Outreach & Engagement
Audiences gather for a Clay & Paper Theatre performance in Amos Waites Park, by Josh Clavir (2018)
The best community outreach and engagement strategies are an extension of the creative practice, not just a marketing campaign. Community outreach should be initiated from the beginning rather than when you feel ready to launch, and your community engagement should act as an invitation not only to join you on the day of the event but to collaborate in the project’s development. Think of the invitation as the beginning of relationship-building, each step of which is part of a collaborative artistic creation process. Your invitation to the community should be artistically devised, warm, welcoming, inclusive, accessible and fun.
Working with the Community
Partners in the community are vital to community engagement and can be the glue that holds your outreach plan together. They often have a deep reach into the community, they already hold community trust, they may have a physical place where...
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Outreach Strategies
A wide range of artistic programming happens in parks and public spaces, from dance festivals to visual art installations. When looking to engage the community you will need to create an approach that feels right for you, that taps...
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Welcoming Audiences
Think about what you could do to encourage people to attend and ways you can reach out to understand audience needs so that people feel welcome. How can you accommodate people’s accessibility needs? You can better understand barriers to...
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“It was great to reconnect with the same community members we were introduced to last year. It is a great feeling to be directly engaged with local community members and residents!”
- Artist, 2018