Audience development for new/risky work
I am currently putting together audience development workshops for performing arts venues across Australia - some urban, some suburban, and some regional/remote. Our challenge is to encourage venues to become more proactive in their programming, to consider their communities' needs and interests, and to commission appropriate work where none exists. Also, to encourage them to program more interesting 'risky' work in a way which builds pathways for their local audience's understanding, rather than as 'islands' of experience. I am interested to hear about similar work in other places, of audience development working hand in hand with programming, that puts the audience at the centre of everything the venue does.
One
of the presenters that I have come to know through some of my best practices
research at WolfBrown is the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts in San Francisco. YBCA, which is a
contemporary arts center, has been very adventurous in adopting pro-active
programming in order to attract a younger audience. Not only do they commission
work, but they offer unusual programming – including linking events through
identified key themes – three a year – and holding participatory events that begin
at 9pm and last into the wee hours of the morning! Just one example but interesting, I think.
Jane
Hi Merryn! I've been meaning to respond to your post for several weeks. I think that very, very few arts organizations are serious about audience development. What they really want is more people to buy tickets to the same old programming. So, if programming isn't on the table, you can't really talk about audience development. One helpful way of getting into the discussion is, "What are the pathways into your programming for people who are new to the art form?" That can lead to a productive discussion. You're right, there needs to be a critical mass of programming in order to build a sustained relationship with the audience. I remember having that conversation with the dance presenters at the Port Macquarie conference. One performance a year isn't really enough. There are other, non-performance activities (films, lectures, digital content, participatory activities) that might be used to keep people engaged in between live performances. Anyways, give me a zap directly if you want to continue the conversation.
Best,
Alan Brown
alan@wolfbrown.com
