Mary Carty

A few weeks back I attended a wonderful opening by a very talented artist. The gallery was full. There were lots of children running around and the whole community were there. The atmosphere was infectious and a palpable joy could be felt in every corner and around every piece of art. You see the community helped the artist make this exhibition possible. They gave their time, energy and support to make the artist’s vision come to pass. And boy were they so proud! I was both moved and inspired by it.

The artist in due course thanked her community, lauding their selfless commitment, friendship and belief in her dream. It was an amazing experience to be there, to witness this outpouring of joy, pride and gratitutde. How lucky, I thought, is this organisation to have such a committed, supporting community around it; built from the ground up, over many years. A community of people proud of the arts and avid supporters too. What a fantastic boon.

But all was not well behind the scenes. Unfortunately, neither the director nor the staff understood or gave credit to their community. By the end of the afternoon all these amazing patrons, sponsors of the arts, arts evangelists all; left the building without so much as leaving an email address. The comment book was placed in an obscure location where the crowd was busy negotiating the stairs to the second floor. No information was gathered and the opportunity for learning and future benefit was lost. How short-sighted and sad.

Invigilators walked around reminding people not to touch or take pictures. That’s perfectly fine but they could also have gathered email addresses and other useful information form the attendees at the same time. For example, “why did you come?”, “where did you come from?”, “why did you help out at this show?”, “would you be willing to help out at other shows?” and “can we keep in contact with you?”. Think about how much this information could inform the future direction of the gallery?

Time and time again I see this same mistake replicated by institutions all over the world. It is so disappointing and it shows that organisations have not learned one fundamental fact. YOUR COMMUNITY IS KING. At a time when there is so much talk about audience development and lack of funding; here is a case where the audience was there, willing and able and they were quite simply ignored.

Community cannot be ignored, especially if you are looking for funding to keep institutions open and for that same funding to build your programme from the public purse. No business can afford to ignore their community. It does not make sense.

What can I do differently?

(1) Right now make a promise to look after the COMMUNITY YOU HAVE. These people are fully paid up members, they support you and what you do. You don’t have to spend any more money to get them in the door. These people want to be part of what you do. Look after this community and be their eyes and ears. Support them and honour them. Be grateful to them and ask for their feedback, often.

(2) Look at your programme and ask yourself this question honestly; WHO AM I PROGRAMMING FOR? Are you programming for yourself and your peers? This is a legitimate and honest question and it is not asked often enough. Let’s face it, it’s natural to programme things you like, it’s a human instinct. But if you are basing your programme around yourself and your peers, you are not thinking about your community, their diversity, their needs and their wants.

Of course certain art forms are very niche. Think about how you present these art forms to your community and how they can help you bring this niche to them. That’s much more powerful. Give your community credit and reward them for being your advocate, for without them your organisation would not exist.

Lessons Learned:

– Do not let your community out the door without asking questions and getting feedback
– Gather email addresses at every turn
– Start an engaged, mutually beneficial conversation
– Communicate with your community regularly
– Be personable and friendly, they want to help you
– Support and give thanks to those who come out and support you
– Programme for your community not for yourself or your peers

How does your organisation thank and harness your communities potential?
Any lessons you can share with us?
Let me know if I can help you build an engaged, committed community around your organisation. As always comments and suggestions are welcome.