For years now I have been talking about the value of non-profit arts and cultural institutions in communities in terms that don’t emphasize monetary ROI to any group that will listen.
Recently, I gave an interview to a small free publication that is distributed to the affluent communities (their words) in my city and surrounding region. When I initially agreed to do the interview, they told me it would appear in the Investment issue. Given the audience and theme I figured they would be interested talking about the economic impact in the context of dollars and cents.
To my surprise, the article opened quoting me talking about the arts creating a sense of vitality, pride, and quality of life for residents and being a factor in what attracts businesses to communities. They went on to summarize my statements about my theater being one element of the local arts ecology alongside the museum, public art, galleries, etc. And how we intentionally focused on providing a broad range of experiences to appeal to different audience interests in the community.
They also quoted me emphasizing how we served as a community resource to host events ranging from performances, parties, anniversaries, celebrations of life, movie screenings.
All this in the first 4-5 paragraphs of the article and then returning to these topics later near the end of the piece. If you have been reading my blog for any length of time, nothing I said will be new.
“The first thought is, is this something that will stimulate and connect with the community, serve the needs of the community, offer a good time with family and friends, or create a moment of silence and reflection, or provide learning and education?” Joe reflects. “That is the driving motivation.”
[…]
“Really, the focus is trying to have an accessible experience for everybody from the community, so people have the opportunity hopefully to participate in activities,” Joe shares, noting that arts and culture create a relatability of shared experiences and a sense of belonging among community members.
The magazine this appears in doesn’t have a broad distribution. But to be frank, this blog doesn’t really enjoy the readership it once did either. Every little opportunity to get this general message out helps.
There is something of an opportunity currently available these days where newspaper and magazine staffs are so small that they will tend to use what you send them nearly verbatim, but they haven’t moved to having AI do the writing for them. So it can be worth cultivating your ability to discuss these concepts or whatever message you are trying to get out, in a clear, compelling manner.
