chapter

17Arts and Culture

Introduction

Meyer and Brightbill (1956) advocated that arts and crafts, dancing, dramatics, literary activities, and music activities were standards for a comprehensive recreation program.

This chapter does the following:– Introduces the reader to arts and cultural leisure

experiences and the organizations that offer them. – Examines the importance of providing arts and cultural

experiences and their benefits.

Participation

• For-profit and not-for-profit arts and cultural organizations provide an array of arts and culture opportunities that benefit individuals and societies.

• Participation occurs in a variety of contexts:– Museums – Galleries– Community arts centers– Art fairs and festivals– Performance venues

What Is Meant By Arts and Culture?

• Broadly defined, it can be thought of as an identifiable sector present in every community and understandable in both economic and quality-of-life terms (Godfrey, 2002).

• Arts and culture lies in two contexts:

– Social interaction

– Cultural anthropology

Arts and Culture Meanings: Organizations and Participants

• Participants are those who are creating the art or those who are experiencing the art.

• Both the organizational mission and resources influence providing arts and cultural programs.

• The National Endowment for the Arts Survey of Public Participating in the Arts reported that 63% percent of Americans personally participated in the arts. (Represents those who do art and those who attend arts events as part of an audience.)

Benefits of Arts and Cultural Recreation

1. Celebrates and preserves our national legacy in museums, concert halls, parks, and alternative spaces.

2. Is inherent in the objects and buildings we use every day and music we listen to.

3. Frees our spirit from the relentless mill of daily obligations.

4. Entertains and instructs us.

5. Helps us understand who we are as individuals, as groups, and as communities.

Great Simplicities: Meaning of Recreation Experience

• Individuals:– Provides freedom and choice, joy, and happiness.– Allows use of our creative abilities.– Puts us in touch with our real self.

• Groups:– Forms and validates relationships.– Brings people together who might not share other

common interests or relationships.– Teaches culture-specific values and orientations. – Enables people to be both inward and outgoing.

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Great Simplicities: Meaning of Recreation Experience

(continued)• Communities:

– Draws new residents into communities, reducing poverty and increasing population.

– Mutually reinforces cultural participation and diverse communities and promotes gradual growth rather than rapid gentrification.

– Creates positive social environment, resulting in greater civic participation, lower truancy rates, and lower delinquency rates.

– Builds bridges across neighborhood, ethnic, and class divides in ways that many other forms of civic engagement do not.

Evolution of Arts and Culture Programming

• Parks and recreation agencies increase the number and variety of arts and culture opportunities for citizens of all ages.

• Public schools provide children and youth with learning opportunities in a range of arts-based and culturally based experiences.

• Private businesses create options at a quicker rate than public programs based on public demand.

Role of Parks and Recreation in Arts and Culture

• In 1899, Jane Addams and Ellen Gates Starr created Hull House, the first “community center.” Music, dance, and drama were all part of the total program provided for the urban poor, immigrants, and under-educated people living in urban cities (Russell, 2005).

• From 1956 to 2004 several textbooks outlined the developing emphasis placed on the provision of art and cultural programs.

Role of Public Education in Arts and Culture

• Arts education in the schools dates back to the late 1800s. It included music, dance, theater, and visual arts at the elementary and secondary levels.

• Public educators increasingly look outside schools to community-based arts organizations, programs, and services for specialists. Nonprofit and public organizations, regional arts councils, and associations send staff, artists, and volunteers to schools to teach various arts.

Two Ways Arts Agencies Support Arts Education in Schools

• Partnership building with other cultural, civic, social, or governmental agencies

• Community cultural planning: expanding the role of local arts agencies and helping young people and adults to engage in the arts in both school and community settings

Role of Private Enterprise in Arts and Culture

• Businesses and industries add to the number and variety of art and cultural opportunities for people of all ages (from Disneyland to Las Vegas and other local examples).

• Private enterprises can often take risks in pursuing new markets and new arts and cultural experiences.

