America Has Spoken

To close the conference all 3,500 or so delegates from all performing arts disciplines gathered together for an American Idol-style voting process with keypads to determine the most pressing issues for the performing arts industry and strategies to implement on a national, local and individual level.

The following strategies were presented and voted on during the final Town Hall meeting of the National Performing Arts Convention. Many strategies were put forward, and we hope they all find champions and serve the field. Those with the majority of votes will emerge in the national strategies and agendas of the host service organizations, and will be encouraged as local and organizational priorities throughout the country.

The Challenge/Opportunity:
The increasing diversity of our communities creates an opportunity to engage a variety of ages, races, identities, and cultures in our audiences and organizations.

What should we do about DIVERSITY on a NATIONAL level?

• Charge national service organizations to create dialogue at convenings, create training programs, promote diverse art and artists, and partner with grassroots organizations who are already connected to diverse communities - 43%
• Diversify boards, management, and staff in all national arts organizations - 26%
• Create a media campaign with artists from diverse communities including celebrities to provide exposure to diverse art - 15%
• Raise national funds to support internships, reduced price events, and under-represented artists - 9%
• Create national forums, listserves, and websites to support sharing of successful diversity efforts - 7%


What should we do about DIVERSITY on a LOCAL level?

• Open an honest dialogue across community groups and sectors to share priorities and identify barriers to participation - 31%
• Partner within the arts, as well as with community organizations, to build relationships - 23%
• Expand beyond traditional venues to establish new points of access - 17%
• Create programming to address the experiences of the diverse elements of the community - 11%
• Engage community leaders from outside the arts to serve in arts leadership positions - 7%
• Use diverse voices, experiences, and traditions to market arts programming - 7%
• Organize a recurring local performing arts convention - 4%


What should we do about DIVERSITY on an ORGANIZATIONAL/INDIVIDUAL level?

• Discover arts in your community offered by cultures other than your own and establish peer relationships - 37%
• Set long term goal and plan to have staff, board, programming, and audiences reflect the demographics of your community - 32%
• Program more diverse artists and content - 15%
• Create an internship / entry-level staff program that attracts and recruits diverse staff - 6%
• Convene diverse ad hoc steering committees (including youth) for specific projects - 6%
• Produce at least one large-scale, publicly accessible event per year - 5%


The Challenge/Opportunity:
The potential of arts education and lifelong learning in the arts is under realized.

What should we do about arts EDUCATION on a NATIONAL level?

• Devise an advocacy campaign to promote the inclusion of performing arts in core curricula - 36%
• Enlist artists as full partners in all aspects of arts education through training and creating an AmeriCorps/WPA-type program - 22%
• Lobby for education reform, including rescinding No Child Left Behind - 20%
• Form partnerships with national education infrastructure (e.g. National Education Association, PTA, teachers unions) - 13%
• Invite new constituencies to experience the performing arts and create opportunities for lifelong learning by providing more points of entry - 5%
• Research successful models / best practices and disseminate via the web - 2%
• Establish diverse cross-sector committee to create an enriched arts curriculum - 2%


What should we do about arts EDUCATION on a LOCAL level?

• Mobilize and collaborate with K-12 and higher education institutions to strengthen arts education and arts participation as core curriculum - 23%
• Strengthen relationship with school boards and policy makers through lobbying, electing "arts friendly officials", involvement in local politics - 17%
• Innovate financial models to fund the arts: link to tax base, develop dedicated sales tax, connect to corporate funds - 15%
• Integrate arts teaching in educators' professional development and integrate teaching programs in artist organizations - 16%
• Bring art into non-traditional spaces (e.g. parks, workplaces, social programs)to create new educational opportunities -- "enter into the communities we serve" - 14%
• Develop joint arts education programs across disciplines and within the community for fuller distribution and comprehensive programming - 8%
• Establish and share assessments that create empirical data to demonstrate correlation between arts and educational impact - 7%


What should we do about arts EDUCATION on an ORGANIZATIONAL/INDIVIDUAL level?

