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Summer is an excellent time to review topics covered before and evaluate whether they should be raised again. Four years ago I offered a preliminary overview of a way of discussing the benefits of the arts. The subject keeps coming up in conference presentations and workshops so I thought it would be appropriate to revisit it now and to add a brief update at the end.\u00a0Here is a passage from my 2013 post <\/span>Benefits of the Arts<\/span><\/a>:<\/span><\/p>\n Those for whom art has deep meaning have difficulty understanding\/relating to people for whom that is not the case. As a result, we sometimes assume that simply putting forth <\/span>our<\/span> work or medium\/genre <\/span>is<\/span> serving the community. So, in spite of our intent, the effect can be what I call artcentric, disconnected from humanity and off-putting to those who are not true believers. In contrast, the key for the future of the arts lies in finding ways to serve people who do not already feel the arts are important to them\u2013ways that <\/span>they<\/span> recognize.<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n The core benefits<\/b> of the arts<\/b> are their impact on people<\/b>\u2013individually and collectively. <\/span>For individuals the arts provide (or enhance) <\/b>internal congruence<\/b>\u2013self-understanding, self-acceptance, identity, and pleasure to name a few. <\/span>Between individuals, the arts aid <\/b>relational alignment<\/b>\u2013facilitating relationship-building and understanding. <\/span>In the community\/society<\/b> context, <\/span>the arts <\/b>foster social capital<\/b>\u2013both bonding among people of similar interests and backgrounds and bridging across lines of difference.<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n I would hold that <\/span>all other forms of benefit<\/b>\u2013economic development principal among them\u2013<\/span>are ancillary benefits<\/b>. These are valuable to communities but are not central to our mission of serving people through the arts.<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n This core\/ancillary classification of benefits can satisfy the essence of the \u201carts for arts sake\u201d position without forcing us to focus on the arts rather than on their benefits for people. We can then envision the deep mission of arts organizations as doing things that impact people\u2019s lives in ways they cannot help but see.<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n Perhaps, to condense even further, we can frame <\/span>the essential benefits of the arts<\/b> as <\/span>enhancing the human spirit and improving social relationships<\/b>. Granted, both of those are ideas for intensely felt debate, but for whatever it\u2019s worth, they are principles on which I can hang my hat.<\/span><\/p>\n Ultimately, the way we understand the benefits of the arts\u00a0is critical. The\u00a0benefits are the reason we do what we do.\u00a0This framework is helpful for me. Feel free to use or ignore this as you please.<\/p>\n Engage!<\/p>\n Doug<\/p>\n Photo:\u00a0 The essential benefits of the arts are: enhancing the human spirit and improving social relationships. All other forms of benefit are ancillary, important but not core.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":4965,"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":"Benefits of the Arts (Again): Core and ancillary benefits of the arts.","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":[12,13,24,23],"class_list":{"0":"post-4960","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-instrumental","11":"tag-intrinsic","12":"entry"},"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/Dancer-e1495045883104.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p1G6h9-1i0","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":5662,"url":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/2019\/08\/benefits-yet-again\/","url_meta":{"origin":4960,"position":0},"title":"Benefits (Yet Again)","author":"Doug Borwick","date":"August 7, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"It has been two years since I posted my effort at categorizing the benefits of the arts. In both of my international trips this year the subject came up and people wanted to deal with it at length. The subject is an urgent one both because of the social and\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\/2017\/05\/Dancer-e1495045883104.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":4960,"position":1},"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. Careful (and long-time) readers of this blog may recall that in my\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Overview"","block_context":{"text":"Overview","link":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/category\/overview\/"},"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":3102,"url":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/2013\/08\/benefits-of-the-arts-follow-up\/","url_meta":{"origin":4960,"position":2},"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 "Principles"","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":1005,"url":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/2012\/01\/art-for-arts-sake\/","url_meta":{"origin":4960,"position":3},"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":4608,"url":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/2016\/08\/fifth-anniversary-highlights-art-for-arts-sake\/","url_meta":{"origin":4960,"position":4},"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":2795,"url":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/2013\/04\/engaged-mission-ii\/","url_meta":{"origin":4960,"position":5},"title":"Engaged Mission: II","author":"Doug Borwick","date":"April 20, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"In Engaged Mission: I, I suggested that service to people is\/ought to be a fundamental element of the understanding of our mission, whether or not it is formally articulated in a mission statement. I think that is probably not too controversial. It\u2019s the extent of the service and the way\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Principles"","block_context":{"text":"Principles","link":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/category\/principles\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Compass","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/04\/Compass-300x300.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4960","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=4960"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4960\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5642,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4960\/revisions\/5642"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4965"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4960"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4960"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4960"}],"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}
<\/a><\/span> Some rights reserved<\/a> by PICS by MARTY<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"