Types of Arts and Culture Organizations

• Community arts centers • Art museums• Performing arts organizations • Art commissions and councils • Historic sites• Museums and reenactments • Folklore associations • Libraries and literary organizations • Art and cultural festivals• Youth organizations• Elderhostels

Arts and Culture Programs in Parks and Recreation: Best Practices

• State of Oregon:– Provided opportunities for youth and adults during

summer. – Most offerings were visual arts programs; also

offered various types of performing arts programs.– Special events were offered in 9 cities, 5 districts,

and 2 regional organizations. – Nontraditional programs included literary and

culinary arts experiences and culturally based touring opportunities.

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Arts and Culture Programs in Parks and Recreation: Best Practices

(continued)

• Philadelphia, Department of Recreation: – After-school programs at 130 sites, 5 days a week,

serving 2,800 children– Senior Art Camp culminating in final-day celebration

and exhibit – Teen center cultural activities– Phil-A-Kid History Camp– Creative Resolution Interactive Theatre program– Mural Arts Program, which has created more than

2,300 indoor and outdoor murals (continued)

Arts and Culture Programs in Parks and Recreation: Best Practices

(continued)

• National Park Service (NPS): – Two-thirds of the NPS sites are historical or cultural

in nature.– Wolf Trap National Park for the Performing Arts

operates two performance venues, an opera company, and an education program, all of which produce a variety of arts and culture activities in addition to public performances.

Management Strategies That Enhance Arts and Culture Opportunities

• Using high-profile events to promote awareness and entertain the public

• Collaborating and building partnerships• Emphasizing cultural planning• Addressing youth interests• Associating with tourism initiatives• Responding to lifestyle shifts• Creating art experiences in public places

High-Profile Events

Large public events promoted to wide markets outside of the regional area in which the promoting organization resides.

• Portland, Oregon, trucks 100 cubic yards of sand to a downtown square for sand sculpting.

• Plate and Pitchfork dinners, featuring gourmet meals and fine wines, are held in agricultural fields to bring city folk and farm folk together.

Collaboration and Partnerships

Partnering with organizations that have similar missions to accomplish goals for the greater good while overcoming limited resources.

• In British Columbia, Kamloops Art Gallery and University College of the Cariboo collaborate to find out how cultural and arts organizations work together in a small-city setting.

• In Los Angeles, the housing authority, police, city and county recreation and parks departments, and California State University at Dominguez Hills offer a program for developing the self-confidence, cultural awareness, and constructive social interactions of young girls.

Emphasis on Cultural Planning

• Local arts agencies lead efforts for community cultural planning.

• In communities that have a cultural plan, local government arts funding grows at a significantly faster rate than in communities without a plan (Americans for the Arts, 2004).

Addressing Youth Interests

• Youth and young adults often have special interests in art and culture activity that occurs outside typical organizational contexts. Two innovative, non-agency-based practices are the DIY movement and creating and reading zines.

• Youth and young adult interests in art and culture also occur within an organizational context.– Rock ‘n’ Roll Camp for Girls (RRCG), Portland, Oregon

– Totally Cool Totally Art (TCTA), Austin, Texas

Associating With Tourism Initiatives

Recreation agencies and arts organizations offering arts and cultural programs should routinely associate with their local convention and visitors bureaus (CVB).

For example, the city of Hamilton, Ontario, designed and offers walking tours that go beyond the traditional historic overview to include topics with clear cultural connections related to the evolution of the city.

Responding to Lifestyle Shifts

• One size does not fit all.• People’s contemporary lifestyles influence

what they do with their free time.• An intersection between art and everyday

life is emerging. • Vast numbers of people experience the arts

in an informal manner.

Creating Art Experiences in Public Places

Places for public art and culture can include certain sections of our towns and cities that temporarily become art places:– Busy streets are popular for art walks.– Musicians or magicians perform in shopping malls.– Rose gardens turn into outdoor movie theaters

during the summer. – Businesses offer late-night poetry slams or a place

for musicians to practice after the business has closed.

Summary

• Opportunities in the arts and culture represent a complex and multifaceted area of recreation programming. We must remain open to new ways of creating experiences in unanticipated public places.

• Arts and cultural experiences contribute not only to individual growth and the development of leisure interests but also to building our communities through shared experiences.