{"id":868,"date":"2011-12-10T08:45:39","date_gmt":"2011-12-10T13:45:39","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/?p=868"},"modified":"2011-12-10T08:45:39","modified_gmt":"2011-12-10T13:45:39","slug":"occupy-lincoln-center","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/2011\/12\/occupy-lincoln-center\/","title":{"rendered":"Occupy Lincoln Center (Thanks, Scott)"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"Nope, this is not my title. It is blatant theft from Scott Walters’ multi-part blog on the topic. For those of you who have not seen the posts, here are links to the first two: Occupy Lincoln Center-Part I<\/a> and Occupy Lincoln Center-Part II<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The thing about kindred spirits is that even if you don’t agree 100% with everything they say or the way they say it, you are still captivated by the expression and want to share it. That’s the way I feel about Scott and these two posts.<\/p>\n

Scott (and Diane Ragsdale who beat me to a shoutout for Scott in her Jumper post Instead of more data perhaps we should discuss why we keep ignoring the data we have?<\/a>)\u00a0 make the somewhat obvious connection between Occupy Wall Street’s 99%\/1% view of US society and the National Committee for Responsible Philanthropy’s study of arts funding, Fusing Arts, Culture and Social Change<\/a><\/em>.<\/p>\n

The point of both Scott’s posts and Diane’s post is that “Something is not right.” We have an organizational mechanism for arts structures in this country, the 501(c)(3) model, that was intended to institutionalize eleemosynary (I don’t get near enough chance to use that word, it means “charitable”) work. As most of us know, “arts” is not in the tax code’s authorizing language for tax exempt entities. We sneak in under “education.” The facts of the NCRP report along with our anecdotal awareness of the relationship between money and the arts establishment easily raise questions about the whole system.<\/p>\n

But I would be remiss if I failed to point out that there are similar issues, though played out differently, in the 501(c)(3) world beyond the arts. Volunteer Boards of Directors are tasked with making the ultimate decisions in all 501(c)(3)’s. They are supposed to be guardians of the public good in those organizations. Who are those people? The tradition, because of the need for fundraising, is that they are individuals of means, lots of means. And so, in every segment of the Third Sector (third after government and the for-profit arenas), the backgrounds and world views of people with money set the tone. Wealth calls the shots in each sector of our society. This is particularly discomfiting when we realize that it’s true of the sectors (government and not-for-profit) that are supposed to be looking after the public good. For the insomniacs among you, I have expanded on this in an article titled The Social Justice Paradox<\/a>.<\/p>\n

I don’t pretend to have a solution. I think pointing things out is going to be my primary role in this category. As I said in an earlier post, Equity<\/a>, I have a concern that before too much longer, the arts establishment could begin suffering noticeable backlash from growing awareness of and anger about income disparity. It’s one of my reasons for pressing so hard to get arts organizations to engage with non-usual suspects in their communities. That is, after all, the point of 501(c)(3) status\u2013serving the public good.<\/p>\n

I am particularly taken with an idea Diane raised in her post. There are a large number of 501(c) categories, all tax exempt entities. What makes 501(c)(3)’s special is the deductibility of contributions and eligibility to receive grants from private foundations. This is “earned” by serving the public good. Diane makes an argument that arts organizations that do not embrace a public service mission could be moved to another 501(c) category, perhaps 501(c)(4) or 501(c)(7) (civic leagues or social\/recreation clubs). Income would be tax exempt but donations would not be tax deductible. Now, no arts organization would voluntarily make such a move, but raising the issue might encourage a public service mindset.<\/p>\n

My hat is off to Scott for his thought and research on this topic. I love his riffs comparing income\/wealth disparity among individuals (a la<\/em> Occupy Wall Street) with that among arts organizations. The sooner the status quo in both categories is widely visible and recognized, the sooner some real change might be possible.<\/p>\n

Engage!<\/p>\n

Doug<\/p>\n

Lincoln Center Photo: \"Share<\/a> Some rights reserved<\/a> by robzand<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Nope, this is not my title. It is blatant theft from Scott Walters’ multi-part blog on the topic. For those of you who have not seen the posts, here are links to the first two: Occupy Lincoln Center-Part I and Occupy Lincoln Center-Part II. The thing about kindred spirits is that even if you don’t […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"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":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-868","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-principles","7":"entry","8":"has-post-thumbnail"},"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p1G6h9-e0","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":982,"url":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/2012\/01\/the-question-of-equity-2\/","url_meta":{"origin":868,"position":0},"title":"The Question of Equity","author":"Doug Borwick","date":"January 7, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"I am gratified to see that the question of equity and the arts remained on people's radar screens over the Holidays. A number of end-or-the-year posts listed it as a major topic of 2011. (Notably, Ian David Moss's Createquity post The Top 10 Arts Policy Stories of 2011 and Barry\u2026","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\/2012\/01\/NotEqual.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":857,"url":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/2011\/12\/namp\/","url_meta":{"origin":868,"position":1},"title":"NAMP","author":"Doug Borwick","date":"December 3, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"The coverage of the National Arts Marketing Project's Conference in November has been extensive and interesting. (Is it only me or is NAMP Conference an odd, unwieldy name for a gathering of marketers? Do a search and you also get the National Association of Meat Packers. . . . But\u2026","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\/2011\/11\/NAMP_Logo1.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":2040,"url":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/2012\/09\/insight-from-the-concert-hall\/","url_meta":{"origin":868,"position":2},"title":"Insight from the Concert Hall","author":"Doug Borwick","date":"September 22, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"Once again, Greg Sandow has given us a valuable framework for thinking about engagement. His recent post, Four keys to the future, has been cited by many already and deserves to be read and studied. I cannot see any need to add to what he said. I'll only observe that\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":2589,"url":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/2013\/04\/can-you-feel-the-love\/","url_meta":{"origin":868,"position":3},"title":"Can You Feel the Love?","author":"Doug Borwick","date":"April 13, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=R0Fpl67p5qk A while ago I ran into this video clip. (Forgive me, I can't remember where. Facebook I imagine.) In the midst of some fairly heavy-duty posts, I thought now might be a good time to share it. The original source for me was http:\/\/twentytwowords.com\/2013\/01\/11\/choir-of-old-men-break-out-in-song-while-hanging-out-at-tim-hortons\/, where we are told: After\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\/img.youtube.com\/vi\/R0Fpl67p5qk\/0.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":6442,"url":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/2021\/09\/terminology-2\/","url_meta":{"origin":868,"position":4},"title":"Differentiation","author":"Doug Borwick","date":"September 29, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"Differentiating between seemingly related terms is important to understanding them. This post looks at outreach and education in relationship to community engagement.","rel":"","context":"In "10th Anniversary"","block_context":{"text":"10th Anniversary","link":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/category\/10th-anniversary\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/10.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":2433,"url":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/2013\/01\/ttrash-project\/","url_meta":{"origin":868,"position":5},"title":"The Trash Project","author":"Doug Borwick","date":"January 19, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=h6ZBlYdyoeQ One of the joys of all the traveling and speaking I am undertaking is the opportunity to find out about cool examples of engagement work going on around the country. I am going to Austin for the Texas Commission on the Arts & Texans for the Arts conference, Strategies\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\/img.youtube.com\/vi\/h6ZBlYdyoeQ\/0.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/868","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=868"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/868\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=868"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=868"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=868"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}