From the Executive Director

Democracy in Action

By Teresa Eyring

It was an unconventional convention, a meeting like no other. But if you attended the National Performing Arts Convention in June, you may have left Denver wondering if we needed to go through an entire caucusing process and four days of meetings with more than 3,500 performing arts practitioners to learn what we already know. On the other hand, you may have been among the many who were “jazzed” by the energy of the occasion and the knowledge that certain key priorities had been collectively unearthed. Through days of discussion, distillation and an ultimate town hall meeting that resembled an electronic continental congress, three simple directives for action emerged: Advocacy, Arts Education and Diversity.

While such conclusions may not seem new, the “getting there” was landmark. For the first time, America’s entire performing arts sector—the fields of music, dance and opera as well as theatre—came together and conducted a systematic process of deliberation, facilitated by AmericaSpeaks, in order to arrive at a shared set of priorities for action. These things can now live on our first-ever collective “to do” list. And—as Good to Great author Jim Collins so elegantly stated in his NPAC plenary session—when you generate a “to do” list, it’s important to make a “not to do” list as well. There’s tremendous power in our sector’s ability to now focus together on these three things—versus some other three things. (Or, god forbid, six things.)

As promised on the final day of the convention, the NPAC planning team met in July to begin the process of reviewing recommended priorities and strategies. Which action steps are most realistic and achievable, and at which levels: national, state or local/individual? How do we establish an implementation plan that will serve us in making meaningful and visible progress? Which topics didn’t make the final cut, but merit further discussion? For its part, TCG will align aspects of its agendas for the Fall Forum in New York (Nov. 7–9) and the 2009 National Conference in Baltimore (with a pre-conference in Washington, D.C.) with NPAC’s action agenda.

In the meantime, here are the statements deliberated on in that final session, with some added things to think about (a more detailed report of the proceedings can be found at the NPAC website, www.performingartsconvention.org.):

• 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. Advocacy can include the process of lobbying for a strong arts policy as well as building awareness around the value and relevance of the performing arts. NPAC participants had ideas about how best to accomplish both, some requiring in-depth planning and financial resources. But being a citizen advocate for the arts is something that you can start doing today: Put a reminder note on your bathroom mirror, and don’t wait for the next cue from NPAC planners. The Performing Arts Alliance (formerly the American Arts Alliance) has been advocating at the federal level for years, influencing increased NEA appropriations as well as congressional action, such as the recent “Arts Require Timely Service (ARTS) Act,” H.R. 1312, passed by the House on April 1. If approved by the Senate, this bill would improve the reliability of visa processing for international artists. Advocacy organizations can do some of the work, but they can’t be truly effective without individual attention and commitment. Start by knowing your elected officials (congressmen, state legislators, city councilpersons, school board representatives). Then track the issues, enlist the support of influencers in your community and write letters.

• Challenge/Opportunity: The potential of arts education and lifelong learning in the arts is under-realized. There is a growing national sense of anguish about the reduction of arts education in the schools and the impact of No Child Left Behind on children’s exposure to the arts. In developing strategies to support arts education, an idea that gained traction is an artist service corps. This concept is articulated in Barack Obama’s arts policy, and at least one arts agitator is already developing a model that can be applied to teaching music. Getting a national movement around arts education is something that will require a carefully constructed plan—and leadership and follow-through across the population.

• 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. When the need for diversity within our sector is raised, people often look around themselves and say, “Yes! Now what do we do?” TCG has made diversity a priority, and we were proud to engage a culturally and age-diverse group at our own conference, including many young professionals of color who will be among the next generation of leadership. NPAC attendees suggested that the national service organizations must lead the effort, through convenings, professional development and other means, to build cultural diversity across our disciplines—among audiences, artists, staff, boards, students and volunteers. One of the preferred strategies for local action is to seek out arts experiences within your own community offered by cultures other than your own and establish strong peer relationships.

So we’ve arrived at three priorities for action, through a process that was anything but random, with more than 3,500 citizens of the performing arts, including 600 unaffiliated artists. But as Miguel de Cervantes once wrote, “The proof of the pudding is in the eating.” So now we must act!