Tuesday, September 30, 2014

Why we should and do connect with our commnity


As an organization, Lincoln Choral Artists have made decisions to be actively involved in the community. But what does this mean? We no longer have the luxury of being an event that the whole community rallies around and supports. And maybe there was never a time when choral organizations had that support, it just seemed  like it. In today's world, where you can see live music, support an organization, or engage in civic duty without actually leaving your home, we need to make our connections to community about the art and collaboration at the event and our partners in the event. 

For our first concert we join with the
They will work with us to engage the community in giving as We Gather...

We need and want the audience to help us decorate the stage with gifts of canned and packaged foods. The choir will also provide in some of this cornucopia of gifts and we will then directly donate all collected food to the Food Bank. 


From an article by Chorus America

"... our expectations of engaging with communities have changed because of the confluence of three factors: 

  • Arts organizations are finally admitting they are in trouble. Their traditional audience is decreasing, and their traditional “outreach” programs that provide “exposure” to large numbers of children or adults have proven to have very little real impact. “Change or die” is a compelling directive, and many arts organizations now believe it is true. 
  • Funders are requiring and rewarding more ambitious community engagement. And funders, let me tell you: with your increased support, you can really help this experimentation grow. 
  • The experiments that most organizations have underway are actually exciting and successful, and there are more and more successful examples of arts organizations making innovative long-term relationships with new groups in their vicinity."
LCA is aware of these changes and we are working to collaborate and engage with the reality of the community we live and work in.


From the same article:
"Three emerging trends in the way arts organizations are approaching community engagement, which we might call promising practices. 

  • Listening more. Listening is key to deepening existing programs and discovering new kinds of partnerships. This listening takes time, a shift in intent, patience to press through awkward stages, and sometimes even facilitation. A guided discussion with an outside facilitator can help different parties define their interests and provide a vital ground upon which to partner. Simply put: healthy partnerships cannot grow unless arts organizations learn how to hear a community’s true aspirations. 
  • Increasing experimentation. Every arts organization should have exploratory partnership experiments underway. No exceptions for size or history; this is becoming the new norm.
  • Investing in teaching artists. Teaching artists are already the key deliverers of most community engagement, and those who can design and lead this experimentation have become crucial change agents. Many organizations are investing in the development of an advanced cohort and increasing their commitment to raising teaching artist capacity in general, since training pathways are generally haphazard and demands for this type of expertise continue to grow."
It is our goal, as the Lincoln Choral Artists, to create and maintain caring and quality partnerships with organizations and community members. We are in fact a community ensemble, made up of the community itself. We have singers from all kinds of backgrounds, who engage in civic and community volunteering on a weekly basis outside of their excellent work in Lincoln Choral Artists.


Help us to connect. 


Singers: Tell your family, friends, neighbors, strangers...everyone about us and our real connection to the life of Lincoln. 


Friends, blog readers, supporter, donors: Share this blog with your network of peers and work with us in engaging the art and life of Lincoln's community. Help us lift up not just the concerns, but the joys of our community. Join us as We Gather...with One Step on October 26th with the Food Bank of Lincoln at O' Donnell Auditorium, 3pm for a concert filled with the spirit of engaging art and community in unity.



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