Supporters of the arts have struggled to develop a national conversation that makes the case for robust, ongoing public support of the arts. While arts enthusiasts feel deeply about the importance of the arts and can speak quite eloquently about a number of aspects such as the universality or the transcendent nature of the arts, many have been frustrated by an inability to spark a positive, national, constructive public conversation on the topic – in Cincinnati and elsewhere. Instead, public spending on the arts is too often criticized as an example of “wasteful” government spending or “misguided” government intrusion into an area where it doesn’t belong.
In order to create a more constructive public dialog, it is necessary to explore the dynamics in the current public conversation – in the media, for instance – as well as in the thinking of the majority of people who do not focus on the arts in their daily lives.
Understanding attitudes and beliefs more deeply is a key to negotiating them more successfully in future efforts. And of course messages intended to create public support must be tested with audience members in order to find out whether they can effectively create new conversations and new perspectives. A new argument, or lens on the issue, is useful to the extent it can move people to shared action in support of the arts.
Once an effective approach is identified, it can be the basis not only for new conversations with the broader public, but also with leaders in various sectors of public life, from business to government to the faith ommunity. While nuances and emphases will vary from context to context, the essence of a public conversation is that the same themes echo from a variety of sources, in a variety of voices.
When legislators, business leaders, community leaders and so forth all take in the same core messages – and in turn repeat them to their own constituencies – the resulting “echo chamber” can begin to transform the accepted common sense on the issue.