• Lead lifelong education programs that actively involve people in multigenerational groups. "Make the arts part of a lifelong wellness plan." - 23%
• Directly engage teachers to integrate the arts into their teaching and create professional development programs to address their needs - 19%
• Commit your entire organization to arts education in mission, budget, programs, and collaborations - 13%
• Create new partnerships to share responsibility for planning and delivering local arts education - 11%
• Leverage new technology to create art, engage more people (especially young people), and support learning. - 10%
• Run candidates for school boards and local government - 9%
• Use comprehensive education models to engage the whole family in your mission and programs. - 8%
• Join, be active, and take leadership roles in civic organizations - 7%


The Challenge/Opportunity:
Our communities do not sufficiently perceive the value, benefits and relevance of the arts, which makes advocacy and building public support for the arts a challenge at every level.

What should we do about arts advocacy and communicating our value at the NATIONAL level?

• Organize a national media campaign with celebrity spokespersons, catchy slogans (e.g. "Got Milk"), unified message, and compelling stories - 27%
• Create a Department of Culture/Cabinet-level position which is responsible for implementing a national arts policy - 23%
• Lobby elected political officials for pro-arts policy and funding; demand arts policy platform from candidates - 14%
• Create a coordinated national performing arts policy campaign involving artists and organizations - 12%
• Collect, analyze and disseminate data demonstrating the value of the arts (e.g. economic, intrinsic, developmental/educational values) - 12%
• Establish a National Arts Day/Festival with free performances, open houses, and art-making opportunities - 8%
• Explore interactive new media initiatives to increase access and relevance (e.g. create a "Google Arts"-type resource, blogs,YouTube) - 5%


What should we do about arts advocacy and communicating our value at the LOCAL level?

• Create an arts coalition to get involved in local decision-making, take leadership positions, and strengthen relationships with elected officials - 21%
• Forge partnerships with other sectors to identify how the arts can serve community needs - 21%
• Foster cross-disciplinary conversations to share data and best practices, develop common goals, and create joint activities/ performances - 14%
• Mobilize audiences to be advocates for the arts - 13%
• Utilize existing advocacy and data to influence local funding, policy and public support for the arts - 9%
• Create collaborative local marketing campaigns in mass media and public venues - 8%
• Develop and promote recognizable champions for the arts - 7%
• Create new cross disciplinary events and festivals to promote the local arts community - 6%


What should we do about arts advocacy and communicating our value at the ORGANIZATIONAL/INDIVIDUAL level?

• Build relationships with non-arts groups, including governments, corporations, community development organizations, etc. - 26%
• Create opportunities for active participation in the arts for all ages (including interactive websites, open rehearsals, etc.) - 24%
• Expand relationships across the community to find and develop new leaders (e.g. through Board development) and local champions for the arts - 12%
• Participate in the local political process by lobbying city council, school board, etc. - 10%
• Create multi-media marketing strategies (including YouTube, Facebook) to communicate and demonstrate value and relevance - 9%
• Connect the stories and experiences of local community members to new and existing artwork - 9%
• Create arts supporters out of our audiences - 7%
• Build relationships with local media to widen their coverage and exposure of the arts - 4%


To close the convention, Diane Reeves performed. Her silky voice and the momentum of the past 4 days left me driven and inspired to do my best work.

Before catching my flight I had just enough time to give myself a walking tour of Lower Downtown, the 16th St. Mall, Larimer St. and the historic Brown Palace Hotel. The surrounding mountains were a tease since I was not able to drive out to them during my stay and still on my "to do" tourist list is visit one of the many microbreweries as well as the hispanic arts community just outside the downtown...next time.

New Technology, New Audiences

Alan Brown addressed Dance/USA with an overview of current trends in audience development. Overall there has been a diversification of cultural tastes and audiences now demand more customized, intense and shorter experiences. There is also an aspect of late decision-making to consider. Finally, audiences want interpretive assistance. He recommends the strategy of creating social experiences and leveraging technology to offer curatorial participation.

