{"id":6243,"date":"2021-01-06T02:00:00","date_gmt":"2021-01-06T07:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/?p=6243"},"modified":"2021-01-04T21:22:17","modified_gmt":"2021-01-05T02:22:17","slug":"getting-the-questions-right","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/2021\/01\/getting-the-questions-right\/","title":{"rendered":"Getting the Question(s) Right"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><figure class=\"alignleft size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"400\" height=\"236\" src=\"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Questions.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-6247\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Questions.jpg 400w, https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Questions-300x177.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 400px) 100vw, 400px\" \/><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-justify\">As a blogger, I think I&#8217;m supposed to begin the New Year with reflections and projections. But the traumas of 2020 are still too fresh for me and the way forward, while bringing hope, is far murkier than it has been at the beginning of almost any year of my life. So I won&#8217;t try to do either.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-justify\">What I will do is suggest that at least one question I&#8217;ve seen raised about the nonprofit arts industry in 2021 is the wrong one. Roughly put, it is <strong>&#8220;How will post-pandemic life impact us and our work?&#8221; To me, this illustrates the self-defeating artcentricity that plagues us.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-justify\">Effective marketing (but don&#8217;t misunderstand me, this is not a post about marketing) understands that it makes no difference what the provider of a good or service thinks they &#8220;sell.&#8221; What is important is what the potential &#8220;consumer&#8221; of the good\/service thinks it is. So, an automobile is not the nuts and bolts that its engineers might imagine; it is (to name but two) a means of transportation or a lifestyle statement. The car <em>is<\/em> what its buyers perceive it to be.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-justify\"><strong>In this highly fraught moment, our question should not be about what it all means to us.<\/strong> <strong>It should be about the impact of 2020<\/strong> and any opening up that happens in 2021 and beyond <strong>on our communities and how that impact will affect their view of\/interactions with us.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-justify\">Will we be seen as an important  part of healing and renewal? Will we be seen as a nice diversion from the indescribably difficult 2020 and it&#8217;s aftermath that we&#8217;ve all faced? Or will we be <em>seen<\/em> at all by enough people to have an impact on our viability over the next decade?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-justify\">Here I will risk a small bit of prognostication. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>There will be an initial surge in participation by many of our true believers, although some percentage will probably still be gun shy about getting out again; but I don&#8217;t think that surge will be sustained for long and that we will eventually settle back at about where we were before. <\/li><li>There will be new participation by the curious who are eager for social contact, but unless we are doing things differently, I don&#8217;t imagine our retention rates will be much better than in the past.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-justify\">But the critical issue for us is whether we will be seen at all and, if so, will we be seen in a positive light by enough people to overcome the profound economic forces that have loomed as existential threats for so long. At the risk of redundancy, to be viable for the long term our industry must <em>substantially<\/em> expand its reach. I fear that unless we significantly alter our thinking about and relationships with the new communities that are vital for our survival, we will not be seen at all. Or, perhaps worse, if we continue to be seen as  adjuncts of the elite we will be less appealing than we were before. Communities have been hurting and they have seen that they fared far less well than those with money and power.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-justify\"><strong>So our questions should be, first, &#8220;What are our communities feeling\/ experiencing?&#8221; and second, &#8220;How can we help them?&#8221;<\/strong> Once we have our questions right, we will need to position ourselves to <em>be<\/em> of help. In order to do that, we must first Connect and then Matter. As you might suspect, those topics will be for another day\u2013very soon.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In the meantime . . .<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Engage!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Doug<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Photo:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><figure class=\"alignleft\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/licensebuttons.net\/l\/by-sa\/3.0\/88x31.png\" alt=\"\"\/><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by-sa\/2.0\/\">Some rights reserved<\/a>&nbsp;by&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/rlodan01\/\">rodaniel<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Our question should not be &#8220;What 2021 will mean for us?&#8221; It should be &#8220;What are our communities experiencing and how can we help them?&#8221;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":6247,"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":"Getting the Question(s) Right: Not \"What 2021 will mean for us?\" but \"What are our communities experiencing and how can we help them?\"","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],"tags":[53,12,13],"class_list":{"0":"post-6243","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-overview","8":"tag-artcentricity","9":"tag-arts","10":"tag-community-engagement","11":"entry"},"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Questions.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p1G6h9-1CH","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":2375,"url":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/2013\/01\/overcoming-artcentricity\/","url_meta":{"origin":6243,"position":0},"title":"Overcoming Artcentricity","author":"Doug Borwick","date":"January 30, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"In Shifting the Center I began a consideration of transforming the way we think about the relationship between art and community. Many of us in the arts see the world from the perspective of our arts discipline, and that discipline\u2013along with the work that is its expression\u2013is a value unto\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Principles&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Principles","link":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/category\/principles\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"CenterOfUniverse","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/12\/CenterOfUniverse-234x300.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":3638,"url":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/2014\/05\/getting-to-us\/","url_meta":{"origin":6243,"position":1},"title":"Getting to &#8220;Us&#8221;","author":"Doug Borwick","date":"May 22, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"Special? Yes. Separate? Not if we know what's good for us.","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Overview&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Overview","link":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/category\/overview\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"TomatoesJalapeno","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/05\/TomatoesJalapeno-300x199.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":3784,"url":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/2014\/08\/improving-lives-vs-arts-mission\/","url_meta":{"origin":6243,"position":2},"title":"Improving Lives &#8220;vs.&#8221; Arts Mission ??!!","author":"Doug Borwick","date":"August 13, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"If arts organizations' missions are not, centrally, about making lives better, what *is* their purpose?","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Overview&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Overview","link":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/category\/overview\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Seattle","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/06\/Seattle.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":3441,"url":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/2014\/02\/the-pandering-straw-man\/","url_meta":{"origin":6243,"position":3},"title":"The &#8220;Pandering&#8221; Straw Man","author":"Doug Borwick","date":"February 19, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"Critics of community engagement often assume it demands pandering. Those who desire to do so can maintain artistic excellence while providing content that is deeply meaningful to the public.","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Principles&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Principles","link":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/category\/principles\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"StrawMan","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/02\/StrawMan.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":3956,"url":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/2015\/01\/reflections-on-a-conference\/","url_meta":{"origin":6243,"position":4},"title":"Reflections on a Conference","author":"Doug Borwick","date":"January 7, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"The arts, economic development, historic preservation, and tourism at the same table.","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Overview&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Overview","link":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/category\/overview\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"http:\/\/nmmainstreet.org\/beta\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/01\/Building-Creative-Communities-Conference-final-720x354.jpg","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/nmmainstreet.org\/beta\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/01\/Building-Creative-Communities-Conference-final-720x354.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":4629,"url":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/2016\/08\/fifth-anniversary-highlights-the-pandering-straw-man\/","url_meta":{"origin":6243,"position":5},"title":"Fifth Anniversary Highlights: The &#8220;Pandering&#8221; Straw Man","author":"Doug Borwick","date":"August 24, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"Those who desire to do so can uphold standards of artistic excellence while providing content that is deeply meaningful to the public.","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\/2016\/07\/FiveCandles.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6243","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=6243"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6243\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6257,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6243\/revisions\/6257"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6247"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6243"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6243"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6243"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}