Mr. Brad Erickson

The Vision Thing

Posted by Mr. Brad Erickson, Jun 03, 2016 0 comments


Mr. Brad Erickson

Brad Erickson is an Americans for the Arts member and recipient of the 2016 Alene Valkanas State Arts Advocacy Award. Find out more about the Americans for the Arts Annual Leadership Arts Awards.

In 1988, as then Vice-President H. W. Bush was preparing to run for the Presidency, he found himself fending off complaints from within his own party that while he had a firm grip on the complexity of the many issues facing the nation, he lacked an overarching narrative that would tie his policy positions together in a clear and compelling way. His advisors suggested that he borrow Camp David for some time away to collect and articulate his thoughts. "Oh," the Vice-President responded dismissively, "the vision thing."

Sometimes it seems that there are two types of people: dreamers, who love to spend boundless amounts of time thinking and talking about "the vision thing," and doers, who just want to get back to work and get something done. It may seem a simplistic divide, and folks on both sides tend to acknowledge the necessity of the other. Dreamers know that at some point they must leave the white board and actually implement their plans, and doers realize that without direction all their hard work might easily be wasted.

We arts advocates often find ourselves in the doer mode. The legislative calendar is relentless, and with campaigns to wage on the local, state and federal level, we've got a three-front battle on our hands, with little time for dreaming. Besides, we know what we want—more support for the arts!

Just last week, I was unexpectedly taught a lesson on the value of dreaming by a California state legislator, the Chair of the Assembly Budget Committee. With the annual appropriations process in its final phase, a small group of us were presenting our perennial request: "More money!" The legislator listened to our arguments: the roller-coaster history of California state arts funding, once at high of $30 million in 2000, dropping to $1 million for more than a decade, several years of gradual recovery that secured $8 million last year. We gave him the broader context: the national median for state arts funding is more than $1 per person, California invests just 25 cents. We pointed to the need and the opportunity. Local arts leaders, who knew the legislator personally, told their stories of on-the-ground impact of the arts (and arts funding) in the legislator's own district (Western San Francisco). Our talking-points were textbook advocacy, and the legislator and his aide listened attentively, even sympathetically. Then he gave us a piece of advice: think big.

If the Arts Council's funding once topped $30 million, what would we do with that kind of money now, he asked. What was the vision? It wasn't enough, he told us, to say that if good things are happening with $8 million, even more good things could happen with thirty—or even ten. And to him, it was not compelling to say we used to have more money and now we don't. But if we could present a clear vision of what could be accomplished when we (finally) reached our goal of fully restored funding, then this legislator would be far more inclined to help us realize that dream--one incremental step at a time.

Arts leaders know first-hand the power of a compelling dream. As they raise money, year in and year out, they know that foundations and invidual donors alike respond to a convincing vision. Whether it's an innovative education program, a thrillingly bold season, or a spectacular new building, funds are best raised when the ask is exciting and clear.

We arts advocates could take a lesson from our field's development directors and follow the advice of the Budget Chair. We could work with our colleagues in the arts agencies and collectively envision a future where our aspirations are made real. What would the arts agency look like? What would our cities, our states, our nation look like if the asks we make, year after year, were actually met? Rather than being a waste of time imagining pie-in-the-sky dreams, such visioning might be the most important stratgegy we could deploy. And not only to reach far-off goals, but to win more support today. 

Let's do it.  Let's think big.

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