{"id":5527,"date":"2019-02-06T02:00:57","date_gmt":"2019-02-06T07:00:57","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/?p=5527"},"modified":"2019-01-30T09:20:12","modified_gmt":"2019-01-30T14:20:12","slug":"trees-arts-and-communities","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/2019\/02\/trees-arts-and-communities\/","title":{"rendered":"Trees, Arts, and Communities"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

In January Joe Patti (Butts in Seats<\/a>) wrote an exceptionally valuable post (Trees Come with Unexpected Baggage<\/a>). It was about a nonprofit organization in Detroit planting trees in neighborhoods. It turns out that, for a wide variety of reasons, many people did not want the trees.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For many of us, a free tree sounds like an unequivocally good thing. Why would anyone not want one? It turns out that there are a number of reasons. But a common theme in people’s concerns was that the neighborhoods had not been part of the process of deciding to do the project in the first place nor how it should be implemented. “People felt someone else was deciding what should be planted and where without having any conversations with the people who would have to live with the trees.” It wasn’t that they didn’t understand the value of trees. They didn’t trust the outsiders who were descending upon their homes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The obvious point Mr. Patti was making is that arts organizations not infrequently make the same mistakes in attempting to deal with new communities. They assume they know what is needed and then they deliver what “they know is best” without consultation or discussion. And then are surprised when the response is poor.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I almost did not write this follow up because the points were made so well. However, this is such an important issue that repetition is helpful. We’ve got to come to grip with the fact that when it comes to dealing with new communities we are often clueless and can easily trip all over ourselves because we don’t know them. (I’m reminded of Margy Waller’s post from several years ago, We Are from the Arts and We’re Here to Help<\/a>.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Plus there are two things I’d like to amplify <\/strong>here. The first is the issue of trust<\/strong>. We can never forget that for many people, “the arts” are associated in lockstep with power and privilege. Whether or not this is fair is irrelevant. Our industry is tied to the 1% in the minds of large segments of the population. And that association gets in the way of building relationships. Before we try to “plant trees” in their midst, much work needs to be done to get to a simple ground zero of trust. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The other issue is totally self-inflicted. <\/strong>We have an unexamined belief in the inherent value of the arts that we present and that arts’ value to anyone we meet. This is totally understandable, we would not be in the business if we did not believe it. However, this is also the foundation of attempts to do “outreach” to new communities\u2013providing arts enlightenment, kinda like 19th Century missionaries to Africa. It is rooted, consciously or unconsciously, in what I think I may begin to call Aesthetic Superiority Syndrome<\/strong>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is counter-productive for a variety of reasons. One is it diminishes us<\/strong>. It gets in the way of understanding the merits of artistic expression of “foreign” cultures. I vividly remember years ago hearing that there was a hip hop musical about the life of Alexander Hamilton in development. My mental response was “Yeah, right.” I now understand how very, very wrong I was. Greg Sandow<\/a> has for years been pushing the classical music world to recognize the brilliance of other musics. (Classical music is the world from which I come.) I have been a cheerleader for his work but did not recognize my own shortsightedness. How much poorer I was\/we are for this.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Not only does this diminish us, it also gets in the way of building bridges.<\/strong> If we don’t recognize that our art is not the only art of significant merit, the new communities with which we try to connect will spot our dismissiveness and turn deaf ears to our suggestions. They have artistic traditions of which to be justifiably proud. Seeking those out is one way to create connections.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The bottom line in engagement is, as always, talk with <\/strong>(not to) them<\/strong>. (Although see that last sentence in this paragraph.) Engage people with humility and respect and seek reciprocity. (If you ask much of them to understand your work, invest that much time in understanding them.) But eventually seek to move from thinking of them as them to thinking of them as one of us.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Engage!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Doug<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Photo: <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Attribution\"\/<\/a><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Some rights reserved<\/a> by Robert Couse-Baker<\/a>
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In January Joe Patti (Butts in Seats) wrote an exceptionally valuable post (Trees Come with Unexpected Baggage). It was about a nonprofit organization in Detroit planting trees in neighborhoods. It turns out that, for a wide variety of reasons, many people did not want the trees. For many of us, a free tree sounds like […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":5533,"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":"Trees, Arts, and Communities: Building trust and the need for self-examination.","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":[5,10,1],"tags":[12,13,39],"class_list":{"0":"post-5527","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-principles","8":"category-the-practice-of-engagement","9":"category-uncategorized","10":"tag-arts","11":"tag-community-engagement","12":"tag-relationships","13":"entry"},"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/Tree.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p1G6h9-1r9","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":3659,"url":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/2014\/08\/rationales\/","url_meta":{"origin":5527,"position":0},"title":"Rationales","author":"Doug Borwick","date":"August 20, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"Which reasons are more important in becoming more effectively engaged with the community\u2013the \"moral\" ones or the practical ones?","rel":"","context":"In "Principles"","block_context":{"text":"Principles","link":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/category\/principles\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Why?","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/05\/Why-300x225.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":5452,"url":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/2018\/11\/understanding-engagement\/","url_meta":{"origin":5527,"position":1},"title":"Understanding Engagement","author":"Doug Borwick","date":"November 7, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"Announcing the availability of a new resource presenting basic concepts essential to understanding the potential that community engagement represents for arts organizations.","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\/11\/CommunityEngagementLogos-V-2017-Final-2.44.07-PM-212x300.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":504,"url":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/2011\/09\/or\/","url_meta":{"origin":5527,"position":2},"title":"Or?","author":"Doug Borwick","date":"September 28, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"A recent ARTSblog post Civic Engagement in the Arts in Action-Part I (thanks Maya Kumazawa) brought to mind a topic that needs to be addressed. The post featured an interesting organization called Dance 4 Peace. (I love it when a group nails its mission with its name. It's hard not\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\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/09\/DanceChoice-300x128.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":4997,"url":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/2017\/08\/the-boards-role-in-community-engagement-ii\/","url_meta":{"origin":5527,"position":3},"title":"The Board’s Role in Community Engagement: II","author":"Doug Borwick","date":"August 16, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"The board of directors can and should be a supportive resource for community engagement.","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\/06\/BoardOfDirs-300x199.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":2818,"url":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/2013\/05\/engagement-vocabulary\/","url_meta":{"origin":5527,"position":4},"title":"Engagement Vocabulary","author":"Doug Borwick","date":"May 1, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"[Note to new readers: This is a very old and widely read post. In the interest of providing up-to-date information about thinking on this topic, you can find updated definitions of terminology related to community engagement and related arts management tools on the ArtsEngaged website here.] I have on a\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Principles"","block_context":{"text":"Principles","link":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/category\/principles\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Dictionary","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/04\/Dictionary-300x153.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":4725,"url":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/2016\/11\/co-creation-in-dance\/","url_meta":{"origin":5527,"position":5},"title":"Co-Creation in Dance","author":"Doug Borwick","date":"November 2, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"Working in this way\u2014through relationships and listening\u2014continues to provide us with rich material for art making.","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":"allisonelvis21","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/AllisonElvis21-e1476383713556.jpeg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5527","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=5527"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5527\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5536,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5527\/revisions\/5536"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5533"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5527"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5527"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5527"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}