayton Lord's New Beans post from last October, Directing the Impact Echo. I haven't really caught it, but this is good a time as any. It is possible that some out there may be hesitant to dive\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Overview&quot;","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\/03\/CliffDiver.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":3102,"url":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/2013\/08\/benefits-of-the-arts-follow-up\/","url_meta":{"origin":4766,"position":4},"title":"Benefits of the Arts Follow-Up","author":"Doug Borwick","date":"August 14, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"A commenter on Benefits of the Arts asked a great question: observing the similarities between the Rand Corporation\u2019s Gifts of the Muse intrinsic\/instrumental categories, wasn't my core\/ancillary division simply a re-naming? (And Ian David Moss's later comment was in a similar vein.) Here was\u00a0 my semi-immediate response: While the whole\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Principles&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Principles","link":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/category\/principles\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Half-Baked","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/06\/Half-Baked-300x243.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":2908,"url":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/2013\/05\/more-on-artists-and-engagement\/","url_meta":{"origin":4766,"position":5},"title":"More on Artists and Engagement","author":"Doug Borwick","date":"May 15, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"The principal focus of this blog is arts organizations, but occasionally issues related to individual artists come up. The two primary categories where that\u2019s true are the applicability of community engagement to expanded opportunities for artist-entrepreneurs and the role of artists in the arts and community engagement (as in my\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Principles&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Principles","link":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/category\/principles\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Beethoven","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/04\/Beethoven-300x199.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4766","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=4766"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4766\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4790,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4766\/revisions\/4790"}],"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=4766"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4766"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4766"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}