During the general session, "Radical Ideas From Beyond Our Borders" Germaine Acohny of L'Ecole de Sabres in Africa and Jose Antonio, creator of the Simone Bolivar Youth Orchestra in Venezuela shared their missions. Germaine Acohny, dressed in earthy tones with a coral red bandana, necklace and shoes, works to learn from other cultures by focusing on similarities that cross styles of dance. She uses rituals and traditions as tools and sees the body as a multicultural instrument. Acohny refers to her school as a sacred forest - a place for learning and writing to become a more complete adult and be an artist as citizen. She hopes her legacy is pride in Africa and is against the globalization of the arts as heritage maintains the "spice." To her, the role of art is to change people.

Jose Antonio is "totally convinced that poverty can be overcome by spiritual richness." He sits on stage, an old man in a boxy jacket glowing with enthusiasm. He asserts that music education has a role in the transformation and dignification of the individual. By making arts essential in schools there is a system for social inclusion, Jose says that once a child is in possession of their capability and knowledge, they can insert themselves into society. And even after all the orchestra's successes Jose is dreaming big. He hopes his model will be incorporated first throughout South America and then permeate the world spreading music and decency.

The Dance/USA Council meetings were then held at the Sheraton - a time for professionals with similar roles within dance organizations dish and share best practices. I attended the PR/Marketing Council which shared the meeting with Company Managers. In the room were representatives from San Francisco Ballet, Parsons, Compexions, Louisville Ballet, Ballet Memphis, the Trey McIntyre Project, Donald Byrd, NCDT, Richmond Ballet, Tulsa Ballet, Graham, Boston Ballet, PBT, Ailey, Nashville Ballet and Ballet Idaho. Hot topics were music royalties, online marketing (Twitter stole the show), Visas and satellite schools.

And wait is that free time on the schedule? I enjoyed some pool and sauna time - the first unscheduled 2 hours in 3 days. Later, a 35 and under event was held at Orange Cat with a live band (names Some Random Band) and a mulched backyard that made it more house party than bar. Dark Denver beer and dancing was welcome after a day at the convention center.

Good, the Enemy of Great

Dance/USA hosted the first-timers breakfast where I met with my mentor, Joanne Robinson Hill, Education Director at The Joyce. After another round of cross-disciplinary caucus sessions, Jim Collins, author of Good to Great and the Social Sector, addressed the community. He asserted that "Greatness is not a function of circumstance but rather a function of discipline and choice." Therefore we need to embrace disciplines that ensure great organizations and artists. One's values should stay the same, however practices should be adapted to the ever-changing circumstances.

I was able to escape the Convention Center with some fellow dancers to eat lunch on Larimer Street a mecca of sidewalk dining. We sampled sandwich creations from The Market and enjoyed the warm, sunny dry Denver climate.

My afternoon session discussed the topic of "Higher Education and The Real World of Practice: Creating a New Alignment." Does college and conservatory training in a performing arts discipline prepare students to wear the many hats they are likely to wear? Since most people do not end up working full time in their craft, this is an important conversation to have among recent graduates and professors creating programming. The NEA article "Artists in the Workforce" states that most artists are highly educated but self-employed. The charge of educators is to prepare students for their role as citizens and individuals with a world view necessary for leadership and survival in the industry.

The Mile-High Dance Showcase was presented during the evening at the Newman Center of the Performing Arts. Taking the tour bus to the theater felt like a bizarre family vacation. Chunky Move was a highlight utilizing a motion-triggered lighting computer program on a single dancer who remained on the floor for the duration of the piece.

2028

To break the New York City heatwave I've left town and gone west to Denver - for the National Performing Arts Convention and Dance/USA Roundtable - a massive gathering of arts professionals across all disciplines to steer the future of the arts in America.

After meeting some fellow ACCESS Dance Scholars - Andrea, an Artistic Director of her own dance company, Marisa who programs dance outreach in city schools and Alberto, a professional dancer who is opening a performing arts school in Queens at the airport, we taxied into downtown Denver with the mountains to the west. The dance delegates all stay at the same hotel, minutes away from the Colorado Convention Center where all the action takes place.

