{"id":6624,"date":"2022-05-11T02:00:00","date_gmt":"2022-05-11T06:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/?p=6624"},"modified":"2022-05-04T19:20:31","modified_gmt":"2022-05-04T23:20:31","slug":"we-wish-a-lot-of-things","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/2022\/05\/we-wish-a-lot-of-things\/","title":{"rendered":"We Wish (A Lot of Things)"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><figure class=\"alignleft size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"319\" height=\"273\" src=\"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/Fantasyland.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-6625\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/Fantasyland.jpg 319w, https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/Fantasyland-300x257.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 319px) 100vw, 319px\" \/><figcaption>Fantasyland<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-justify\">As is fairly common for me, I&#8217;ve been thinking recently about Stephen Sondheim lyrics. The Prologue to <em>Into the Woods<\/em> contains long lists of wishes. Here&#8217;s just one list from Jack (and the Beanstalk)&#8217;s mother:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-justify\"><em>I wish my son were not a fool.<br>I wish my house was not a mess.<br>I wish the cow was full of milk.<br>I wish the house was full of gold-<br>I wish a lot of things&#8230;<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>There are so many things for which we wish.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>We wish:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>Everyone (or at least many more people) valued the arts the way we do.<\/li><li>Government funded the arts at levels that made it unnecessary to barely scrape by from day to day and year to year.<\/li><li>K-12 schools provided all students with significant educational opportunities in the arts.<\/li><li>That the arts were central to the collective life of our country.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-justify\">Yet despite our wishing, <strong>these are not true.<\/strong> <strong>And they will not be in our lifetimes.<\/strong> <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-justify\">We can spend time arguing about <em>why<\/em> they&#8217;re not true, but, ultimately, that&#8217;s not productive. We could also expend our energy wishing that &#8220;someone&#8221; or &#8220;something&#8221; would make them come true; but that is even less productive. This wishful thinking is a neighborhood of Fantasyland in which we sometimes find ourselves wandering. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-justify\">Many religious and philosophical traditions teach that wisdom begins with accepting reality and moving on from there. The only psychologically healthy response to the situation is to devote ourselves to doing things over which we have some control\u2013the work of our arts organizations. <strong>If you look at the wish list, the common denominator is that far too few people to see the arts as important to them. The only solution available to us is to <em>do<\/em> things that make the arts important to more people.<\/strong> And we can&#8217;t do that unless we know them, work with them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-justify\">Community engagement <em>is<\/em> the means to that end.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Engage!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Doug<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>For another post: I originally wrote the &#8220;we wish&#8221; list with &#8220;the arts (that we value)&#8221; in every line. We should probably explore that another day.<\/em><\/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-nc\/3.0\/88x31.png\" alt=\"\"\/><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by-nc\/2.0\/\"><\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by-nc\/2.0\/\">Some rights reserved<\/a>&nbsp;by&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/normlanier\/\">NormLanier &#8211; Publisher DailyDisneyPhoto.com<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Far too few people to see the arts as important to them. The only solution available to us is to DO things that make the arts important to more people.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":6625,"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":"Far too few people to see the arts as important to them. The only solution available to us is to DO things that make the arts important to more people.","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":[12,13,112],"class_list":{"0":"post-6624","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-focus","11":"entry"},"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/Fantasyland.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p1G6h9-1IQ","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":4435,"url":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/2016\/03\/community-learning\/","url_meta":{"origin":6624,"position":0},"title":"Community Learning","author":"Doug Borwick","date":"March 30, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"Community learning, coming to understand the identity and nature of a community, is the foundation of successful engagement.","rel":"","context":"In &quot;The Practice of Engagement&quot;","block_context":{"text":"The Practice of Engagement","link":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/category\/the-practice-of-engagement\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Learning","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/Learning.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":4773,"url":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/2016\/12\/middle-class-communities\/","url_meta":{"origin":6624,"position":1},"title":"Middle Class Communities","author":"Doug Borwick","date":"December 7, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"It's a nearly unaddressed issue that we are widely viewed as elitist and irrelevant. Overcoming that impression will take commitment and a considerable amount of work.","rel":"","context":"In &quot;The Practice of Engagement&quot;","block_context":{"text":"The Practice of Engagement","link":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/category\/the-practice-of-engagement\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"iowastatefair","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/11\/IowaStateFair.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":5799,"url":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/2020\/01\/fare-well\/","url_meta":{"origin":6624,"position":2},"title":"Fare Well","author":"Doug Borwick","date":"January 8, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"Bidding Achia Floyd adieu.","rel":"","context":"In \"arts\"","block_context":{"text":"arts","link":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/tag\/arts\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/AchiaFloyd-485x500.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":5673,"url":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/2019\/08\/relationships-checkup\/","url_meta":{"origin":6624,"position":3},"title":"Relationships Checkup","author":"Doug Borwick","date":"August 21, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"Regular relationship checkups can be a valuable addition to community engagement's relationship maintenance process.","rel":"","context":"In &quot;The Practice of Engagement&quot;","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\/04\/Clipboard.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":5784,"url":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/2019\/12\/dei-statements\/","url_meta":{"origin":6624,"position":4},"title":"DEI Statements","author":"Doug Borwick","date":"December 11, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"The importance of diversity, equity, and inclusion statements with a couple of recent examples.","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\/2015\/06\/Equity-e1435255742641.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":1679,"url":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/2012\/06\/at-last\/","url_meta":{"origin":6624,"position":5},"title":"At Last","author":"Doug Borwick","date":"June 9, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"At long last, Building Communities, Not Audiences: The Future of the Arts in the United States, is available for purchase. The paperback is available by clicking this link for CreateSpace. (It's also available at Amazon, but my accountant will be happier if you use the CreateSpace link.) The ebook version\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Examples&quot;","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\/08\/9780972780421-200x300.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6624","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=6624"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6624\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6635,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6624\/revisions\/6635"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6625"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6624"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6624"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6624"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}