ARTSblog

There is nothing better than free publicity. But getting it isn’t always easy or glamorous.

This morning I opened my email to find some “20 things your clients should be aware of” in a blog by ValleyPR. Most of us in the arts PR world have internal clients, (directors, curators, performers, community outreach people, membership people, planners etc) which is why this list is important both for practitioners and for those internal clients we call upon. (I’ve altered some of this and combined somethings, so ValleyPR Blog writers and myself will share credit. )

1. Many times there is an immediate sense of urgency in the media. There are deadlines. No, you are not the exception to the deadline rule. Reporters do not care that you don’t know who’s in the new exhibit your opening, they just won’t cover it. They don’t care that Thursday is better for you than Friday. They don’t care that someone at your organization is going to have to make 20 phone calls to reach an artist.  You must act if you want media coverage. If a reporter calls and you miss it, return their call as SOON as you can. Do not ignore or wait a day to call back. Also, You might have to get up at 4am for a 5am interview. A few hours of lost sleep is worth the great exposure you’ll get from morning show viewers. Yes, there are people watching this early! If you don’t abide by this rule, (“That’s too early!” or “We can’t do that!” ) your institution should not bother having a PR person on staff. Being able to be flexible is part of the job of getting your art noticed.

2. You may spend hours prepping for a TV segment and only 20 seconds of it is shown in a story. Arts PR folks should manage expectations of those that they are working with. Read the rest of this entry »

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“I hate marketing.”

I hear that a lot.

Of course when people say that they are also saying some version of the following . . .

I hate money or I hate when people come to see my work.

They are basically the same thing.

But the truth is you probably don’t hate marketing. You hate what you think marketing is all about. Read the rest of this entry »

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World-renowned trumpeter, composer and Artistic Director of Jazz at Lincoln Center Wynton Marsalis dazzled and inspired his audience with a moving lecture mixed with performance titled The Ballad of the American Arts. The 22nd Annual Nancy Hanks Lecture on Arts & Public Policy was presented to a capacity crowd at the Kennedy Center on the eve of Arts Advocacy Day. Marsalis’s lecture addressed the essential value of culture in the recalibration of American identity. After two standing ovations Marsalis wrapped up the evening with a lively performance with members of the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra (Chris Crenshaw, trombone; Victor Goines, saxophone; Carlos Henriquez, bass; Ali Jackson, drums; and Dan Nimmer, piano).

Wynton Marsalis:2009 Nancy Hanks Lecture on Arts and Public Policy from Americans for the Arts on Vimeo.

If an artist sings deep enough, he takes you to the frontiers of your soul.
—Wynton Marsalis, 2009 Nancy Hanks Lecturer

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For more information please see the Arts Advocacy Day highlights and full press release.

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Early this week, I received an unexpected supplemental to the Vermont Arts Council’s weekly e-blast. (Always on the outlook for arts and civic engagement projects to add to Animating Democracy’s project profile database, I joined their e-news list a few years back to get regular updates on The Danville Project and The Palettes of Vermont project - and the regular news items have continued to be thought-provoking. Got others you subscribe to? I’d love to hear ‘em! Email me or post in the comments). Even more unexpected? The title of the supplemental: “On the Gay Marriage Issue”

Reproduced online on  Alex Aldrich’s blog (Alex is executive dirctor at the Vermont Arts Council), the e-blast went on to explain that during the last week of March (mid-way through Arts Achievement Day), word had filtered through the Vermont State House that Governor Douglas would veto a gay marriage bill if it landed on his desk. Alex says, “Remembering back to the Civil Unions debates earlier this decade, I quickly realized that no amount of quality arts activity taking place in the State House would penetrate the wall of news that the Governor’s press conference would generate. Sure enough, in Thursday’s paper, I searched in vain for even one reference to the dozens of artists, students, advocates, and arts supporters who put on such a creative show at the State House a day earlier.” Read the rest of this entry »

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I think one of the hardest things about civic engagement — and arts-based civic engagement — is being able to draw the line around what it is and what it isn’t. From the standpoint of Animating Democracy, I think we have a pretty open perspective — we want to understand and support what’s happening in the field and the world and base notions from there — but it’s still a little game I play with myself when I ask, “So, does this qualify as civic engagement?”