A representative from Dance/NYC helps me navigate the massive convention center and after check in and orientation we gather for the opening session featuring Anna Deavere Smith, Bill Rauch of the Oregon Shakespeare Festival and an enthusiastic mayor John Hickenlooper of Denver who shows his musician and thesbian side with a tune on the piano and lines of Shakespeare. A Pow Wow opens the session and a collaborative rendition of Romeo and Juliet is performed by Denver arts groups follows including Kim Robards Dance and the Denver Gay Mens Chorus. Civic engagement was a theme as well as the idea that connection to the community is essential for the survival and relevance of the arts.

Then the 3,500 delegates break into groups of ten for the groundbreaking cross-disciplinary America Speaks caucuses. I facilitate a group that consisted of a composer, a chorus director, a visual artist, a literary performance producer, and two theater presenters. We responded to a vision statement for the performing arts community and identified top strengths and areas in need of improvement for the arts industry. The most difficult part was the time limit on this stream of feedback, thoughts and ideas from the group of leaders.

Andrea and I got some fresh air at the opening party in the Galleria of the Denver Performing Arts Center - Denver beer, arial performers, brass band and African drumming. Back at the Sheraton, Dance/USA delegates gathered for a special evening honoring Anna Kisselgoff, Rena Shagan and Frederick Franklin. It was a magical evening-a who's who in the dance world. We sang happy birthday to Mr. Franklin - his 94th birthday! We toasted todays arts leaders and the future of the industry. We did the obligatory exchanging of business cards and took a photo of all the 300 dance attendees in the room.

Epic. Summer. 2008.

Unlike many New Yorkers, I will not be deserting my dear city during the summer days of peak humidity. I happen to love summer in the city - the free outdoor concerts, sidewalk dining, street fairs, BBQs, parks, not to mention the sensual and vibrant quality of life brought to the city in the summer months.

And, after all, this is Epic Summer 2008, not to be taken lightly...my fellow Epic Summer 2008-goers and I have lined up a killing series of gamey adventures that all you summer share house people will be missing:

1. Make Cupcakes, Not War - Peddling extravagant cupcake stand in the vicinity of the Carroll Gardens farmers market - nutella icing, double-decker cupcakes, you name it.

2. Wine Popsicles - In the park, on the roof, really just about everywhere... anyone who's received a drinking citation in the park will appreciate this no-bottles approach to getting buzzed mid-afternoon.

3. Night Games - Remember Kick the Can, Flashlight Tag and Ha? We will ambush Columbia Campus on a glorious summer evening TBD to relive these childhood neighborhood games from the burbs. Beware-facepaint may be involved.

4. Coming to America - In celebration of our favorite Brit Laura obtaining a Visa to work in the U.S. of A. we will be welcoming her back to New York with all things of the American variety - mac n cheese, apple pie, corn on the cob, hillbilly horseshoe, PB & J...

5. The Baking Sheet - Sun tanning/burning on the recently astroturfed roof at chez Potter. Baking begins at 3, BBQ at 5. Every Sunday. Be there.

6. Outdoor Dining - If it has a patio, garden or roofdeck, we're there. All summer. Ditto for Sangria Sunday at Calle Ocho.

7. Fine Coastline - Day trippin to Long Island for a glimpse of the ocean at Jones Beach.

8. Sexy Pirate Party - While we are intrigued by the Sexy Robot Party, we'd prefer to bring out the Captain Jack Sparrow in us all.

9. 1st Anniversary of Sarah's 23rd Birthday - Confirmed for Apt. 21. All night. Bring your bling.

10. Giant Athletics - This calls for the roof. Bring your best physical feats. Wizard chess-rules TBD.

In addition, gamey girl Sarah will be donning a romper frequntly for E.S.'08-the ultimate summer apparel. Welcome to Epic Summer 2008!