I attended a session entitled “The Curated Arts Experience” featuring Ceci Dadisman, Deeksha Gaur and Nella Vera. During this session, Nella started talking about something really fundamental – having fun. She gave several great examples of organizations that went out of their way to create fun and memorable experiences for their audiences. Immediately prior, we were treated to a lunch session featuring cdza, a trio of guys who create musical experiments. With their experiments, they make classical music fun and accessible, and in doing so have millions of viewers worldwide. I have to wonder how many people have been introduced to classical music via their performances?
Cdza’s success is really pretty simple:
1)
They feature the work of brilliant artists –
Michael Thurber is the “chief music guy,” a young man who from age 14 spent his
life in a music conservatory and graduated from Juilliard.
2)
They don’t take themselves too seriously
3)
They create memorable and fun experiences
Their motto: “first build your audience by offering them
dessert before you introduce vegetables.” Simple. Clear. Brilliant.
In previous
blog posts, I’ve mentioned that when building audiences, you must program
“gateway drugs” – a couple of options that are easily accessible and offer up a
fun evening of entertainment in an attempt at proving that the non-profit arts
can be a viable entertainment alternative to audiences that currently don’t view
them as such. Great art doesn’t have to be devoid of entertainment value. It is
possible to have art of the highest quality that is fun.
Earlier this week, Adam Thurman of Mission Paradox reminded
us that we need new audiences more than they need us. And here’s the painful
truth – since art is essential to our lives, we like to believe that they are
essential to everyone. That just isn’t the case. A good amount of the
population does just fine without the arts. That isn’t to say that I believe
the arts couldn’t enrich their lives, it is merely meant to point out that in
the hierarchy of needs, we’re closer to the bottom. In today’s economy, merely
meeting basic existence needs has become difficult, so convincing someone to
spend their remaining disposable income on a discretionary item like the arts
is harder than ever.
We have to make our organizations inviting, accessible and
fun. And understand that providing a fun experience doesn’t equate to
sacrificing artistic credibility. We don’t have to sacrifice the core of who we
are to attract new audiences, and those that make that argument, in my opinion,
are short-sighted.
New audiences need to be cultivated carefully. Create a path
for them. Give them an easy entry point. Provide an amazing experience. Steward
them so they return soon after their first experience. Build their confidence
with multiple experiences, and then provide an opportunity to sample something
a little more challenging. Introduce them to new experiences. At some point, if
you don’t provide them with a challenge, they will grow bored. We are responsible
for cultivating our audiences’ artistic growth. If we lack audiences for
classical, challenging or new work, perhaps it is because we try to short
circuit the system, and ask that new audiences sample what they would at first
perceive as vegetables before getting to the dessert.
In some circles in Washington, DC, the Kennedy Center has
been criticized for programming work that isn’t as challenging as some would
like. I however, appreciate the role the Kennedy Center plays in our ecosystem.
Each year they introduce thousands of people to the performing arts for the
first time. This in turn acts as a feeder system to other arts organizations.
A balanced meal is important, but so too is the order of
consumption. Start with dessert, and the chances increase that the full meal
will be finished. Roll out complex foods to a novice palate, and you may not
make it past the first course.
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