Picked up the New York Times UrbanEye Weekend this morning (which is unusual – because I live in DC) only to see the announcement for a pillow fight on wall street tomorrow (Saturday). Turns out, there are pillow fights all over the world on April 4th. Organized by a collection of event organizers and activists, the event is part of a series of events called “the urban playground movement” (Am I late to the party here?). Urban Playground hosters organize non-commercial social events all over the world designed to leave “more public and social cities in its wake”.  The goal of these events (world pillow fight day included) is to create events in public spaces that can replace passive consumption experiences – like watching TV. 

So, is it arts-based civic engagement?  Probably not.  Civic engagement? In a weird way, yes…. if you’re looking to civic engagement in a Robert Putnam Social Capital sense, I think you can make the connection: folks getting out of their homes, getting to talk to one another and so on. Yes, friends, pillow fights build social cohesion. 

For more information on Pillow Fights happening in your city, check out the events page. Oh, and read those rules and be safe! If any readers head out to the events, we’d love to hear what it was like!

For folks interested in how Animating Democracy defines civic engagement and arts-based civic engagement, check out our key terms.

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Thank you to all the advocates from across the country who attended the 2009 Arts Advocacy Day in Washington, DC this week.  And thank you to Americans for the Arts for facilitating and convening this event.

Despite my snarky title, I learned a lot of excellent stuff at Arts Advocacy Day and I met many incredible and fascinating people.  I also got to connect with the offices of many members of the Illinois congressional delegation.

The fact that attendance was just a few folks shy of 2008 speaks to the importance and power of advocacy – especially in tough times.  The debate over funding for the arts in the stimulus was a wake-up call that we must be savvy and vigilant in our advocacy.  And as many speakers and presenters said at Arts Advocacy Day, “If we don’t do this, no one will.”

Before I share some of experiences and lessons-learned from DC, I’d love to hear from you about your advocacy and lobbying efforts.  What successes have you enjoyed?  What mistakes have you made?  What prompted you to speak out?  What has held you back?

I was live-Tweeting from Arts Advocacy Day and a few folks from Pennsylvania joined me (a special shout-out to @philaculture as well as @tiffany_gpac).  Below are a few highlights from our coverage. Read the rest of this entry »

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The following is an open letter to the School Board and the Superintendent of San Diego Unified School District which is currently faced with the challenge of budget cuts.  The letter calls for bold leadership in decision making processes with an eye toward creating opportunity for students to become engaged members of society and future problem solvers.  The letter argues the arts and physical education are essential to an education for an engaged citizenry.

March 24, 2009

Dear School Board members and Superintendent Grier,

Opportunity is knocking loudly at your door, and you have the power to revolutionize education. No doubt these are truly tough times with regard to funding. At the same time, a significant transition is at our doorstep. In a recent editorial in the Union Tribune, County Superintendent Randy Ward called for flexibility in school funding. He is absolutely spot-on. Since the National Defense Education Act of 1958 (NDEA) (Public Law 85-864) put federal dollars toward discipline specific curriculum (science and math), and more recently the No Child Left Behind legislation which unintentionally emphasizes reading and math (because they are tested and test scores are tied to funding), educational priorities have shifted from preparing a knowledgeable and informed citizenry to an emphasis on student achievement.

It is no secret that our society desperately needs innovative and creative problem solvers. Educational leaders must respond to this need with bold initiatives which emphasize the teaching of innovation, community, and creativity along with discipline specific achievement. Education in all cultures has mirrored the needs of societies. I suggest we revolutionize education in the true sense, by returning to some of the core values upon which education in the US was created. For example, when Music was first introduced to the public schools in 1837, it was in concert with the overall goal of education of the time and it was aimed at educating children intellectually, morally, and physically. Read the rest of this entry »

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“How’s the show going?”

When a director, choreographer or curator hears that question they interpret as “is your artistic vision being realized?”

When a marketing person like me hears it they think “is the show going to make its financial goal?”

To help answer that question . . . and prepare my organization for the consequences of said answer, I use benchmarks.

Don’t let the word “benchmark” freak ya out.  It’s just a way of focusing on certain indicators that help you determine how things are going.

For example, where I work, the benchmarks look like this:
Say I need to sell $70,000 in single tickets to a show.  I should have 20% of those tickets sold before we do our first performance, so that would be $14,000.  I should have sold another 20% worth of tickets before our Opening Night, which is about 9 days after the first performance. So that’s another $14,000.  The rest of the money comes in during the rest of the run, which is typically about three weeks long.

Read the rest of this entry »

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