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Building Community to Achieve a Common Goal
An Overview of the Participation Learning Network
 In 2006, Boston became one of the first two
cities selected for the Wallace Foundation's Excellence
Awards initiative. Thus began a four-year
collaboration among the Wallace Foundation,
the Boston Foundation, and the Massachusetts
Cultural Council to increase public participation
in the arts. The three agencies set out to support
Greater Boston-based cultural organizations
that, in the words of Wallace Foundation President
M. Christine DeVita, "have made a commitment
to engage more people deeply in the arts
part of their DNA."
The program recognized organizations that
were already innovators in the field and provided
funding and a support network to assist them in
stretching even further as they carried on what
the Wallace Foundation calls "the vital work of
bringing the powerful benefit of the arts to all."
Although the three funding agencies have
different purviews—national, community-wide,
and state-wide—they share a common goal of
making the arts more integral to people's lives.
But the initiative was not limited to broadening
and deepening cultural participation. At the
same time, the funders sought to shine a national
spotlight on the critical need to engage more
people in the arts and to draw lessons from the
experience in Boston (and other cities supported
by Wallace) that might guide and encourage
other cultural organizations across the country.
 "We wanted to work with organizations
that were ready to take on a growing edge and
to embrace the challenge of increasing participation
as part of a larger strategy," says Ann
McQueen, former Senior Program Officer for
the Boston Foundation. "To be truly successful,
audience development must cut to the core of
an organization’s mission, rather than just be a
strategy of the marketing department," concurs
Charlie McDermott, Deputy Director of the
Massachusetts Cultural Council.
Ultimately, the initiative involved 22 Greater Boston-based organizations,
including seven direct Wallace grantees and a local cohort of
15 organizations that were regranted funds from a Wallace Foundation
grant to the Boston Foundation. (See Participants.)
Beyond providing financial support, the
initiative facilitated an exchange of knowledge
by creating a Participation Learning Network
(PLN). Based on the model of a community of
practice, the PLN brought together organizations
with shared interests and similar challenges
to learn from each other over an extended
period of time. Public forums, directors' sessions,
workshops, and special-interest salons provided
the framework for an ongoing exchange of ideas.
As organizations implemented their individual
plans, they also contributed to the larger community.
For continuity, each organization was
asked to identify two key staff members who
would attend PLN meetings on a regular basis.
 With staff already stretched thin, some
organizations had reservations about the time
commitment that the PLN could require. William
Chapman, Director of Marketing and
Development for Opera Boston, admits that he
initially feared that the PLN would be incredibly
time consuming, but that the presenters and
funders "created the conditions for a good and
useful dialogue." He found that participating in
the PLN "helps put an end to the isolation" of the
daily routine and provides an ongoing structure
"to figure out what your peers are doing."
PLN speakers and activities were chosen to
mix equal parts of inspiration and information
while carving out time to engage in hands-on
work. Presentations were loosely structured
around a theme of adaptive change that became
ever more relevant as each organization sought
to further its audience-building efforts in a climate
of increasing financial uncertainty.
Two public forums each year were open to
artists, cultural organizations, and PLN members.
Noted speakers, whose presentations are
summarized throughout this publication, generally
brought a national perspective and an
inspirational message. Early in the course of the
initiative, for example, Dr. Lynne Conner, Colby
College faculty member and Principal Investigator
for the Heinz Endowments' Arts Experience
Initiative, shared innovative approaches by
organizations across the country that empower
audience members to find their own meaning in
cultural events.
Later in the process, Ben Cameron, Program
Director for the Arts at the Doris Duke Charitable
Foundation, called for organizational change
in response to new circumstances. His presentation
provided a jolt of energy and a modicum
of reassurance, even as some participants faced roadblocks to implementation of their funded
projects. At the final public forum, Diane Paulus,
Artistic Director/CEO of the American Repertory
Theater, and Elizabeth Streb, founder of
STREB Extreme Action Company and STREB
Lab for Action Mechanics, engaged in a lively
conversation about building an audience for
challenging, even risk-taking work.
Several meetings were designed specifically
for artistic and executive directors, the individuals
who would lead their organizations in new
ways of thinking as well as new methodologies.
But the heavy lifting of the PLN resided in the
four workshops per year in which participants
developed their original plans and reported on
their progress.
 "I felt empowered and energized. My battery
was recharged," says Gia Podobinski, Marketing
and Public Relations Manager of New Repertory
Theatre. "You get so caught up in the day-to-day
operations, but then the PLN meetings let you
get a more clear sense of strategy. This is why I’m
in the arts."
Although the formal Participation Learning
Network will not continue beyond the funding
period, there are encouraging signs that
the spirit of the network will persist. Members
of the cultural community have grown to value
engagement in long-term dialogue with their
peers. During the course of the initiative, interest
from the PLN members led to the launch
of special-interest salons that address a narrow
topic, such as the best use of social networking
sites or web-based marketing.
"Sometimes the smaller organizations have
the best ideas," says Kim Noltemy, Director of
Sales, Marketing and Communications for the
Boston Symphony Orchestra. "And they are usually
able to act on them quickly."
NEXT:
Program Planning and Evaluation Using the Logic Model
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| © Massachusetts Cultural Council 2012 |
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