{"id":5094,"date":"2017-12-06T02:00:29","date_gmt":"2017-12-06T07:00:29","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/?p=5094"},"modified":"2017-12-01T08:59:09","modified_gmt":"2017-12-01T13:59:09","slug":"first-you-talk","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/2017\/12\/first-you-talk\/","title":{"rendered":"First You Talk"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"Typically, when I see a headline like this:\u00a0Opera Memphis Kicks Off Effort to Diversify Audience<\/a>, I cringe. Not because I don’t believe in diversifying our audiences. I clearly do. However, too often it is done badly and for pretty poor reasons. (See\u00a0The Self-Centered Pursuit of Diversity<\/a>) I can’t speak to the company’s motivations or even to much extent about their practices in attempting this. However\u2013stop the presses\u2013if you read the article you discover something quite bizarre.<\/p>\n

“[T]he company is seeking input from the community<\/span> about how to close the racial gap in its audience demographics.”
\n<\/strong>(Emphasis mine)<\/p>\n

I had to read that sentence several times to make sure I had it right. Rather than beginning with a “solution” they had intuited from their own perspective without getting feedback from those they might want to reach, they are attempting to have conversations with them. Indeed, the article goes on to say that “Opera Memphis hopes to spark an ongoing discussion about how best to serve minority communities in Memphis. The organization says that discussion in turn will shape not only future engagement but also the creation of a [program] for singers, directors and coaches of color.”<\/p>\n

You don’t (successfully) begin any relationship by assuming 1) that you know what the other party needs\/wants and 2) that you can provide it. Relationship building (AKA engagement) begins by listening and learning.<\/strong><\/p>\n

It’s not a given that any community will have large numbers of people (or any) interested in the work your organization presents, especially if you are not willing to consider any alterations to your programming. (See Excellence and Engagement: III<\/a>) However, you’ll never know if you don’t ask, if you don’t have conversations in which you seek to learn.<\/p>\n

I have no idea how sincere Opera Memphis is or how successful they will be in this endeavor. But I believe this is the first time I have ever seen a newspaper article about an arts organization focus on the fact that they are beginning to talk to people. Bravo Opera Memphis!<\/p>\n

Engage!<\/p>\n

Doug<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

You don’t (successfully) begin any relationship by assuming 1) that you know what the other party needs\/wants and 2) that you can provide it. Relationship building begins by listening and learning.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":5098,"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":"","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":[12,13,42,39],"class_list":{"0":"post-5094","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-relationships","12":"entry"},"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/10\/OperaMemphis-e1509031309306.png","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p1G6h9-1ka","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":3061,"url":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/2013\/09\/in-the-vineyards-of-diversity\/","url_meta":{"origin":5094,"position":0},"title":"In the Vineyards of Diversity","author":"Doug Borwick","date":"September 4, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"In July, Barry Hessenius posted an Interview with Aaron Dworkin, on Barry's Blog. Mr. Dworkin is founder and President of the Sphinx Organization, \"the leading national arts organization that focuses on youth development and diversity in classical music.\" I was aware of Sphinx's work in identifying and supporting young people\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Principles"","block_context":{"text":"Principles","link":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/category\/principles\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Vineyard","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/07\/Vineyard-300x225.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":4476,"url":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/2016\/03\/diversity-and-genuine-engagement\/","url_meta":{"origin":5094,"position":1},"title":"Diversity and Genuine Engagement","author":"Doug Borwick","date":"March 16, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"Diversity is not achieved via \"programs.\" It's the result of genuine community engagement\u2013organic, on-going, permanent relationships.","rel":"","context":"In "Principles"","block_context":{"text":"Principles","link":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/category\/principles\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Diversity","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/Diversity.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":3972,"url":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/2015\/01\/notes-from-st-louis\/","url_meta":{"origin":5094,"position":2},"title":"Notes from St. Louis","author":"Doug Borwick","date":"January 14, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"Work in St. Louis: addressing myths\/misunderstandings about community engagement and beginning to work with organizations on engagement planning.","rel":"","context":"In "Overview"","block_context":{"text":"Overview","link":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/category\/overview\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"StLouis","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/12\/StLouis-e1418158101316.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":1897,"url":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/2012\/08\/focus-group-or-story-circle\/","url_meta":{"origin":5094,"position":3},"title":"Focus Group or Story Circle","author":"Doug Borwick","date":"August 15, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"In my last post (Reinventing the Wheel), I talked about Roadside Theater's use of story circles in script development and relationship building. It was presented as one example of how arts organizations that have long focused on grassroots relationships have much to teach the rest of the arts community. In\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Principles"","block_context":{"text":"Principles","link":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/category\/principles\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":5279,"url":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/2018\/05\/justice-and-engagement\/","url_meta":{"origin":5094,"position":4},"title":"Justice and Engagement","author":"Doug Borwick","date":"May 16, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"In attempting to engage many communities, working for justice is critical; however, advocating for engagement does not diminish the need to work for justice as well.","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\/2018\/03\/JusticeStatue-185x300.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":5729,"url":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/2019\/10\/doomed-to-fail\/","url_meta":{"origin":5094,"position":5},"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":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5094","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=5094"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5094\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5100,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5094\/revisions\/5100"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5098"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5094"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5094"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5094"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}