We’re working on a lot of projects related to increasing cultural participation right now, which means we’re thinking a lot about why people participate in arts activities, or don’t. Often the conversation is around how to get a certain demographic, like Latinos or young people, to attend a certain type of institution that they typically don’t, like a museum or performing arts venue. These institutions tend to appeal to people who are whiter, wealthier and older. Facing pressure from demographic shifts (as well as funders) they are seeking to diversify and broaden their audiences. Yet many organization leaders are frustrated by the slow inroads that they’ve had with these groups, and some have even suggested that the fine arts should just accept their gray fate.
Outreach efforts typically focus on removing obvious barriers, like cost, or creating obvious incentives, like culturally specific programming. So, we end up with the free Friday nights at the museum and the symphony that plays Cuban music. Good stuff, but often doesn’t translate into sustained relationships with different demographics for regular programming.
This article in Salon talks about a subtler, but perhaps more significant barrier to expanding participation, which is just plain feeling out of place. Its easy to forget that spaces are coded with implicit meaning about who belongs there and what is done there that we’ve all internalized. In fact, we’ve internalized it so deeply that we don’t even see it as a problem. If I feel comfortable at the museum, why wouldn’t everyone else if we can just get them in the door? And in fact, the very thing that makes one person feel like she is having the experience she wants, the ornate interiors and encore rituals for example, is the exact thing that reminds another person of his outsider status. And of course, it works in reverse. Would I feel a little out of place at a traditional celebration of contemporary Mayan culture? Sure. Does that mean I’m not interested? No. But it does mean that it takes more than a free event or publicizing it in English to get me there and make me want to come back regularly.
Which is why really diversifying audiences isn’t something that can be relegated to marketing, or even programming, but requires a sustained and holistic shift in institutional mindset and behavior.
