Whether focused on the intrinsic value of the arts – art for art’s sake – or their instrumental worth – art’s links to learning, health, emotional intelligence and well-being – our passion for the arts, and our first-hand experience of their social and transformative powers, make us all potential advocates for the sector.
There are a number of ways by which we can all become better arts advocates. Here are some of the suggestions.
Remember entertainment is made by artists
Over Christmas dinner or at an end of year barbecue with relatives, you may be challenged about the value of the arts, even told the sector is ‘elitist’. These sorts of comments often come from people who say they don’t participate in the arts in any way. But inevitably they do – they just don’t think of such pursuits as being in any way artistic.
Ask such people: what was the last film they enjoyed? Their favourite television program? Their favourite band or song? Remind them of the talented people at work in such industries – the writers, cinematographers, actors, musicians and sound engineers who have spent years fine-tuning a skill for your friend or relative’s enjoyment.
Yes, art can be challenging, dense and difficult – but art can also be, and often is, entertaining. By encouraging allegedly non-artistically-involved individuals to change how they think about the arts, we can also begin to change their perceptions of the arts – and slowly enlist them as allies.
Know the compelling statistics that tell a human tale
Many of the statistics compiled in our annual reports are, frankly, rather dry. Recording data about ticket sales, bums on seats, subscriptions and surpluses are certainly of value for boards, funding bodies and other stakeholders, but they’re not necessarily the sorts of statistics that our audiences need to know.
But there are literally hundreds of studies that prove the arts improve health, education and economic outcomes. It’s worth having a couple of numbers at your fingertips.
Similarly, when collecting data for your organisation think in terms of numbers and stories that are engaging. How many metres of fabric were used in your costumes in a given year? How many drinks were sold over your bar? Has anyone ever met their future partner at one of your shows, or proposed in your foyer? Have your education programs changed a child’s view of the world?
Collecting this sort of data – and publishing it where it can be easily seen – on your website, in the foyer or in a program instead of buried within an annual report – can help tell your company’s story more effectively, at an intimate, personal level.
Enable honest conversation on social media
Don’t just broadcast on social media – converse. Yes, retweet praise, but also engage actively with people who disliked a production and who say so on Twitter. Don’t get defensive: engage in a conversation about what they didn’t enjoy to learn more about your audience, or suggest another exhibition or event they might like instead.
Better yet, enlist your social media followers to advocate on your behalf: think about holding a special performance just for your most active Twitter followers so they can live tweet the entire show; or install ‘tweet seats’ in the very back row of the auditorium where the glow of their phones won’t disturb other patrons.
Stop protecting the mystique
While displaying the end result of months or years of work – hopefully to rapturous applause and lavish praise – may be what we aspire to, taking a leaf out of the marketing successes of sport can be valuable. By allowing backstage access, tours of wardrobe or conservation departments, and presentations of works in progress, you can encourage already curious arts audiences to become more passionate – after all, everyone likes the experience of privileged access behind the scenes.
Similarly, find new ways to present your work and its many facets. Just as football clubs grant media access to everyone from dietitians to boot-studders and volunteers, as well as the coach and players, ensure that you’re enlisting everyone involved with your company or project to speak on your behalf.
Don’t just offer interviews with artistic directors and actors, curators and publishers: suggest an interview with volunteer guides and front-of-house in order to present a more holistic view of the arts and what people stand to gain from participating in the sector. Make people excited about all stages of a production and give them a sense of ownership over all aspects of the work.
Offer artist discounts to encourage advocacy
It’s difficult to advocate on behalf of work you haven’t seen. A number of theatre-makers in the sector have reflected ruefully on the fact that non-arts industry friends regularly ask them to recommend works to see, or their opinions on current productions – particular well-publicised mainstage works by companies, such as the MTC (Melbourne Theatre Company) – but that mainstage prices often render such shows inaccessible to artists from the independent and small to medium sectors.
At the MTC, half-price Adult A-reserve tickets are available to actors holding a valid MEAA Actors Equity card (see website for details), but even more popular was the Malthouse Theatre’s Industry Membership program, entitling members to significantly reduced ticket prices throughout the year.
Introducing similar programs at all AMPAG (Australia Major Performing Arts Group) companies and major performing arts centres in order to allow members of the sector to see works and recommend them to non-industry colleagues was identified as a useful strategy to help spread the word of the merits of particular productions.
Engage politicians and bureaucrats
‘Why is it that all Australians know that arts and culture are exciting and important in their lives … [and] you can show it in factual terms, statistical terms, but ministerial advisors and politicians for some reason find it really hard to swallow?’ asked former head of Arts Queensland Leigh Tabrett, at the 2014 Australian Performing Arts Centres Association conference.
The secret to changing people’s core beliefs lies in providing them with insight and experience: data alone will not shift them. We are masters of storytelling and emotion – we need to use those skills to help government officials, elected and unelected, to connect more deeply with the arts. The results will be invaluable.
Tell us the news, don’t just spruik
Different media outlets require different types of stories. For the arts and entertainment pages of major and local newspapers, a media release about your latest exhibition or production might be news-worthy – not so much here at ArtsHub, where we’re less interested in individual events and more focused on how relevant they are for the ecosystem as a whole.
What’s innovative about the work you’ve created? Have you found a solution or experimented with a format that will have ramifications for your entire sector? What mistakes have you made along the way, and how did you learn from them?
There is certainly still a place for old-school public relations (PR) in the modern media age, but by moving away from a publicity mindset to focus more on what is genuinely newsworthy about your work – especially its instrumental value for the community around you – you may find new and valuable ways to disseminate information about your practice and its place in the world.
This ArtsHub story was originally published in 2015. It coincided with a session on arts advocacy and the media at Theatre Network (Victoria)’s Victorian Theatre Forum, Champions of Change.
