{"id":1218,"date":"2020-08-27T12:23:06","date_gmt":"2020-08-27T16:23:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/wetheaudience\/?p=1218"},"modified":"2020-08-31T11:23:41","modified_gmt":"2020-08-31T15:23:41","slug":"finally-arts-organizations-have-some-fun","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/wetheaudience\/2020\/08\/finally-arts-organizations-have-some-fun.html","title":{"rendered":"Finally: Arts Organizations Have Some Fun"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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https:\/\/dallasopera.org\/tdo_network_episodes\/<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Post by Hannah Grannemann, Guest Editor
<\/a>Part of the Series Audiences During the Pandemic<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Arts organizations weren\u2019t sure whether audiences would want to watch online content when everything stopped this spring. If they did, what would they want to watch? Plenty of arts organizations sent surveys, but what could audiences really tell us? They only knew what they had experienced before \u2013 performances, expert talks, behind the scenes videos, and\u2026well, that was about it. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

One of the primary benefits of this pandemic is that artists and arts organizations were all forced to experiment – even though they didn\u2019t feel ready. They had to fight their perfectionistic tendencies (which I have as well; the arts are a great place for perfectionists), forego long artistic development processes and take some chances. They didn\u2019t know how audiences would respond. If they put out beautifully captured stage performances, would audiences watching at home perceive it is less of an experience than the in-person experience, or would it inspire them to support us while they wait? If artists and staff are shown in their homes or backyards, will the audiences be interested? What about quality, the ideal to which we always aspire \u2013 what will our audience think if everything is shot on a smartphone? These were the worries. But everyone pushed through, and we got the huge range and variety and volume of content that\u2019s out there now on websites and social media. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

This wide-spread spirit of experimentation is itself an achievement. <\/strong>Arts organizations working through the anxiety of perfectionism to create and share new kinds of content is an important step. I don\u2019t care that it took a collective \u201cspaghetti at the wall\u201d approach; we really needed a shakeup. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dallas Opera is one of my favorite examples. They created the TDO Network<\/a>, producing a wide range and large volume of content on a consistent basis. You just can\u2019t miss the love of the art form that is conveyed in the videos. Also, they are not ignoring the larger social context by including many videos on racial discrimination in opera (here\u2019s an early one in the series<\/a>). The videos are accessible in the best possible way: they meet the audience at their point of curiosity about opera and they spark curiosity about aspects of opera that a viewer might not know about.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Here\u2019s what works about Dallas Opera\u2019s approach: <\/p>\n\n\n\n