{"id":5720,"date":"2019-10-16T02:00:39","date_gmt":"2019-10-16T06:00:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/?p=5720"},"modified":"2019-10-02T13:24:36","modified_gmt":"2019-10-02T17:24:36","slug":"mission-creep","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/2019\/10\/mission-creep\/","title":{"rendered":"Mission Creep??!!"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

A colleague recently shared that when they advocate for community engagement in their organization they get pushback about “mission creep.” Mission creep??!! If connecting the arts with communities is not an arts organization’s mission, what is it?! <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I know, I know. There is an assumption (conscious or otherwise) on some people’s part that arts organizations owe their allegiance to the art they present. I will spare long-time readers (and myself) a revisit to my “Arts for Arts Sake” rants. (For any newbies with the stomach for it, here’s one entry: Art for Art’s Sake Revisited<\/a>.) And, certainly, the mission creep argument is an old one with which I am well familiar.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But really, how many of us would be in this business if we did not believe that the arts are valuable not just to us<\/em> but to many\/most\/all people? And if we believe that, should it not be one of our primary callings to connect as many as possible with the art we know to be valuable? Community engagement (or if you bristle at that term, simply think “connecting people with the arts”) is the means to that end.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And on a practical level, of course, the long-term viability of arts organizations demands significantly increasing our reach, the percentage of people who value and take advantage of what we offer. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

If connecting people with the arts represents “mission creep” for your organization, your organization needs to <\/strong>seriously<\/strong><\/em> re-examine it’s mission.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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

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

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

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

Some rights reserved<\/a> by Thomas Hawk<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

If connecting people with the arts represents “mission creep” for your organization, your organization needs to seriously re-examine it’s mission.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":5724,"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":"Mission Creep??!! If connecting people with the arts represents \"mission creep\" for your organization, your organization needs to seriously re-examine it's mission.","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":[4,5],"tags":[12,13,48],"class_list":{"0":"post-5720","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-overview","8":"category-principles","9":"tag-arts","10":"tag-community-engagement","11":"tag-mission","12":"entry"},"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/Mission.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p1G6h9-1ug","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":2811,"url":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/2013\/04\/engaged-mission-iii\/","url_meta":{"origin":5720,"position":0},"title":"Engaged Mission: III","author":"Doug Borwick","date":"April 24, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"I\u2019d like to take a different approach to consideration of mission in this post from the previous two. This one is less directly about the relationship between mission and community engagement (although two of the examples deal, very explicitly, with that). What I\u2019m interested in here is the power that\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":[]},{"id":5411,"url":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/2018\/10\/the-state-of-engagement-2\/","url_meta":{"origin":5720,"position":1},"title":"Needs of the Field","author":"Doug Borwick","date":"October 10, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"What needs to happen to more fully embed nonprofit arts organizations in their communities.","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\/2018\/09\/PonderingVista.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":3161,"url":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/2013\/10\/examining-the-mission-model\/","url_meta":{"origin":5720,"position":2},"title":"Examining the “Mission Model”","author":"Doug Borwick","date":"October 9, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"Over the past five to ten years, much discussion has taken place about the need for revised business models for the arts industry. On the expense side this comes from recognition of the labor cost challenges faced by the performing arts and the capital cost struggles of edifice-centered organizations (museums\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Principles"","block_context":{"text":"Principles","link":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/category\/principles\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"MissionMotel","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/09\/MissionMotel-300x199.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":3498,"url":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/2014\/03\/eureka\/","url_meta":{"origin":5720,"position":3},"title":"Eureka","author":"Doug Borwick","date":"March 12, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"Most of the not-for-profit world exists to improve communities. Much of the arts industry exists to do what it wants to do\u2013this cannot foster new relationships extending the reach of the organization.","rel":"","context":"In "Principles"","block_context":{"text":"Principles","link":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/category\/principles\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"LightBulb","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/07\/LightBulb-e1394129630406.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":2795,"url":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/2013\/04\/engaged-mission-ii\/","url_meta":{"origin":5720,"position":4},"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":[]},{"id":2025,"url":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/2012\/10\/shifting-the-center\/","url_meta":{"origin":5720,"position":5},"title":"Shifting the Center","author":"Doug Borwick","date":"October 6, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"You are now privy to the reason I became a musician rather than a visual artist. (Or at least one reason.) I deeply appreciate good graphic design but my capacity for creation is, shall we say, limited. What you see here is the best I can do. Honestly! Yet as\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Principles"","block_context":{"text":"Principles","link":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/category\/principles\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"ShiftingTheCenter","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/04\/ShiftingTheCenter-246x300.png?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5720","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=5720"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5720\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5728,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5720\/revisions\/5728"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5724"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5720"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5720"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5720"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}