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Rules of Audience Engagement
It was bound to happen sooner or later, that I’d be late with the monthly e-letter. The thing is, I’ve just been having so much fun!
First there was the at-home piano concert. About ten of us were invited to share an elegant evening of music, wine, and conversation in one of Austin’s gracious historic homes. We were seated close enough to our hostess at the keyboard that we could see how she rolled her shoulders through the phrases and hear how she murmured the notes along with her fingers. Our fondness for classical music was rekindled, and when we returned home that evening Ross and I ferreted out the Chopin CDs to continue the concert in our own home.
Then there was the fashion show fundraiser for the Long Center for the Performing Arts, sponsored by Catalyst-8. This is a dynamic group of young Austinites that raises funds to subsidize Long Center rental fees for small performing arts groups. Its mission is to “spread awareness about the Long Center and the arts in Austin, to provide opportunities for social and professional access and involvement, and to develop future leaders for our community.” Using the “tipping point” theory of connectors, mavens, and salespeople to spread the word, Catalyst-8 has raised more than $80,000 in memberships in less than six months.
The fashion show fundraiser was festive — a warm welcome at the door from Long Center executive director Cliff Redd, another warm welcome from Catalyst-8 co-director Tony Capasso, fabulous-looking clothing on even more fabulous-looking models, as well as champagne, strawberries, and chocolate. What I discovered was an appealing mix of people who, not previously committed to the arts per se, were drawn into the Long Center cause through the desire to build a better city, no doubt, but also by the lure of monthly opportunities to socialize in Austin’s artistic and creative venues.
Most recently there was an Arts Encounter at the Benini Foundation, a 140-acre Sculpture Ranch in Johnson City, about an hour outside of Austin. On the last weekend of each month Benini and his wife, Lorraine, host a free afternoon of artists’ talks, refreshment, and informal chatter in their huge, hangar-like studio gallery. He makes the espresso and she makes the welcome. And they leave plenty of time between the “Arts” parts for the “Encounter” part. I made acquaintance with a number of artists and art lovers, and at intermission took a ride out with one of the speakers to see his sculptural work-in-progress. So much of our interaction with artists is mediated — by galleries, critics, and websites — that it’s pure delight to hear artists talk about their own work. Then at the end of the day, folks head into Johnson City to check out the galleries and to wrap up the discussion over dinner at the Silver K.
All this fun reminded me how much the arts live and breathe in a social environment. It further convinced me that the future of audience development lay not in proselytizing for the arts but in appealing to people’s basic drive to socialize. The concert, the fashion show, and the Arts Encounter suggest three basic rules of engagement:
- People want an experience.
- People want intimacy.
- People want to have fun.
Best,
Ann
February 2006